The genus Phlesirtes Bolivar, 1922 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae, Conocephalini; Karniellina), a review of the genus with data on its bioacoustics and the description of new species
Author
Hemp, Claudia
Author
Heller, Klaus-Gerhard
text
Zootaxa
2017
4244
4
451
477
journal article
36222
10.11646/zootaxa.4244.4.1
7f9f2005-aec5-45c4-a97e-86d3172537bf
1175-5326
437214
2519494F-5998-4CD1-AFF1-78ADB4DEEB46
Phlesirtes elgonensis
Hemp
n. sp.
(
Fig. 2
;
Fig. 4
E, F; Fig. B;
Fig. 6
;
Fig. 16
)
http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid:
Orthoptera
.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:496061
Holotype
male.
Kenya
,
Mt Elgon
, southern slopes,
National Park
3100 m
, montane grasslands,
November 2011
. Depository
MfN
.
Paratypes
.
1 female
, same data as holotype. Depository
MfN
.
1 male
,
1 female
, same data as holotype. Depository
EDNMK
.
1 male
,
1 female
, same data as holotype. Depository
BMNH
.
Additional
paratype
material.
14 males
,
6 females
, same data as holotype
;
6 males
,
18 females
,
2 females
nymphs,
Kenya
,
Mt Elgon National Park
, montane grassland,
2950 m
,
November 2011
;
5 females
, 2 nymphs,
Kenya
,
Mt Elgon National Park
, grassy forest clearing,
2400 m
,
November 2011
.
Collection C.
Hemp.
Description.
Male.
Colour pattern
. Medially on abdomen broad creamy to light brown fascia bordered by dark brown fascia laterally along length. Otherwise typical
Phlesirtes
colour pattern with partly green legs and pronotal lobes and brown pronotum and abdomen (
Fig. 7
A).
Abdomen
. Last abdominal tergite medially acutely incised, lateral processes rather stout, as in
Fig. 5
E. Most individuals with pair of dark patches. Cerci with outer branch stout, tip blunt conical, inner branch comparatively short, slightly curved (
Fig. 4
F).
Female. Colour pattern as in male but more brownish (
Fig. 6
B). Ovipositor brown, little up-curved, slender, typical for the genus. Subgenital plate as in
Fig. 5
B.
FIGURE 6.
Male (
A
) and female (
B
)
Phlesirtes elgonensis
n. sp.
in montane grasslands on the southern slopes of Mt Elgon in Kenya.
Diagnosis.
Morphologically and molecularly related to
P. limuru
n. sp.
from the lower slopes of the Aberdare Range. Both species have a similar colour pattern. The male cerci consist of a stout and comparatively blunt outer branch and comparatively short little curved inner branch. The 10th tergite has a pair of dark patches in both species. In
P. limuru
n. sp.
however, the processes of the 10th tergite are shorter and the incision is not as acute as in
P. elgonensis
n. sp.
Measurements male (mm) (N=6). Length of body 9.2–9.5, length of pronotum 4.4–4.7, length of anterior femur 2.1–2.2, length of posterior femur 9.2–9.5, visible part of elytra from above 0.7–1.0.
FIGURE 7.
Phlesirtes githunguri
n. sp.
occurring on the Kikuyu Escarpment between the villages
Githunguri
and Uplands on the lower slopes of the Aberdare Range in central Kenya.
A, B.
Male
C.
Female.
Measurements female (mm) (N=6). Length of body 10–13, length of pronotum 3.7–4.0, length of anterior femur 2.4–2.5, length of posterior femur 11.2–11.5, ovipositor 10.0–10.6.
Habitat and distribution.
Kenya
, Mt Elgon. At present only known from the montane zone on the southern slopes of Mt Elgon on forest clearings and montane grasslands between
2400–3100 m
.