Ruspolia differens (Serville, 1839)

Hemp, Claudia, 2013, Annotated list of Ensifera (Orthoptera) and further records on Caelifera (Orthoptera) of Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Zootaxa 3613 (4), pp. 301-342 : 317

Ruspolia differens (Serville, 1839)

( Fig. 6 C)

Distribution. Madagascar, Kenya, Uganda, Mauritius (Bailey & McCrae 1978).

Reported as Conocephalus nitidulus (Scopoli, 1786) from Mt Kilimanjaro by Sjöstedt (1909).

Habitat. Hemp C. 2005. Common in savanna and Hyparrhenia grasslands, ruderal vegetation and bananacoffee-plantations at Mt Kilimanjaro.

Song. Very loud song of continuous sequence of syllables, produced only at night.

Altitudinal range at Mt Kilimanjaro: 900–1500– 1800 m.

Records: 100

Remarks. Sjöstedt (1909) mentioned Conocephalus nitidulus (Scopoli, 1786) in his list of Tettigoniidae from Mt Kilimanjaro. He stated that the species is very common from savanna grasslands to an elevation of about 1800 m in the plantation belt. Kevan & Knipper (1961) noted that in their study they will still apply the name Homorocoryphus nitidulus vicinus for specimens they collected in East Africa, but stated that the name H. differens would probably be more correct. Bailey (1975) in his revision of the African species of Ruspolia showed that Homorocoryphus is a junior synonym of Ruspolia . He further mentioned that there has been considerable confusion on the taxonomic status of R. differens . The name Homorocoryphus nitidulus vicinus (Walker) has been applied for convenience to many ill-defined species of this genus. Material collected by Sjöstedt from Mt Kilimanjaro was studied in the collection of the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden and proved to belong to R. differens .

Bailey (1975) wrote that R. nitidulus is an Europaen and mediterranean species only occurring in the mediterranean part of North Africa while R. differens is distributed over most of tropical Africa. The same distribution was given by Ingrisch (1999).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Ruspolia (Conocephalinae) species of Kilimanjaro. A, B. Ruspolia cf. exigua (Bolivar), species confined to submontane to montane grasslands of the southern slopes. A. green phase B. brown phase. C. Ruspolia differens (Serville), a common species of savanna grasslands up to montane elevations.