Dendrobia octopunctata, Hemp & Ingrisch & Heller, 2017

Hemp, Claudia, Ingrisch, Sigfrid & Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, 2017, A new genus and other new species of Agraeciini from the Eastern Arc Mountains, East Africa (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Conocephalinae; Agraeciini), Zootaxa 4311 (1), pp. 1-22 : 9-12

Dendrobia octopunctata n. sp. Hemp C.

( Figs. 12–18 , 29)

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:497465

Holotype male. Tanzania, Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Ngologolo Mountains, January 2017 . Depository MfN. Further paratype material: 1 female, same data as holotype. Depository MfN. Further paratype material: 1 female , same data as holotype but June 2016 (caught as small nymph, adult September 2016). Collection C. Hemp.

Description male. Habitus and colour. Plump medium-sized insect, predominantly leaf green with brownreddish broad fascia on margins where tegmina meet medially. Remaining part of tegmina with pattern of green veins surrounding light green center. Pronotum with 8 shiny black dots arranged in pairs. Eyes reddish. Joints of hind femora with tibiae black, fore and mid femora green ( Fig. 12 ). Head and antennae. Face broad, predominantly of white colour (female, Fig. 13 ). Antennae yellowish-tawny. Fore and mid femora with 4 stout spines ventroanteriorly, white, sometimes with black tips. Hind femora with 8–9 broad-based spines ventro-anteriorly along whole length and 1–2 stout spines near joints to tibiae ventro-posteriorly. Stridulatory file with about 130 teeth ( Fig. 14). Abdomen. Last abdominal tergite broad with almost straight posterior margin with a median depression. Cerci stretched with bulb-like setose bases, then suddenly narrowing into finger-like apex ( Fig. 15A ). Supra-anal plate bulgy triangular. Subgenital plate broad, posterior margin v-shaped incised, with thin styli ( Fig. 15 A ).

Female. Similar in habitus and colour as male with same spination ( Fig. 16 ). Ovipositor long, slightly upcurved with smooth sclerotized valves ( Fig 17 A). Subgenital plate with median rectangular incision on posterior margin and lateral processes ( Fig. 17 B).

Measurements, males (mm) (N=1). Total length of body (including cerci): 29; Median length of pronotum 13.3; Length of hind femur 15.8; Length of elytra 22.4.

Measurements, females (mm) (N=2). Total length of body 30.9–34.8; Median length of pronotum 11.8–12.5; Length of hind femur 16.9–20.2; Length of elytra 21.2–25.5; Length of ovipositor 14.2–15.1.

Song. Short loud raspy chirps produced irregularly with long gaps of silence during evening and night hours. Sound structure similar to D. amaniensis n. sp., but echeme sequence with less but longer echemes each containing more syllables (last echeme ca. 17 syllables, rate 38 Hz; Fig. 10 ; only one recording with echoes available). The spectrum of the song broad-banded with a maximum at about 8 kHz ( Fig. 11 ).

Biology. Dweller of the tree canopy. Probably predaceous, in captivity feeding on fruit, cereals and insect parts.

Habitat. Submontane to montane forest.

Distribution. Tanzania, Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Ngologolo Mountains.

Etymology. Named after the eight dots on the pronotum, from Latin – octo = eight and - punctata = dotted.

Diagnosis. D. amaniensis n. sp. is differentiated from D. octopunctata n. sp. by the number of black dots on the pronotum, 6 in D. amaniensis n. sp. and 8 in D. octopunctata n. sp. ( Fig. 18 ). Males have very differently shaped cerci, laterally expanded in D. amaniensis n. sp. and with bulb-like bases and a narrow finger-like apex in D. octopunctata n. sp. Females of both species have differently shaped subgenital plates (compare Fig. 9 and Fig. 17 B). Also the song differs between the two species ( Fig. 10 ).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Ovipositor and subgenital plate of female Dendrobia amaniensis n. sp. in semi-lateral view (A) and ventrally (B). Scale bar 1 mm. Arrows point to structure on ovipositor causing bulge medially at posterior margin of subgenital plate.

FIGURE 10. Oscillograms of the calling songs of D. amaniensis n. sp., D. octopunctata n. sp. and Afroanthracites nguru n. sp.

FIGURE 11. Power spectra of the calling songs of D. amaniensis n. sp., D. octopunctata n. sp. and Afroanthracites nguru n. sp.

FIGURE 12. Male Dendrobia octopunctata n. sp. from the Ngologolo Mountains within the Udzungwa Mountains National Park in central Tanzania.

FIGURE 13. Face of female D. octopunctata n. sp. being predominantly white without pair of black dots beside the labrum.

FIGURE 15. A. Abdominal apex of male D. octopunctata n. sp. with bulb-like bases of cerci and finger-like apices. B. Ventral side with unarmed pro-, meso- and metasterna.

FIGURE 16. Female D. octopunctata n. sp.

FIGURE 17. Female D. octopunctata n. sp. A. Ovipositor B. Subgenital plate.

FIGURE 18. Pronotal pattern of D. amaniensis n. sp. (A) with six black dots and D. octopunctata n. sp. (B) with eight black dots.