Nanoleptopoda nigrifrons, Braun, Holger, 2011

Braun, Holger, 2011, A brief revision of brachypterous Phaneropterinae of the tropical Andes (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Odonturini), Zootaxa 2991, pp. 35-43 : 36-39

Nanoleptopoda nigrifrons sp. nov.

Braun 2002, p. 88: Parangara sp. 1, Dünnbeinige Gnomschrecke Braun 2008, p. 219: Parangara sp.1

Species page in OSF: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=75079 Etymology. Derived from Latin and referring to the black face.

Specimens and type locality. Holotype male (specimen cbt072s01, originally no. 213, with sound recording), Ecuador, Provincia Zamora-Chinchipe, Cordillera del Consuelo (north of Parque Nacional Podocarpus), 2180 m, leg. H. Braun 9 May 1999; allotype female (cbt072s02, no. 279), same locality, 2150 m, leg. H. Braun 6 August 1999, both deposited in the Museo de La Plata, Argentina. A second female (no. 73), same locality, fell to pieces, and a nymph (no. 217), same locality 2120 m, is apparently lost.

Description ( Figs. 1 & 2 ):

Diagnosis. Face mostly black, tegmina about three times as long as pronotum. Head. Frons, upper portion of clypeus, and latero-ventral part of scapus and pedicellus blackened (dark brown in dead specimens), frons with two whitish spots below each eye, and lower portion of genae whitish as well; vertex green, rear portion slightly blackened, thin median line and fastigium whitish. Antennae with broad white bands.

Thorax. Pronotum green, with thin white midline, white lateral edges of disk, and white margin of lateral lobes, the white separated from the green part by fine reddish fringes and some black markings, in male lateral lobe strongly narrowed caudally, exposing large auditory spiracle, lobe in female also distinctly narrowed, but auditory spiracle very small, slightly directed rearward. Anterior pleura whitish and coxae light-coloured, middle coxae ventrally and hind coxae completely blackened, and sternum blackened as well. Tegmina in male more than twice as long and in female twice as long as pronotum, mostly greenish, with some dark brown fields between green venation. In female right tegmen dorsally with minute transverse stridulatory file on inner margin near the base, consisting of about 15 microscopic toothlets. Alae considerably shorter than tegmina. Legs mostly greenish, but tympana in foreleg, dorsal markings on base of hindleg, and all tarsi black.

Abdomen. Mostly green, tergites with black latero-dorsal markings and whitish ventral bases, abdominal sternites blackened. Male cerci slender and simple, tapering and incurved distally, tip pointed and blackened. Male subgenital plate short, dark reddish, with inconspicuous median keel, caudally strongly narrowed, a slight terminal emargination creating slightly pointed tips, without styli. Female subgenital plate triangular, blackened, with very tiny terminal emargination, ovipositor mostly light green with dark margins (fading after death)

Measurements of the pair of types. Male/female body length 6–7 mm (since considerably shrunken)/ 11–12 mm, pronotum 2 mm, tegmina 6 mm, hind femora 15.5 mm (see also photographs with scales).

Calling song ( Fig. 1 ). The unique male produced in the cage at 19°C fairly long calls of 10–15 seconds. Pauses between these calls were only 2–4 minutes, but probably much longer in nature, were it never was detected. A call consists of very short syllables with an almost constant repetition rate of about 5 Hz. Each syllable is a quick crescendo of rapidly decaying impulses, which probably coincide with file-scraper impacts. The last few impulses at the end are merged, and after a very short pause follows another which is very low. The frequency range is very broad, reaching from around 17 kHz to well above 30 kHz, with most energy between 20 kHz and 30 kHz. So it is practically entirely ultrasound, only at a few meters from the calling male a very faint noise was audible to the unaided ear.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Nanoleptopoda nigrifrons sp. nov.: male holotype. Oscillograms of call fragment (complete call duration 10 – 15 s) and one expanded syllable; linear power spectrum of frequency range; specimen in lateral and dorsal view, subgenital plate and cerci in ventral view, and cerci in dorsal view.

FIGURE 2. Nanoleptopoda nigrifrons sp. nov.: female allotype. Alive, and lateral and dorsal view of specimen, face, and subgenital plate.