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
Aerotegmina kilimandjarica
Hemp, 2001
(
Fig. 8
A–C)
Distribution.
Tanzania
,
Kenya
.
Ecology and biology.
Hemp C. 2001a, 2006. Canopy dweller of closed forest. Present throughout the year. Predaceous, feeds on a variety of other insects including its own species. Males were kept in captivity for about three months.
Song.
The calling song of
A. kilimandjarica
consists of long sequences of single syllables produced at a rate of 2–3 Hz. Each syllable consists of many impulses, which are often fused with each other either due to echoes or because the vibration of the tegmen has not yet stopped before the next impulse starts. The spectrum of the song shows invariably two broad bands, the lower one between 4 and 10 kHz and the upper one with a broad peak around 25 kHz. The intensity of the song is about 100 dB SPL, one of the loudest known songs in
Tettigoniidae
. The unusual loudness and frequency are certainly based on the aberrant tegmen shape, since
Aerotegmina
species have strongly inflated tegmina with flap-like alae closing the acoustical chamber ventrally (Heller
et al.
2010).
Biogeography.
In the forest belt of Mt Kilimanjaro, montane forest in the North Pare Mountains (Kindoroko forest reserve, Kiverenge Hill), Marang and Nou forest reserve, Mt Meru, Mt Sabuk and Mt
Kenya
(Hemp 2010). A more primitive species,
A. shengenae
Hemp
is found in the South Pare Mountains (Hemp C. 2006), and further undescribed species occur in the Taita Hills (Hemp
et al
., in press), and Mt Kasigau in
Kenya
. A morphologically very distinct species occurs in the Udzungwa Mountains in
Tanzania
.
Habitat
.
Hemp C.
2005
.
Submontane and montane forest communities
.
Altitudinal range at Mt Kilimanjaro
: 1400–1600–
2200–2600 m
.
Records
: 67