Pseudorhynchus pungens pungens ( Schaum, 1853 )

Naskrecki, Piotr & Guta, Ricardo, 2019, Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) of Gorongosa National Park and Central Mozambique, Zootaxa 4682 (1), pp. 1-119 : 19-21

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4682.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:430B98EF-BFCB-4608-A562-DEFA9539C8B2

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5629457

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D8878E-FC63-D92F-CCFE-570BFB1B30DF

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Pseudorhynchus pungens pungens ( Schaum, 1853 )
status

 

Pseudorhynchus pungens pungens ( Schaum, 1853) View in CoL

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:15409

( Figs. 5F View FIGURE 5 , 7 View FIGURE 7 I–L, 46D–F)

Pseudorhynchus pungens meridionalis Ragge, 1969 syn. nov.

Diagnostic remarks. Among Mozambican Tettigoniidae View in CoL this species is recognizable by its long, sharply pointed fastigium of vertex that is as long as or slightly longer than the pronotum and carries brown-red or black marking on its underside ( Figs. 7I, J View FIGURE 7 ). Unlike P. hastifer View in CoL the tip of the tegmen is broadly rounded and the mandibles are light brown in both the green and brown color forms.

Ragge (1969) divided P. pungens into 4 subspecies based on minor differences in the coloration of the head and thorax. In Gorongosa individuals of P. pungens display characteristics that correspond to both the nominative subspecies (individuals with black markings above mandibular joints and black underside of the fastigium) and P. pungens meridionalis (individuals without the black markings and with a lighter underside of the fastigium) ( Figs. 7K, L View FIGURE 7 ). However, these individuals occur sympatrically and synchronically, and may even be found on the same clumps of grass. They also do not display any differences in their acoustic behavior or the morphology of their stridulatory apparatus, and for this reason P. pungens meridionalis is here considered a junior synonym of the nominative subspecies. Whether the remaining two subspecies, P. p. striatus Ragge, 1969 and P. p. werneri Karny, 1907 are valid or also represent cases of color polymorphism remains to be determined.

Distribution and natural history. P. pungens is distributed widely across sub-Saharan Africa ( Ragge 1969), albeit the status of its subspecies remains to be determined. In Mozambique this species is known only from Sofala ( Chopard 1935) and Manica provinces but is likely to be found across the entire country. It is associated with humid habitats covered with tall grasses or sedges where it feeds on both seeds and leaves of these plants. Like other genera of African Copiphorini it is capable of withstanding long periods without feeding thanks to thick deposits of fatty tissue in its abdomen. Remains of P. pungens are frequently found in the roosts of the bat Nycteris thebaica Geoffroy , a species known to pick insects off the ground and vegetation, rather than in flight ( Monadjem et al. 2010).

Bioacoustics. Males call at night, producing short series of syllables (syllable duration 0.27– 0.66 s; n=3), spaced with several minutes of silence. The call is faintly audible to the human ear, with two frequency peaks at 18.5 kHz and 32.0 kHz ( Figs. 46 View FIGURE 46 D–F).

Measurements (3 males, 3 females). — body w/wings: male 54–57 (55.31.5), female 61–65 (63.72.3); body w/o wings: male 37–40 (38.31.5), female 40–45 (432.6); pronotum: male 8–9 (8.3.6), female 9–10 (9.3.6); tegmen: male 35–36 (35.7.6), female 40–43 (41.71.5); hind femur: male 17–21 (18.72.1), female 18–19 (18.7.6); ovipositor: 11–13 (121) mm.

Material examined (81 specimens). Mozambique: coll. Peters— 1 female (holotype of Conocephalus pungens Schaum ) ( ZMB) ; Manica, Sussundenga, Moribane Forest, swamp on Rio Tave , elev. 518 m (-19.74072, 33.32133), 2–8.xii.2018 GoogleMaps , coll. P. Naskrecki & M. Tomás— 1 female; Nhahomba Ranger Station, Mussapa , elev. 606 m (-19.585799, 33.084969), 26.xi.–2.xii.2018 GoogleMaps , coll. P. Naskrecki & M. Tomás— 2 females, 2 males; Sofala, Cheringoma, Coutada 12, Chironde camp, elev. 156 m (-18.32780, 35.35799), 25.iii.–4.iv.2017, coll. P. Naskrecki, J. Guyton & M. Castene— 1 female, 1 male ( EOWL) GoogleMaps ; Infinity Pools, bottom of Nhagutua Gorge , elev. 138 m (-18.63342, 34.81206), 17–20.iv.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki—1 nymph female ( MCZ) GoogleMaps ; Nhagutua , road to ranger station, elev. 269 m (-18.68283, 34.81786), 19.iv.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki— 2 females ( EOWL, MCZ) GoogleMaps ; Gorongosa , Chitengo , E.O. Wilson Laboratory, elev. 42 m (-18.97775, 34.35130), 15–31.xii.2016, coll. R. Guta— 1 female GoogleMaps ; GNP, (-18.95202, 34.37347), 20–25.xi.2017, coll. D. Artur & N. Vicente— 1 female, 1 male; GNP, Bela Vista ranger outpost, elev. 26 m (-18.69470, 34.20853), 5–12.v.2015, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 male GoogleMaps ; GNP, Bunga Inselberg, Camp 1, nr. Bunga ranger outpost, elev. 75 m (-18.59989, 34.33686), 21.iv.–5.v.2015, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 male ( EOWL) GoogleMaps ; same locality, 21.iv.–5.v.2015, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 female GoogleMaps ; GNP, Chitengo , E.O. Wilson Laboratory, elev. 48 m (-18.977722, 34.351333), 12–20.iv.2015, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 male GoogleMaps ; same locality, 11.vii.–7.viii.2015, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 male ( MCZ) GoogleMaps ; same locality, 1.xii.2016, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 male GoogleMaps ; same locality, 1.xii.2016, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 male GoogleMaps ; GNP, Chitengo, Wilson Laboratory , elev. 48 m (-18.977722, 34.351333), 15–31.xii.2017, coll. N. Vicente— 1 female, 1 male ( EOWL) GoogleMaps ; GNP, Murombodzi Waterfall, nr. Mt. Gorongosa , elev. 842 m (-18.483361, 34.042944), 19.v.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki— 4 females, 6 males ( MCZ) GoogleMaps ; GNP, Picada 1, nr. big pan, elev. 20 m (-18.95101, 34.37322), 20.xii.2016 GoogleMaps , coll. P. Naskrecki & R. Guta— 3 females; GNP, Picada 2, past 6, elev. 28 m (-18.94467, 34.44177), 5.iv.2016, coll. J. Guyton—2 nymph females ( EOWL) GoogleMaps ; Gorongosa Dist., Archway Gorge , campsite, elev. 63 m (-18.95336, 34.61089), 22–29.iv.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki (Site 2)— 1 female ( MCZ) GoogleMaps ; Between Bunga camp and Bunga inselberg, elev. 139 m (-18.59973, 34.34301), 21.iv.–5.v.2015, coll. P. Naskrecki and R. Guta— 1 male ( EOWL) GoogleMaps ; GNP, Chitengo , elev. 38 m (-18.978808, 34.352606), 5–9.v.2014, coll. R. Guta— 2 females ( EOWL, UEMM) GoogleMaps ; Claud’s Waterfall campsite ( Site 3), elev. 94 m (-19.03011, 34.67592), 1–6.v.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki (Site 3)— 2 females ( MCZ) GoogleMaps ; Wilson Laboratory, GNP, Chitengo , (-18.97775, 34.351333), 19.iii.–2.iv.2014, coll. P. Naskrecki & R. Guta— 6 females, 2 males ( EOWL) GoogleMaps ; GNP, Chitengo , elev. 29 m (-18.98194, 34.35122), 17– 31.iii.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki— 2 females, 3 males GoogleMaps ; same locality, 17.iii.–5.iv.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki— 7 females, 7 males ( EOWL, MCZ) GoogleMaps ; same locality, 6–31.v.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 female, 1 male GoogleMaps ; Nhagutua , elev. 221 m (- 18.64339, 34.81425), 16–20.iv.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 female ( MCZ) GoogleMaps ; Gorongosa District, Cec to Civeta Post , elev. 96 m (-18.940333, 34.193472), 29–30.ix.2015, coll. I. Nganhane & R. Guta— 1 male ( EOWL) GoogleMaps ; Republic of South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal— 1 male (holotype of P. pungens meridionalis Ragge ) ( ANSP) .

ZMB

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Zoological Collections)

MCZ

Museum of Comparative Zoology

ANSP

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Orthoptera

Family

Tettigoniidae

Genus

Pseudorhynchus

Loc

Pseudorhynchus pungens pungens ( Schaum, 1853 )

Naskrecki, Piotr & Guta, Ricardo 2019
2019
Loc

Pseudorhynchus pungens meridionalis

Ragge 1969
1969
Loc

Tettigoniidae

Krauss 1902
1902
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