Paraphyllomimus buergersi wauensis, Morris & Ingrisch & Willemse & Willemse & De Luca & Klimas, 2025

Morris, Glenn K, Ingrisch, Sigfrid, Willemse, Fer, Willemse, Luc, De Luca, Paul A. & Klimas, Dita, 2025, Stridulation songs of some Tettigoniidae (Ensifera, Orthoptera) from Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 5600 (1), pp. 1-81 : 12-14

Paraphyllomimus buergersi wauensis ssp. nov.

( Figs 5–8 , 9B , 10 BDF, 11B, 12B, 13B, 14)

Specimens studied. Holotype (male): “30.VIII.81, Mt. Kaindi 81-2 squeaker confirmed”, “nr. Wau PNG 2-2 coll. G.K. Morris ” (depository, NBC Leiden)

Paratypes: PNG, Mt , Kaindi, 30 viii 1981, G.K. Morris (3 males) & idem, contour trail 19 viii 1981 (2 males) (all NBC) .

Description. Male.—General appearance ( Fig. 9B ), size and coloration as in nominate subspecies but differing as follows: posterior margin of last abdominal tergite slightly sinuately excised, cercus strongly upcurved, tip not recurved, styli slightly longer (1.3–1.4 mm) than stalk of subgenital plate (0.74–0.85 mm) ( Fig. 10 BDF). Elytron as in nominate form but stridulatory area of left elytron slightly larger, length 6 mm, width 3 mm; file in dorsal aspect inflated over a shorter distance (2.1–2.4 mm); file in ventral view slightly longer, shortest distance between most proximal and distal tooth 2.9–3.0 mm, teeth wider, maximum width 0.175 mm, total number and spacing about similar as in nominate form, in mid part about 24 per 0.25 mm.

Female.—The female Paraphyllomimus in one of our photographs ( Fig. 8 ) bears a spermatophore and may be either of P. buergersi wauensis or P. pipiens ).

Distribution behaviour and habitat. Known only from Mt. Kaindi near Wau, Morobe District, NE New Guinea. The species was found at higher elevations of the mountain. Like A. immunis it adopts a flattened cryptic posture by means of which its ovoid tegmina completely cover and conceal the knee angles of its partially flexed limbs. When kept caged it will adopt this same pose.

Measurements. (Length in mm) (male n = 6): body 14.1–16.4; pronotum 3.6–3.9; elytron 19.1–21.2 (greatest width 7.8–8.1); hind wing 14.3–15.0; hind femur 8.0–8.2.

Etymology. Named after the area of occurrence.

Comments. The most obvious differences between nominate P. buergersi and P. b. wauensis are the strongly recurved male cerci and relatively longer styli in the latter.Whether the slight differences of the stridulatory apparatus are important is an open question, mainly as variability and song of the nominate form are unknown. For the time being we propose to give the new taxon subspecies status.

Stridulation. Call period during steady singing near 20°C is ~ 0.4s ( Fig. 14A ), slightly more than 2 calls per sec.

Slowed by a factor of 16, the call is heard as a fast repetition of highly tonal pulses: three shorter sinusoids lengthen and intensify into a concluding most intense wave train lasting ‘almost 20 ms’ ( Fig. 14B ). The strongly sinusoidal nature of the pulses is apparent in a time sample from this last and longest pulse ( Fig. 14D ). An FFT spectrum of one complete song shows a dominant frequency peak at ~11 kHz ( Fig. 14C ) with a Q 10 of 5.7.

Spectra calculated early and late during the ‘almost 20-ms’ prolonged pulse of Fig. 14B show an upward frequency modulation (FM) of ~1000 Hz. Two arrows ( Fig. 14B ) mark the start of each of these 512-point time samples. The two resulting FFT spectra are overlain in Fig. 14E : from 10.9 kHz the carrier peak shifts to 11.9kHz. The Q 10 value of 5.7 determined on the whole call is misleadingly low. The peak of one of the spectra in Fig. 14E has a Q 10 of about 20. The insect is engaged in resonant stridulation and contacts teeth at an increasing scraper speed.

Frequency modulation is rare in tettigoniid stridulations, but is known for several species (e.g., Morris et al. 2016 and see Eumecopoda cyrtoscelis and pumila in the present paper).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Paraphyllomimus male habitus, lateral view reflection on vertical glass; either P. buergersi wauensis or P. pipiens, the two being indistinguishable at this resolution.

FIGURE 6. Paraphyllomimus spp., male habitus, dorsal view, clings to vertical glass.

FIGURE 7. Paraphyllomimus spp., male habitus, ventral view, clings to vertical glass.

FIGURE 8. Paraphyllomimus, female habitus, ventral view, on vertical glass with attached spermatophore.

FIGURE 9. Habitus of types: A) Paraphyllomimus buergersi buergersi Beier (holotype male); B) P. buergersi wauensis ssp. nov. F. Willemse (paratype male); C) P. pipiens sp. nov. F. Willemse (holotype male).

FIGURE 10. Paraphyllomimus terminalia: A,C,E) P. buergersi buergersi Beier (holotype); B,D,F) P. buergersi wauensis (paratype); A,B) lateral aspect terminalia; C,D) dorsal view supra-anal plate; E,F) subgenital plate styli ventral view (scale 1 mm).

FIGURE 14. P. buergersi wauensis ssp. nov. acoustic analysis: A) 3 calls from sequence; B) One call at higher time resolution, three shorter pulses building in amplitude and duration precede a sustained pulse of almost 20 ms; C) Power spectrum of call, weak harmonic of 13 kHz fundamental ~34 kHz; D) Strongly sinusoid (high-Q) time sample from final pulse; E) Upward sliding FM of ~1 kHz, limits shown by overlain power spectra; FFT calculated on each of 512-point samples taken from the prolonged pulse at times indicated by arrows in FIGURE 14B.