Griffiniana capensis Naskrecki, 1994

Naskrecki, Piotr & Bazelet, Corinna S., 2012, A revision of the southern African katydid genus Griffiniana Karny (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Mecopodinae), Zootaxa 3218, pp. 47-58 : 52-56

Griffiniana capensis Naskrecki, 1994

( Figs. 1 A; 2C, D; 3B, J, M; 4A, B)

Naskrecki 1994: 295 >> Griffiniana capensis

Type locality. REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: Northern Cape, vic. of Teekloof, Pass (32°10'60''S, 21°37'0''E) 25.ii.1974, coll. D.C.F. Rentz & K.R. Brodey—male holotype ( ANIC)

Diagnostic description (male, except where specified). General characteristics as for the genus, diagnostic characters listed below. This species can be distinguished from its congeners by the development of the tegmina, which in both sexes are reduced, less than twice as long as pronotum ( Figs. 1 A, 3A); the non-stridulatory area of the tegmen is about 2/3 as long as mirror ( Fig. 2 C). The call of the male consists of a series of echemes lasting about 1 s each, separated by gaps of approximately equal length ( Figs. 4 A, B.)

Legs. Front femur armed with 0–3 spines on anterior and unarmed on posterior ventral margin; front tibia with anterior dorsal margin with 4–6, posterior one with 8–9 minute spines. Mid femur unarmed on posterior and 1–3 spines on anterior ventral margin; mid tibia not noticeably thickened in basal part, with 17 small spines on anterior dorsal and 11 on posterior dorsal margin. Hind femur armed with 4–6 spines on anterior and 2–4 spines on posterior ventral margin

Wings. Tegmen reduced, 16–2.0 times as long as pronotum; non-stridulatory area of tegmen about 2/3 as long as mirror; tegmen distinctly narrowed towards apex; anterior margin rounded. Costal field relatively wide, strongly narrowed only at apex; vein Rs very short, in apical fifth; veins Sc and R close together, parallel along their entire length, joint in apical fifth; mirror large, shape as in Fig. 2 C. Stridulatory file flat, straight, with 77–88 teeth (including minute teeth of anterior end of file), 1.0– 1.1 mm long, 0.1 mm wide ( Fig. 2 D); hind wing reduced, half as long as tegmen.

Abdomen. Cercus cylindrical, straight, narrowing towards apex; with small, subapical, inner tooth; paraprocts weakly sclerotized, with small but distinct apical hook; styli cylindrical, about 3 times as long as wide ( Fig. 3 M.) Female subgenital plate broadly trapezoidal, with very shallow apical incision, posterior lobes rounded ( Fig. 3 J.)

Bioacoustics. Males of G. capensis call from terminal branches of small, widely spaced bushes, usually sitting no higher than 50 cm above the ground. They begin their acoustic activity shortly after dark and continue until approximately midnight. The call ( Figs. 4 A, B) consists of repeating echemes lasting 0.6– 1.26 s (0.94± 0.458 s, n=52), separated by silence lasting approximately as long as the echeme (0.6– 1.2 s, occasionally longer); males from Tankwa Karoo National Park produced longer echemes (1.05– 1.41 s, 1.26± 0.39 s, n=26, at 20°C) than those from Karoo National Park (0.53– 1.37 s, 0.59± 0.21 s, n=25 at 22°C.) Each echeme consists of 7–35 syllables (16.57± 8.18, n=35.) The absolute range of frequencies of the call was not measured due to the limitation of the equipment, but within the recorded range of 0–48 kHz the energy peak appeared around 28 kHz, with the secondary peak within audible part of the spectrum, at around 8–10 kHz. An ultrasonic detector registered acoustic signal within the call above 100 kHz, but the relative strength of this part of the call could not be measured.

Measurements (17 males, 2 females). Body: male 11–15 (12.6±1), female 20–24 (22±2.8); pronotum: male 2–3 (2.6±.4), female 2.5–3 (2.8±.4); tegmen: male 3–5 (4.1±.7), female 3; hind femur: male 12–15 (13.5±1.2), female 15; ovipositor: 10.5 mm.

Material examined (26 specimens). Republic of South Africa: Eastern Cape, 20 km S Aberdeen, (32°37'33.43''S, 24°11'26.57''E), 16.xii.1960, coll. Brown, Fürst & Haacke— 1 female ( SANC); Northern Cape, Tankwa Karoo Nat. Park, 500 m S off main road, elev. 531 m (32°12'1.7''S, 20°1'42.2''E), 25.i.2011, coll. P. Naskrecki & C. Bazelet— 1 male ( MCZ); Tankwa Karoo Nat. Park, Elandsberg Cottages, elev. 583 m (32°10'31.4''S, 19°58'40.8''E), 23.i.2011, coll. P. Naskrecki & C. Bazelet— 5 males ( MCZ); Tankwa Karoo Nat. Park, Gannaga Pass, elev. 863 m (32°7'36.2''S, 20°5'55.2''E), 24.i.2011, coll. P. Naskrecki & C. Bazelet— 1 male ( MCZ); Teekloof Pass, 30 km S Fraserburg, (32°10'60''S, 21°37'0''E)—coll. H.D. Brown— 1 male ( SANC); vic. of Teekloof, Pass, elev. 1160 m (32°10'60''S, 21°37'0''E), 25.ii.1974, coll. D.C.F. Rentz & K.R. Brodey— 1 female, 3 males (incl. holotype, 2 paratypes) ( ANIC); Western Cape, Karoo National Park, elev. 950 m (32°19'48.8''S, 22°30'9.8''E), 28.xi.2006, coll. P. Naskrecki & D. Otte— 2 males ( MCZ); same locality, 21-22.xi.2009, coll. P. Naskrecki & C. Bazelet— 1 female, 3 males, 1 nymph female ( MCZ); same locality, 22.i.2011, coll. P. Naskrecki & C. Bazelet— 1 female, 5 males ( MCZ).

Remarks. The distribution of this species falls within Lower Karoo Bioregion, Nama-Karoo Biome) and Rainshadow Valley Karoo Bioregions (Succulent Karoo Biome) ( Fig. 5 B.) It is associated with arid vegetation types, in areas where mean annual precipitation usually ranges from 70 to 100 mm ( Mucina and Rutherford 2006.)

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of South African species of Griffiniana: A. G. c a p e n s i s, male; B. G. longipes, male; C. G. duplessisae, female.

FIGURE 2. Diagnostic characters of Griffiniana spp.: A. G. longipes, male right tegmen; B. ditto, stridulatory file; C. G. c a p e n - sis, male right tegmen; D. ditto, stridulatory file; E – L, G. duplessisae: E. male right tegmen; F. stridulatory file; G. male head an pronotum, dorsal view; H. male face; I. male head and pronotum, lateral view; J. ovipositor; K. egg; L. male hind femur.

FIGURE 3. Diagnostic characters of Aprosphylini: A. G. duplessisae, female, dorsal view; B. G. c a p e n s i s, ditto; C. G. p e d e s - tris, female head and pronotum, lateral view; D. ditto, dorsal view; E. ditto, fastigium of vertex; F. Aprosphylus olszanowskii, fastigium of vertex; G. G. pedestris, female subgenital plate; H. G. longipes, ditto; I. G. duplessisae, ditto; J. G. c a p e n s i s, ditto; K. G. longipes, male cerci and subgenital plate; L. G. duplessisae, ditto; M. G. capensis, ditto.

FIGURE 4. Oscillograms of male calls of Griffiniana spp.: A. G. c a p e n s i s, 5 s fragment; B. ditto, 0.5 s fragment; C. G. duplessisae, 5 s fragment; D. ditto, 0.5 s fragment; E. G. longipes, 5 s fragment; F. ditto, 0.5 s fragment.

FIGURE 5. Habitats and distribution of Griffiniana spp.: A. Cederberg Sandstone Fynbos in Matjiesrivier N. R., habitat of G. duplessisae; B. Tanqua Escarpment Shrubland in Tankwa Karoo N. P., habitat of G. c a p e n s i s; C. Noms Mountain Desert in Richtersveld N. P., habitat of G. longipes; D. distribution map of Griffiniana spp.