Hedotettix cristatus Karny, 1915

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

species Hedotettix cristatus Karny, 1915

( Fig. 4 )

Hedotettix cristatus: Karny 1915 , Tinkham 1937, Günther 1941, 1979, Wagan & Kevan 1992 Hedotettix gracilis: Haan 1842 , Steinmann 1970

Hedotettix punctatus: Wagan & Kevan 1992

Material examined: (all from TAIWAN) HOLOTYPUS 1♂ Kaohsiung (on original label written Formosa (= Taiwan): Souktsu) 7.VI.1912. leg. H. Sauter, det. H. H. Karny (Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, ZALF e.V. Müncheberg); Photomaterial from various sources and authors, all from Kaohsiung: Caishan NP: Flickr (by user ajstone2548)—7* nymphs (late instars, sex indeterminable) 8.VI.2014. (by user Bigfish Yeh) 1♀ Longqui: Tainan 7.IX.2011.; Nature Campus: 1♂ + 1♀ 1.III.2007., 1♂ 17.III.2007., 1* nymph (last instar, sex indeterminable) 8.VII.2012. (by user m a [Sean Young]), 3♂♂ + 2♀ 22.XI.2011. (by user yunol). Total material examined: 8 nymphs + 6♂♂ + 4♀♀ (18 specimens), all photo material was determined by J. Skejo.

* late nymph instars are very similar in morphology to adult specimens, the only difference being indeterminable sex because of not developed sex characters (ovipositor, male subgental plate) and lack of genicular and antigenicular teeth on hind knee

Distribution and habitat. The species was hitherto known from a single male specimen, holotype. We examined 15 additional specimens, 14 from the same area—from Kaohsiung county, Caishan (= Shoushan, Monkey Mountain) National Nature Park in SW Taiwan and a single female from Longqui— 70 km N of Kaohsiung. It seems that the species is endemic to the very small area or it has been overlooked in the past. Shoushan NP is surrounded by city areas, and thus the species' habitat could be fragmented. The area is characterized by low elevation (with highest hills at about 360 m a.s.l.) and a wet tropic climate. According to the photos examined, the species feed on mosses and algae. Nymphs tend to stay on brown vegetation and leaf-litter similar in color to their bodies. Adults tend to stay on rocky patches covered by algae and mosses, also similar to their body color. The distribution of the species needs to be studied more in detail to reveal if it is present on other similar Taiwanese habitats. The species distribution is shown on the map ( Fig. 1 .) (blue area).

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 4. Hedotettix cristatus brachypronotal morphology. A male holotype (photo S. Ingrisch), C-D specimens Kaohsiung (photo yunol).