Annotated list of Ensifera (Orthoptera) and further records on Caelifera (Orthoptera) of Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Author
Hemp, Claudia
text
Zootaxa
2013
3613
4
301
342
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3613.4.1
3d57c4ad-02e7-4059-a617-10a01f830571
1175-5326
215952
F9ABE9FA-824A-40AA-B2F8-7F9C7682B0AD
Arantia fasciata
(Walker, 1869)
(
Fig. 10
A–C)
Syn.
A. spinulosa
Brunner
von Wattenwyl, 1878
Distribution.
Africa south of the Sahara.
Gambia
(Walker 1869); East Africa (Brunner v. Wattenwyl 1891),
Angola
,
Gambia
,
Uganda
,
Ethiopia
,
Niger
,
Natal
,
Zambia
,
Central African Republic
,
Tanzania
,
Malawi
,
DRC
(collection NHML).
Ecology and biology.
Arantia fasciata
is often collected at light by night. In savanna habitats on
Combretum zehyeri
.
Habitat.
Hemp C.
2005
.
Canopy dweller in the planation belt on Mt Kilimanjaro
.
Feeding on
Combretum zeyheri
in tree savanna habitats
.
Song.
Arantia fasciata
sings in the evening hours shortly after sunset. Its song of a few loud syllables is easy recognized produced from high trees.
Altitudinal range at Mt Kilimanjaro
:
800–1500 m
.
Records
: 5
Remarks.
When studying the specimen material in the NHM London,
UK
, it became clear that
A. spinulosa
Brunner, 1878
is synonymous with
Arantia fasciata
. This is based on material identified by P. M. Stock 1960, D. Ragge 1962, J. Huxley 1972, L.M. Pitkin 1973, and J.
Marshall
1982. Thus the record of
A. spinulosa
by Kevan (1955) from Kilimanjaro (Makoa) refers to
A. fasciata
.
Probably due to its wide distribution
A. fasciata
shows some morphological variation in terms of colouration, size and slight differences in the genitalia. Molecular analysis and studies on song should be undertaken to shed light on the status of this species.
On Mt Kilimanjaro savanna specimens are of much lighter colour with different patterns of brown mottles or fasciae on the tegmina while individuals collected from the submontane plantation belt were always uniformely dark green (
Fig. 8
A).