Ajorama balatukanis Otte, 1988

Tan, Ming Kai, Salvador, Jewel Anne G., Sabang, Aira Mae M., Bahoy, Daphne Cayle M., Nuñeza, Olga Macas & Robillard, Tony, 2023, Taxonomy and bioacoustics of little-known Grylloidea crickets (Orthoptera, Ensifera) from Mindanao, Philippines, Zootaxa 5323 (3), pp. 301-348 : 307-309

Ajorama balatukanis Otte, 1988

( Figs 6–8 , 9A–C )

Ajorama balatukanis Otte, 1988: 317 Specimens examined. PHILIPPINES • 1♁; Mindanao, Misamis Oriental, Gingoog City, Barangay Lunotan , near Mt Sumagaya ; N8.70109, E125.01304, 1258.0±5.0 m.a.s.l.; 13 February 2023, 20h00; mossy forest, calling on a tree trunk under mosses; coll. M.K. Tan, J.A.G. Salvador, A.M. Sabang, A. Gono, D.C.M. Bahoy & K. Grumo; MIN.23.12 (PNM) • 1♁; Mindanao , Misamis Oriental, Gingoog City , Barangay Lunotan , foot of Mt Balatukan ; N8.70508, E125.00639, 1193.0± 5.1 m.a.s.l.; 15 February 2023, 20h32; open area outside mossy forest, under the bark of a dead log; coll. M.K. Tan, J.A.G. Salvador, A.M. Sabang, A. Gono, D.C.M. Bahoy & K. Grumo; MIN.23.57 (ZRC) ( Fig. 6 )

Remarks. The calling song of this species is described here for the first time.

Ecology. This species is fairly common in Barangay Lunotan where numerous males can be heard calling on tree trunks at night. As they often call while hiding on tree trunk covered with moss (and possibly under tree bark), they are not easily sighted.

Type locality. PHILIPPINES, Mindanao Island, Misamis Oriental, Mt Balatukan

Distribution. PHILIPPINES (Mindanao Island: Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental)

Calling song (1J, 19.2°C) ( Fig. 8 ). The calling song consists of short echemes with 10–11 discrete syllables. The first 2–3 syllables tend to be of lower amplitudes; amplitude of syllable gradually increases to a maximum and stabilises. Each echeme has a duration of 0.64±0.3 s (0.59–0.67 s). The average syllable duration is 25.9±4.3 ms (19.4–37.3 ms) and average interval between consecutive syllables is 34.3±4.2 ms (22.9–41.1 ms). The frequency spectrum is pure-tonal and forms a series of harmonics, with the energy peaking at the fundamental frequency. The dominant frequency is 4.41±0.00 kHz.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Ajorama balatukanis ♁ in its natural environment, open forested area at the foot of Mt Balatukan.

FIGURE 7. Ajorama balatukanis: head and pronotum in dorsal view (A); face in anterior view (B); head, pronotum and FWs in lateral view (C); right FW in dorsal view (D); abdominal apex in dorsal view (E). Scale bars: 2 mm (A–D), 1 mm (E).

FIGURE 8. Ajorama balatukanis ♁ calling song: oscillograms showing six echemes (A) and one echeme (B); spectrogram of the same echeme (C); power spectra of a syllable (D) where the grey line represents the power [dB] (axis name and scale in grey) and the black solid peak represents the relative amplitude (axis name in black).

FIGURE 9. ♁ genitalia of Ajorama balatukanis (A–C) and Ajorama siargaoensis (D, E) in dorsal (A, D), ventral (B) and lateral (C, E) views. Scale bars: 1 mm.