5,628 research outputs found
New taxa of Orthoptera (Insecta Tettigoniidae Phaneropterinae) from Madagascar
The author reports the results of a study on Orthoptera collected in Madagascar and preserved in two European Natural
History museums. He describes Symmetroraggea depravata n. sp., Parapyrrhicia longipodex n. sp., Madagascarantia
bartolozzii n. gen. n. sp., Mimoscudderia spinicercata n. sp. In addition, he lists new records or unknown taxonomical
characters of Xenodus nobilis Carl, 1914 and Parapyrrhicia virilis Carl, 1914
New data and taxa for Orthoptera Tettigoniidae and Acrididae from tropical Africa.
The results of a long-term study on the Orthoptera collected in tropical Africa and preserved in different European
natural history museums are reported. Horatosphaga bazeletae n. sp. is described from South Africa, Dapanera falxcercata n.
sp. from Cameroon, Eurycorypha specularia n. sp. from Zambia (Tettigoniidae Phaneropterinae), and Eucoptacra popovi n.
sp. (Acrididae Coptacrinae) from the Gabon. Furthermore, the new genus Pigalua n. gen. is described for Eulioptera insularis
Ragge, 1980 from Annobón Is. (Equatorial Guinea). The new tribe Kevaniellini n. trib. is proposed for Kevaniella bipunctata
Chopard, 1954. Besides, the hitherto unknown males of Eurycorypha flavescens (Walker, 1869) and Eurycorypha klaptoczi
Karny, 1917 fromWest Africa are described. In addition, new records or unknown taxonomical characters are reported for five
species of Horatosphaga, Peronura clavigera Karsch, 1889, Prosphaga splendens Ragge, 1960, Kevaniella bipunctata
Chopard, 1954, Eurycorypha prasinata Stål, 1874, Poreuomena lamottei Chopard, 1954, Tylopsis fissa Ragge, 1964,
Catoptropteryx extensipes Karsch, 1896 and Mangomaloba latipennis Chopard, 1954 (Tettigoniidae Phaneropterinae)
New and interesting Orthoptera from the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra
This paper reports on some interesting taxa recently found in the Arabian Peninsula and the island of
Socotra. Among them is a new species of brachypterous grasshopper Sphodromerus carapezzanus sp. n.
(Acrididae: Calliptaminae), described from an isolated area in Dhofar (Oman). A female Heteracris hemiptera
(Uvarov, 1935) (Acrididae: Eyprepocnemidinae) is reported, with morphological characters which do
not fully comply with those of any known subspecies. Two species, hitherto rarely documented, are also
reported, Phaneroptila insularis Uvarov, 1957 (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) from Socotra and Cataloipus
thomasi Uvarov, 1933 (Acrididae: Eyprepocnemidinae) from Oman. Pycnodictya dentata Krauss,
1902 (Acrididae: Oedipodinae) is reported from Saudi Arabia, constituting a new record for the country
The role of the Krauss\u2019s organ in sound production in Pamphagidae (Caelifera: Orthoptera).
In Pamphagidae, the Krauss\u2019s organ is located on both sides of the 2nd tergite and its function is superficially known. It has been proposed to have a stridulatory function. This organ can be found in all Pamphagidae except the apterous genera. Rearing specimens of some species and observing mounted pamphagids allowed the author to observe that when the Krauss\u2019s organ is absent (most apterous species) the tympanum is also absent; further, he discovered specialized stridulatory structures on hind femurs of some taxa for sound emission. By rearing two Pamphagidae belonging to different genera, fragments of stridulations involving the Krauss\u2019s organ and specialized structures on the hind femur surface were obtained for the first time. Mapping the presence of these morphological characters onto the known Pamphagidae list revealed that specialization on the hind femur surface evolved multiple times in multiple geographical locations in winged species with a wrinkled Krauss\u2019s organ. The function of the sounds produced by the femur-Krauss\u2019s organ method remains to be studied
New genera, species and records of Afrotropical Phaneropterinae (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) preserved at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Bruxelles.
The results of the study of the rich material of Orthoptera Phaneropterinae at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences,
Bruxelles, are reported. The following new taxa are described: Dithela longicaudata n. sp. from the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Terpnistriella bredoi n. gen. n. sp. from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mimoscudderia paulyi n.
sp. from the Madagascar, Pseudogoetia constanti n. gen. n. sp. from the Democratic Republic of Congo (including a table
listing differences with related genera), and Materuana abyssinica n. sp. from the Ethiopia. Some taxonomic and distributional
data about the following species are also reported: Melidia claudiae Massa, 2015, Symmetrokarschia africana
(Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878), Eurycorypha ndokiensis Massa, 2016, Eurycorypha prasinata Stål, 1874, Eurycorypha
spinulosa Karsch, 1889, two unidentified species of Eurycorypha recorded by Griffini in 1908, Tylopsis irregularis Karsch,
1893, Pardalota asymmetrica Karsch, 1896, Pardalota haasi Griffini, 1908, Pardalota karschiana Enderlein, 1907,
Pardalota versicolor Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878, Poecilogramma cloetensi (Griffini, 1908), Poecilogramma annulifemur
Karsch, 1887, Morgenia spathulifera Griffini, 1908, Mimoscudderia picta Carl, 1914 and Angustithorax spiniger
Massa, 2015. The following synonymy is established: Plangiopsis shoutedeni Griffini, 1908 = Plangiopsis adeps Karsch,
1896; the latter species, recently moved to the genus Plangiola BolÃvar, 1906 is again transferred to the original genus
Review of the African genera Arantia Stål and Goetia Karsch (Orthoptera. Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae).
The genus Arantia is reviewed, the distribution and distinguishing characters given. The three species of Goetia are assigned
as subgenus to Arantia. Arantia gestri Griffini is transferred to this new subgenus and synonymized with G. dimidiata
BolÃvar. Other species synonymized are: A. accrana Karsch with A. rectifolia Brunner von Wattenwyl; A. gabunensis
Brunner von Wattenwyl with A. regina Karsch; A. mammisignum Karsch and A. tigrina BolÃvar with A. excelsior Karsch;
A. ugandana Rehn is synonymized with A. fasciata (Walker). 6 species from Tropical Africa are newly described: A.
(Arantia) quinquemaculata n. sp., A. (Arantia) ivoriana n. sp., A. (Euarantia) tanzanica n. sp., A. (Euarantia) tibiaspinosa
n. sp., A. (Euarantia) bispinosa n. sp. and A. (Euarantia) griffinii n. sp. A key to the subgenera and species of Arantia
is provided. The tribe Arantiini is synonymized with Holochlorini
A new species of Bolbelasmus Boucomont, 1911 (Insecta Coleoptera Geotrupidae) from Sicily (Italy).
Authors have examined all available sicilian specimens belonging to the genus Bolbelasmus, collected between 1893 and 2010, previously identified as B. gallicus e B. unicornis. They conclude that both species have to be excluded from the sicilian fauna and describe the new species B. romanorum, which is characterized by peculiar punctures on the clypeus, the head and the pronotum, and by the shape of the clypeus, the head and the aedeagus sclerites. They compare the new species with all the taxa currently known in the Mediterranean. Further, they show oscillograms of both sexes of the new species, which, as other Bolbelasmus, stridulates vigorously; they also detect for the first time the pars stridens, consisting in a series of small bristles on the lower outer border of wings; the insect emits its sound moving actively the abdomen, the friction of the wing on the first abdominal tergite, particularly swollen, produces the stridulation
Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera) ovipositing in old galls of Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)
Authors report some biological notes on two species of Orthoptera Tettigoniidae emerged from old spongy-woody galls of Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, 1951 collected in April 2015 from some areas of Sicily (Italy): Leptophyes sicula Kleukers, Od\ue9 et Fontana, 2010 (Phaneropterinae) and Cyrtaspis scutata (Charpentier, 1825) (Meconematinae). Between the end of April and the first days of May 30 neanids emerged from the galls, were reared and their cycle followed. While L. sicula laid eggs in groups, C. scutata laid single eggs inside the galls; both species have shown that in a few years they adapted in exploiting this new shelter for egg laying. No interaction with the gall inducing insect was noted
Remarks on the misunderstood use of the term biodiversity
The term diversity is intended to denote species richness understood as the number of species and individuals; it was explicitly discussed at length by Hutchinson in 1959 and by many other scientists in the following decades. The term biodiversity, certainly derived from diversity, was born in the 1980s. The difference between the two terms is substantial, diversity is a part of the whole, as biodiversity is understood as diversity of organisms at the level of species, individuals, genes, interactions and ecological processes among them and at the level of ecosystems. Thus, it is correct to write ‘plant diversity’ or ‘animal diversity’, but not ‘plant biodiversity’ or ‘animal biodiversity’. Biodiversity is unique, it includes all living things, it is equal to a fundamental law of life, the maintenance of adequate levels of biodiversity is a necessity for the very life of our Planet. An illustration of biodiversity seen in the form of mosaic tesserae is tentatively presente
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