Bush-crickets with very special ears and songs - review of the East African Phaneropterinae genus Dioncomena Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878, with notes on its biogeography and the description of new species
Author
Hemp, Claudia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9170-7113
University of Bayreuth, Department Plant Systematics & Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center, Frankfurt, Germany
claudiahemp@yahoo.com
Author
Montealegre-Z, Fernando
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5186-2186
University of Lincoln, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Joseph Banks Laboratories, Lincoln, UK
Author
Woodrow, Charlie
University of Lincoln, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Joseph Banks Laboratories, Lincoln, UK
Author
Heller, Klaus-Gerhard
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3331-3228
Triesdorf Bahnhof 8, 91732 Merkendorf, Germany
text
Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift
2023
2023-07-10
70
2
221
259
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/dez.70.100804
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/dez.70.100804
1860-1324-2-221
2824CBF6C72A4397B944262D324AF5D6
7EB2FB6659E4538C811B62C9D8009E3D
Dioncomena magombera Hemp
sp. nov.
Figs 1G-I
, 2C
, 3G, H
, 4E, F
, 7
, 19
, 21
, 22F, G
, 26B-D
, 30
, 36
Type material.
Holotype
male. Tanzania, Udzungwa Mountains, Mangula Gate, lowland wet forest,
7°50'38"S
,
36°53'08"E
, 340 m, January 2016. Depository: CCH.
Paratypes
: all Tanzania; 3♀♀, same data as holotype and March 2016. 1♂, 3♀♀, Magombera Forest Reserve, lowland forest,
7°49'10"S
,
36°58'42"E
, 280 m, January 2019. 2♀♀, Kihansi Forest Reserve, area between
8°36'35"S
,
35°51'08"E
, 370 m and
8°35'48"S
,
35°50'59"E
, 800 m, lowland to submontane forest, January 2016. 1♀, Kanga Hill, Nguru Mountains,
5°59'04"S
,
37°45'36"E
, 420 m, riverine vegetation, March 2022; 1♂, 4♀♀, Kimboza Forest Reserve, Morogoro Region, 200-300 m a.s.l.,
7.03°S
,
37.78°E
, disturbed lowland forest, March 2022. 1♀, Miombo woodlands, Msaze near Gulwe, Mpwapwa District,
6°31'21"S
,
36°22'15"E
, 1000 m, May 2022. Depository: CCH.
Description.
Male.
Typical
Dioncomena
in habitus and size, with contrasting green, bluish, and black colors (Fig.
1G, H
). Head. Fastigium of vertex compressed, sulcate above. Thorax & legs. Pronotum with slightly inflated posterior part of lateral lobes. Broad black stripe with fine median green line on pronotal disc, widening at metazona. Fore coxa brownish or black with broad-based short yellow spine. Fore and mid femora with double row of small ventral spinules, hind femur with widely spaced irregular positioned spines. Fore tibia with ventral double row of irregular set small spinules and a pair of short ventral spurs; dorsal inner side with short spine below tympanum and 1-3 short black spines along length. Mid tibiae with ventral double row of hooked black spinules and spurs, dorsal on mid tibiae at apical part with few hooked black spines. Tegmina & wings. Typical shape and coloration for
Dioncomena
, with continuous stridulatory file on left tegmen (Fig.
2C
). Abdomen. Tenth abdominal tergite incurved at posterior margin with shallow membranous structure medially. Cerci green and stout, with black inwardly hooked tips (Fig.
3G
). Subgenital plate longer than wide, v-shaped incurved medially (Fig.
3H
).
Female.
Similar habitus, size, and coloration as male (Fig.
1I
). Ovipositor long and slightly upcurved (Fig.
4E
). Subgenital plate narrow and triangular with evenly curved posterior margin (Fig.
4F
), without hooked spines on mid tibiae.
Nymphs.
Similar to the adults. Fig.
7
shows the last instar of a female
D. magombera
sp. nov.
Measurements, (mm) males (n = 3). Body length 16.8-25.0. Length of pronotum 3.6-4.0. Length of tegmina 22.5-25.1. Length of hind femur 18.2-19.3
Measurements, (mm) females (n = 6). Body length 14.5-17.8. Length of pronotum 5.4-6.9. Length of tegmina 22.4-27.5. Length of hind femur 18.7-21.7. Ovipositor 5.4-6.9.
Habitat and distribution.
Lowland to submontane forest. Mostly found singularly in understory vegetation of closed forest. Distributed in
Tanzania's
Udzungwa, Uluguru, and Nguru Mountains, as well as Miombo woodlands in the Mpwapwa District.
Etymology.
Named after the Magombera Forest Reserve at the Udzungwa
Mountains'
foothills near Mangula, where the first specimens were collected. Noun in apposition.
Remarks.
Ragge (1980)
reported two female
Dioncomena jagoi
individuals from Kimboza Forest Reserve at the Uluguru
Mountains'
foothills. Our
team's
specimens collected in March 2022 from the same location belong to the new species
D. magombera
. A female specimen captured at the Nguru
Mountains'
foothills and another in Miombo woodlands in the Mpwapwa District near Gulwe also belong to this species, indicating
D. magombera
sp. nov. is widespread in lowland forests along the southern branch of the Eastern Arc Ranges. Two female specimens listed by
Ragge (1980)
from Kimboza Forest Reserve were studied in the Natural History Museum London and found to belong to
D. jagoi
, labelled as paratypes by David Ragge. Further collecting is necessary to determine whether two
Dioncomena
species of the
Dioncomena jagoi
-group exist in Kimboza Forest Reserve, and studies on their song must be undertaken.