Erioloides longipennis ( Redtenbacher, 1891 )

Piotr Naskrecki, 2000, Katydids of Costa Rica / Vol. 1, Systematics and bioacoustics of the cone-head katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae sensu lato)., Philadelphia, PA: The Orthopterists Society at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, : 81-87

Erioloides longipennis ( Redtenbacher, 1891) n. comb.

(Long-winged scimitar)

Figs. 19 A-H, 37A, 38C, 49A-B, Map 14

1891 Redtenbacher, Monogr. Conoceph.: 350 >> Eriolus ; type locality: Costa Rica, San José; type depository: Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna – holotype male.

1999 Naskrecki and Otte, Illustr. Cat. Orthop. I (CD ROM) >> holotype illustrated

Diagnostic description.— General characteristics as described above. Body large, relatively slender; wings in both sexes surpassing apices of hind femora by about half their length ( Fig. 19 A, 37A). Fastigium of vertex blunt, about as long as eye diameter and as wide as 1.2 of scapus ( Fig. 19 B). Face slightly convex; genal carinae of head poorly developed but usually discernible. Dorsal surface of pronotum smooth, shiny; flat; anterior margin of pronotum straight, posterior one convex (more so in males than in females) ( Fig. 19 C); lateral lobes of pronotum about 1.8 times longer than high, their surface distinctly rougher than that of pronotal dorsum. Male stridulatory file straight, 1.2-1.3 mm long, 157-158 μm wide, with 163-178 very closely spaced and relatively very wide, lamelliform teeth; teeth in proximal half of file much thinner and more closely arranged than in distal part; sometimes teeth at proximal end of file peg-like, irregularly scattered ( Figs. 49 A-B); mirror approximately rectangular, only slightly longer than wide; secondary veinlet next to AA 1 present, well developed; stridulatory area of left wing devoid of secondary venation, secondary veinlet next to AA 1 present, divergent from AA 1.

Male 10th tergite with two slender, divergent lobes ( Fig. 19 D); female 10th tergite with deep, narrowly triangular incision. Male cercus relatively long and slender for the genus, distinctly incurved; its apex attenuated but blunt; subapical inner spine small, occasionally absent, blunt ( Figs. 19 D-E). Female cercus simple, elongately conical, distinctly curved. Titillators in shape of paired needles, their bases weakly sclerotized, L-shaped when seen from above, and downcurved if seen from side ( Figs. 19 F-G). Male subgenital plate with distinct ventral keel and deep triangular incision apically; female subgenital plate widely triangular, with small, triangular apical incision. Ovipositor robust, with distinct file of pegs along midline of upper valvula, and small, oblique lamella below apex ( Fig. 19 H); ratio ovipositor/hind femur 0.90-0.95.

Coloration.— General coloration bright green ( Fig. 37 A). Upper portion of face green, lower portion of face, upper half of clypeus, and mandibles light brown; lower half of clypeus and labrum yellow ( Fig. 19 B). Tegmina green, with contrastingly yellow venation. Legs green; abdomen light green; ovipositor brown, with dark, nearly black apex.

Measurements.— Table 15 .

Bioacoustics.— Call unknown.

Remarks.— This species is known from Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama. A similar, still undescribed species, different in the details of the stridulatory apparatus and male genitalia occurs in Guatemala. In Costa Rica E. longipennis is distributed over the entire country (although I have no records of this species from Puntarenas Prov., undoubtedly it occurs there as well). Rehn’s (1905) record of Eriolus spiniger from Tarbaca (San José Prov.) is in fact a record of a female of E. longipennis .

Little is known about its biology. Adults sometimes come to light and females have been seen depositing eggs in the stem of various understory plants ( Fig. 37 A), using the ovipositor in a saw-like manner. Eggs are elongate, about 5.8 mm long and 0.9 mm wide. In captivity, nymphs hatched from eggs laid in stem of Heliconia sp. after about 3 weeks but none survived beyond the second nymphal instar. Both the adults and nymphs ate carrots, apple, corn, and lettuce.

Material examined.— COSTA RICA: locality unknown (coll. P. Biolley) - 1 male ( UMMZ); Boucard, - 1 male ( NHMW); Alajuela Prov., Finca San Gabriel, 2 km SW Dos Rios, elev. 600 m, 15 May 1989 (coll. GNP Biodiv. Survey) - 1 female ( INBio); Guanacaste Prov., Estac. Pitilla, 9 km S. Santa Cecilia, elev. 700 m, 18 - 23 July 1993 (coll. C. Moraga) - 4 males ( INBio); Estac. Pitilla, 9 km St. Cecilia, elev. 700 m, 15 November 1988 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, 15 December 1988 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, 15 May 1989 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 2 females ( INBio); Estac Cacao, SW side Volcán Cacao, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 1 December 1989 (coll. R. Blanco and C. Chávez) - 2 females ( INBio); same locality, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 15 March 1990 (coll. GNP Biodiv. Survey) - 1 male ( INBio); Vicinity Estac. Murciélago, 8 km SW Cuajiniquil, elev. 100 m, 15 February 1989 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 1 female ( INBio); Heredia Prov., Est Magsasay, P. N. Braulio Carillo, elev. 200 m, 15 January 1991 (coll. M. Bareller) - 3 males ( INBio); Finca Naranjo Valenciana, 2 km S Pueblo Nuevo, Sarapiquí, elev. 90 m, 9 - 30 September 1992 (coll. M. Ortiz) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, elev. 90 m, 9 - 30 October 1992 (coll. M. Ortiz) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, elev. 90 m, 9 - 30 November 1992 (coll. M. Ortiz) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, elev. 90 m, 22 December 1992 (coll. M. Ortiz) - 1 female ( INBio); Puerto Viejo, La Selva Biological Station, elev. 50 - 150 m, 10° 26' N, 84° 1' W, 10 - 15 November 1995 (coll. P. Naskrecki) - 1 female ( PN collection); Limón Prov., Amubri, Talamanca, elev. 70 m, 22 July 1992 (coll. G. Gallardo) - 1 female ( INBio); Cerro Tortuguero, Tortuguero N. P., elev. 0 - 120 m, 15 June 1990 (coll. E. Quesada) - 1 female ( INBio); Cuatro Esquinas, Tortuguero N. P., 15 September 1989 (coll. J. Solano) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, elev. 100 m, 15 January 1990 (coll. J. Solano) - 1 female ( INBio); San José Prov., San José – 1 male (holotype) ( NHMV); Tarbaca, 15 November 1902 (coll. C.F. Underwood) - 1 female ( ANSP); BELIZE: Dangriga distr., Twin Cays, 5 June 1985 (coll. T.L. Erwin, L.L. Sims, W.N. Mathis) - 1 male ( USNM); PANAMA: Canal Zone, Barro Colorado Isl., 12 February 1956 (coll. C. Rettenmeyer) - 1 female.

Figures

FIG. 19. Erioloides longipennis. A. male - habitus, B. male face, C. male head and pronotum, dorsal view, D. male cerci, dorsal view, E. male left cercus - variation, dorsal view, F. titillators, posterior view, G. titillators, lateral view.

FIG. 37. Costa Rican species of Conocephalinae s. l. A. Erioloides longipennis - female ovipositing, B. Erioloides longinoi - male, C. Eriolus penicillus - female, D. Conocephalus cinereus - male, macropterous form, E. Neoconocephalus triops - male, brown form, F. Sphyrometopa atlantica - male, inset - nymph.

FIG. 49. Stridulatory files of species of Erioloides. A. E. longipennis, B. ditto, variation, C. E. macrocephalus, D. E. brevipennis, E. E. latiscobinus, F. E. consobrinus.

MAPS 13 - 18. Distribution of species of Conocephalinae s. l. in Costa Rica. 13. Sphyrometopa femorata, S. atlantica, Eppia truncatipennis, 14. Erioloides longipennis, E. macrocephalus, E. longinoi, E. brevipennis, 15. Erioloides, consobrinus, E. acutidentis, E. latiscobinus, E. sikesi, 16. Eriolus aculeus, E. acutipennis, E. duplidentis, E. penicillus, 17. Subria sylvestris, S. crassicerca, S. scutellaris, 18. Podacanthophorus alas, P. nelciae, P. vargasi, P. maylinae.