Small crickets of New Zealand (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Trigonidiidae and Mogoplistidae), with the description of two new genera and species
Author
Hegg, Danilo
34DFC18A-F53D-417F-85FC-EF514F6D2EFD
Wētā Conservation Charitable Trust, 135 Blacks Road, Ōpoho, Dunedin 9010, New Zealand.
danilo@wetaconservation.org.nz
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2024
2024-09-09
955
1
1
87
https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2655/12275
journal article
10.5852/ejt.2024.955.2655
2118-9773
13742408
5D22E144-EF73-4085-9774-E853EEEC6001
Identification of
Ornebius
Guérin-Méneville, 1844
by sound
Ornebius
sound recordings taken in
Auckland
, Coromandel,
Waikato
and in New
Plymouth
yield a song with a peak frequency between 4.5 and 5.6 kHz. Chirps are approximately one second apart and consist of three pulses; a single pulse followed by a pause of 0.3 seconds then two more pulses close together (
Fig. 34
). This song matches that of
Ornebius aperta
(
Otte & Alexander 1983
: fig. 314;
Gwynne
et al.
1988
). As previously observed by
Ramsay (1990
,
1991
), the paraprocts are also a good match for
Ornebius aperta
, club-like in shape, narrowest at the base and widest one fifth of the length from the apex (
Fig. 33G–I
).
Ornebius
crickets around Whangārei and Kerikeri in
Northland
sing at a peak frequency of 4 kHz (T = 23°C). Chirps are approximately two seconds apart and consist of four to five pulses; a single pulse followed by a pause longer than half a second then three to four pulses close together (
Fig. 35
). This song does not match any known species of
Ornebius
. The male paraprocts are subtly different from those of
O. aperta
, with a longer narrow neck at the base, and the widest point one fourth of the length from the apex (
Fig. 33K
). While this shape may resemble more closely the paraprocts of
Ornebius wandella
Otte & Alexander, 1983
, the latter species has two very prominent hair tufts projecting backwards from the posterior margin of the suranal plate (
Otte & Alexander 1983
: fig. 312y); these are missing in
Ornebius aperta
and in
Ornebius
crickets from
Northland
(
Fig. 33D–E
). Except for the subtle difference in the shape of the male paraprocts, male and female
Ornebius
crickets from
Northland
cannot be differentiated from
Ornebius aperta
by morphology.
Fig. 8.
Dorsal view of the right forewing in the New Zealand species of
Pteronemobius
Jacobson, 1904
.
A–B
.
Pteronemobius truncatus
(
Saussure, 1877
)
.
A
. Drawing from
Otte & Alexander (1983
: fig. 132b).
B
. Kohuroanaki Loop Track, Te Paki (MPN OR0197).
C
.
Pteronemobius arima
Otte & Alexander, 1983
. Drawing from
Otte & Alexander (1983
: fig. 132m).
D
.
Pteronemobius
cf.
arima
Otte & Alexander, 1983
. Maitai Bay, Karikari Peninsula, Northland (MPN OR0246). Scale bars = 1 mm.
Based on this information,
Ornebius
crickets from Northland might be a species other than
Ornebius aperta
, but I am not confident enough to state that they definitely are, let alone to designate a new species. This really needs to be done in the context of a comprehensive revision of
Ornebius
from the east coast of
Australia
and from the wider Pacific region, based on morphology, song and molecular data. I will therefore refer to the
Ornebius
population in Northland as
Ornebius
aff.
aperta
Otte & Alexander, 1983
, where the abbreviation ‘aff.’ is used as suggested by
Sigovini
et al.
(2016)
.
The boundary between the
Auckland
and
Northland
Ornebius
populations is unknown.