Decticus verrucivorus crassus Götz, 1970

Liu, Fei, Chen, Liusheng & Liu, Chunxiang, 2020, Taxonomic Studies of the genus Decticus Serville, 1831 from China (Orthoptera Tettigoniidae: Tettigoniinae), based on Morphology and Songs, Zootaxa 4860 (4), pp. 563-576 : 574

Decticus verrucivorus crassus Götz, 1970

Decticus verrucivorus crassus Götz, 1970 . Zur Grössenvariation im Formenkreis Decticus verrucivorus ( Orthoptera, Saltatoria , Tettigoniidae ). Abh. Mus. Tierkd. Völkerkd., (A) Zool. (N.F.) 31:189.

Diagnosis. Large-sized. Lateral lobe of pronotum about 1.2 times higher than wide. Tegmen with nearly straight and parallel anterior and posterior margins, with rounded apices ( Fig. 5d ).

Redescription. Tegmen brown (or light green in a few specimens), with dark brown or black spots. Stridulatory file with about 69–72 widely-arranged pegs; pegs gradually becoming shorter from proximal two thirds part towards distal end ( Fig. 6h ). Male cercus branched in or near middle. Subgenital plate with a shallow obtuse-angle incision ( Fig. 4h & m ). Female subgenital plate with an approximately circular incision.

Notes. Within this subspecies, morphological variation is large. Male tegmina slightly exceed the knees of hind femora or not. Male cerci are bifurcated in middle, or slightly near base or apex. According to length comparison between tegmen and ovipositor, females can be divided into three types. One type possesses long ovipositor, and tegmen reaching middle of ovipositor; The second type possesses long ovipositor, and tegmen reaching ovipositor apex; The third type possesses comparatively short ovipositor and tegmen reaching middle of ovipositor. The cause of the differences are not clear.

Measurement (mm). See Table 6 and Table 7 .

Song. Each chirp consists of five or six syllables with different amplitudes in different temperature ( Fig. 7 k–m). Compared with D. v. verrucivorus , the syllable number of chirp and the syllable’s structure and situation are different ( Fig. 7 f–o). The important parameters are listed ( Tab. 3 ).

Material examined. See Table 1 and Table 2.

Distribution. The species is widely distributed in most parts of the Palaearctic Region ( Fontana et al. 2002; Willemse et al. 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 4a–o. Male pronotum and abdominal apex (scale: 1.00 mm). a–e: Pronotum; f–j: The dorsal view of abdominal apex; k–o: The ventral view of abdominal apex.

FIGURE 5a–e. Right tegmen of males. a: D. v. verrucivorus; b: D. v. latipennis ssp. n; c: D. v. sayram ssp. n. d: D. v. crassus; e: D. albifrons.

FIGURE 6a–j. Stridulatory apparatus of Decticus. a, c, e, g, i: Mirror on right tegmen; b, d, f, h, j: Stridulatory file on underside of male left tegmen; a–b: D. v. verrucivorus; c–d: D. v. latipennis ssp. n.; e–f: D. v. sayram ssp. n.; g–h: D. v. crassus; i–j: D. albifrons.

FIGURE 7a–j. Song diagrams per populations. a–e: D. albifrons; f–j: D. v. verrucivorus; k–o: D. v. crassus (The temperature of m2 is 29.8 °C and others are 27 °C.); a–b, f–g, k–l: A phrase series; c, h, m1–2: Elements in a chirp; d, i, n: Sonogram of the calling song; e, j, o: Power spectrum of the calling song.