Hedotettix punctatus Hancock, 1909

Skejo, Josip & Gupta, Sunil Kumar, 2015, On the specific status of Hedotettix cristatus Karny, 1915 (Tetrigidae: Tetriginae), Zootaxa 4018 (4), pp. 584-592 : 585-586

species Hedotettix punctatus Hancock, 1909

( Fig. 3 )

Hedotettix punctatus: Hancock 1909 , Shishodia 1991a, 1991b, Wagan & Kevan 1992, Blackith 1992 Hedotettix cristitergus syn. nov.: Hancock 1915, Otte 1997, Blackith 1992, Liang & Zheng 1998 Material examined: HOLOTYPUS 1♀ (locality unknown) det. J. L. Hancock (UMO Oxford); 3♂♂ INDIA: Chhattisgarh: Bhoramdev wildlife sanctuary: District, Kabirdham, Dharamshala [22° 06’ 46.8’’N, 81° 09’15.3’’E, 491 m a.s.l.] 3♂♂ 28.IX.2013. (night collection), Sankri river [22° 05’ 40.9’’N, 81° 09’ 52.1’’E, 497 mn a.s.l.] 1♂ 30.IX.2013. (night collection): Gomerda Wildlife Sanctuary: District. Raigarh: (Madosilly Water Fall) [21° 27’ 28.4’’N, 83° 10’39.5’’E, 270m a.s.l.] 1♂, 22.II. 2012, Day collection; Durg District, Badbhum, Forest rest House [20° 14’ 19.7’’N, 81° 59’49.8’’E, 440 m a.s.l.] 1♂, 31.II2014,Night Collection, leg. S. K. Gupta det. J. Skejo; 1♀ Rajasthan 1935. leg. R. Ebner, det. K. Günther (SMTD, Dresden); 1♂ Madhya Pradesh: Mandla: Kanha NP: 2 km N of Mukki forest 1.III.1974. leg. H. Khajuria, det. M. S. Shishodia (Zoological Survey of India Collection); 20♂♂ + 22♀♀ Madhya Pradesh: Jabalpur 485 m a.sl. leg. P. S. Nathan, det. M. S. Wagan & D. K. McE. Kevan (Lyman Entomological Museum, Canada); 3♂♂ + 1♀ PR CHINA: Hainan: Lingshui: Xinxi [18°34'26.4"N 109°56'49.9"E] 14.VII.2014. photo: W.-L. Yeo, det. J. Skejo. Total material examined: 33♂♂ + 25♀♀ (58 specimens).

All of the specimens examined were compared with Hancock's (1909) original description, as well as with Wagan's & Kevan's (1992) information on the species' variability. Emphasis is given on morphological characters mentioned to be of diagnostic values, but others, found in this study to be valuable, are discussed as well.

Distribution and habitat. The species was hitherto known only from India—from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan ( Shishodia 1991a, 1991b, Wagan & Kevan 1992, Günther 1941). This is the very first records of the species for Chhattisgarh. Since H. cristitergus syn.nov. (see below) is to be considered synonymous with H. punctatus —the distribution of the latter is expanded. H. punctatus is a species of a disjunctive distribution—western part in Indian subcontinent (i.e. Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh) and eastern part in PR China (i.e. Hubei, Guangdon, Hainan). Such a disjunctive distribution pattern could be due to (i) habitat preferences for localities lower than 600 m a.s.l., and thus the species does not inhabit mountainous areas of Asia; or (ii) it could be a result of the lack of Tetrigidae research in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Future investigations could reveal a continuous distribution. The known distribution is shown on Figure 1 (red area). The species inhabits wet forest edges (rich with leaf-litter) (e.g. Bhoramdev WLS, Mukki), open wet meadows by rivers with low vegetation, rich with low angiosperms and mosses (e.g. Sankri River). The species probably feeds on mosses, freshwater algae, and detritus.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution map of Hedotettix punctatus (red area) and H. cristatus (blue area). The map is generated after unpublished and all the literature data.

FIGURE 3. Hedotettix punctatus macroptonotal morphology. Blue background—female from Rajasthan (photo S. Ingrisch), white background—male from Chhatisgarh (photo: S. K. Gupta) (scale bar = 1 mm).