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
Ruspolia differens
(Serville, 1839)
(
Fig. 6
C)
Distribution.
Madagascar
,
Kenya
,
Uganda
,
Mauritius
(Bailey & McCrae 1978).
Reported as
Conocephalus nitidulus
(Scopoli, 1786)
from Mt Kilimanjaro by Sjöstedt (1909).
Habitat
.
Hemp C.
2005
.
Common in savanna and
Hyparrhenia
grasslands, ruderal vegetation and bananacoffee-plantations at Mt Kilimanjaro
.
Song.
Very loud song of continuous sequence of syllables, produced only at night.
Altitudinal range at Mt Kilimanjaro
: 900–1500–
1800 m
.
Records
: 100
Remarks.
Sjöstedt (1909) mentioned
Conocephalus nitidulus
(Scopoli, 1786)
in his list of
Tettigoniidae
from Mt Kilimanjaro. He stated that the species is very common from savanna grasslands to an elevation of about
1800 m
in the plantation belt. Kevan & Knipper (1961) noted that in their study they will still apply the name
Homorocoryphus nitidulus vicinus
for specimens they collected in East Africa, but stated that the name
H. differens
would probably be more correct. Bailey (1975) in his revision of the African species of
Ruspolia
showed that
Homorocoryphus
is a junior synonym of
Ruspolia
. He further mentioned that there has been considerable confusion on the taxonomic status of
R. differens
. The name
Homorocoryphus nitidulus vicinus
(Walker)
has been applied for convenience to many ill-defined species of this genus. Material collected by Sjöstedt from Mt Kilimanjaro was studied in the collection of the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm,
Sweden
and proved to belong to
R. differens
.
Bailey (1975) wrote that
R. nitidulus
is an Europaen and mediterranean species only occurring in the mediterranean part of North Africa while
R. differens
is distributed over most of tropical Africa. The same distribution was given by Ingrisch (1999).