Cardiodactylus variegatus Gorochov & Robillard, 2014

Robillard, Tony, Tan, Ming Kai, Japir, Razy & Chung, Arthur Y. C., 2023, Notes on the Eneopterinae (Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Gryllidae) from eastern Sabah, Zootaxa 5315 (3), pp. 231-250 : 243-245

Cardiodactylus variegatus Gorochov & Robillard, 2014

( Figs 9–11 )

Cardiodactylus variegatus Gorochov & Robillard, 2014 , in Robillard et al., 2014: 100 – Dong et al., 2018: 6 (phylogeny and historical biogeography)

Material examined

MALAYSIA — Sabah • 1J; Mount Silam, near peak (end); N4.96878 E118.17189, 736.1 m.a.s.l. (GPS SAB22_3); 12.v.2022; TR22-08; on low plant at base of tree (night); molecular sample C241; call recording MNHN-SO-2023- 1479; M.K Tan & T. Robillard; MNHN-EO-ENSIF11346

Additional description

Male. Habitus as shown in Fig. 9A ; FWs ( Fig. 9B ). FW colouration mostly dark brown (cells and veins), with yellow areas including bases of anal veins and CuA, harp veins, oval region posterior to mirror. Apical field entirely dark brown, including transverse veins. Bases of chords orange brown. Lateral field: M/R/Sc area and cells dark orange brown. Sc with yellow projections. FW venation: 1A slightly bisinuated. CuP absent. Harp with 2 w-shaped oblique veins. Mirror (d1) oval, separated in two parts near mid-length; d2 as wide as mirror. Apical field with 4 cell alignments posterior to mirror. Lateral field with 6 projections of Sc and 4 more ventral veins.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 10 ): Pseudepiphallus short, narrowed twice, at mid-length and preapically; apex slightly asymmetrical and curved laterally. Lateral ridges forming short and thick parallel walls, their dorsal edges lanceolate due to widening of anterior region, their dorsal edges carinated; pseudepiphallus bisinuated laterally. Pseudepiphallic sclerite with short latero-anterior expansions, membrane between them with thin setae. Posterior region of pseudepiphallus almost square, narrower than preapical part, apex with a translucent area including a small anterior sclerotization. Rami with semi-circular preapical plates and well visible apical stems. Ectophallic arc complete, v-shaped. Ectophallic fold with strong lateral sclerites; apex trilobate, membranous. Endophallic sclerite long, with a triangular posterior expansion and short lateral arms. Endophallic apodeme with a dorsal crest and wide lateral lamellae. Membrane of endophallic cavity finely plicate.

Measurement (in mm, 1 male). BL = 18.0, PronL = 2.5, PronW = 4.1, FWL = 12.9, FWW = 4.0, HWT = 3.9, FIIIL = 14.1, FIIIW = 3.7, TIIIL = 12.4

Comparison with C. pelagus Otte, 2007

The new observations confirm that C. variegatus , initially described from a single female, is a valid species close to C. pelagus . C. variegatus differs by its the characteristic colouration: face almost uniformly yellow, pronotum with two dark bands on each lateral lobe (one in C. pelagus ), legs strongly spotted and FIIIs with very dark apical part. Male FWs are almost similar in both species, but C. variegatus mirror is crossed by a dark vein (instead of yellow in C. pelagus ) and its apical field is almost entirely dark brown (with yellow transverse veins in C. pelagus ). Male genitalia similar in both species, but C. variegatus differs by pseudepiphallus with lateral ridges thicker than in C. pelagus ; posterior pseudepiphallic apex narrower, almost square (wider and trapezoidal in C. pelagus ), with a small rounded translucent area. Rami with longer apical stems (very short in C. pelagus ).

Ecology

The only specimen collected occurred at a relatively high elevation in Mount Silam, on low vegetation at the base of a tree near a forest path.

Distribution

Borneo (Sabah: Trus Madi Mountain, Long Pa Sia, Mount Silam [new locality record])

Calling song ( Fig. 11 )

The calling song consists of isolated syllables, with an average duration of 59.8±4.4 ms (50.6–63.3 ms). The average interval between consecutive syllables is 3.5±1.1 s (2.5–6.1 s). The call spectrum is broad-band with the energy peaking at 19.34±1.22 kHz (16.97–20.91 kHz).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Cardiodactylus variegatus J adult in Mount Silam (A) and right FW (B). Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURE 10. J genitalia of Cardiodactylus variegatus in dorsal (A), ventral (B) and lateral (C) views. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURE 11. Cardiodactylus variegatus J calling song: oscillograms showing four isolated syllables (A) and a syllable (B); spectrogram of the same syllable (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).