Caulopsis, Redtenbacher, 1891

Piotr Naskrecki, 2000, Katydids of Costa Rica / Vol. 1, Systematics and bioacoustics of the cone-head katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae sensu lato)., Philadelphia, PA: The Orthopterists Society at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, : 75-76

CAULOPSIS Redtenbacher, 1891

1891 Redtenbacher, Monogr. Conoceph.: 376; type species: Caulopsis gracilis Redtenbacher, 1891

1999 Naskrecki and Otte, Illustr. Cat. Orthop. I (CD ROM) >>full references

Diagnosis

Body very slender; both sexes macropterous ( Figs. 18 A, 36B); tegumen smooth to moderately rugose. Fastigium of vertex 2 to 3 times broader than scapus, 2 to 5 times longer than eye diameter; no traces of genal carinae present; mandibles and labrum strongly asymmetrical; eyes small. All legs slender, armed on lower margins with minute spines. Male cercus armed apically with 2 incurved spines; ovipositor straight, with upper and lower margins parallel.

Description (male except where specified)

Head.— Fastigium of vertex 2 to 3 times as wide as scapus, blunt or pointed apically, 2 to 5 times as long as diameter of eye; fastigium of vertex touching fastigium of frons, rarely fastigia separated ( Figs. 18 A, 18C-D). Eyes small relative to size of head, weakly protruding. Frons flat or weakly convex, smooth; tegumen of head smooth to weakly rugose, without traces of genal carinae; face very slender. Mandibles and labrum strongly asymmetrical (right mandible smaller) ( Fig. 18 C).

Thorax and wings.— Dorsal surface of pronotum smooth to weakly rugose, flat; anterior dorsal margin straight, posterior one straight or weakly convex; lateral lobes with posterior angle broadly rounded; humeral sinus well developed. Thoracic auditory spiracle large, elliptical, completely hidden under lateral lobe of pronotum; posterior edge of spiracle with small, finger-like projection. Prosternum armed with two thin, long, widely separated spines (modified basisternum); meso- and metasternum with lateral lobes of basisterna small, triangular, their inner margins touching; posterior part of metasternum strongly compressed causing hind coxa to nearly touch one another.

Wings in both sexes fully developed, well surpassing apices of hind femora ; tegmina slender. Stridulatory apparatus of male well developed; stridulatory area of left wing membranous, without a network of secondary veinlets; stridulatory file (vein AA 1) weakly sinusoidal ( Figs. 48 F-I), teeth in proximal third of file much smaller and more densely arranged than in distal portion; mirror of right wing circular or somewhat longer than wide. Posterior margin of tegmen weakly concave; apex of tegmen broadly rounded.

Legs.— All legs long and slender; fore coxa with an elongate, forward projecting spine dorsally. All femora unarmed dorsally; fore and mid femora unarmed ventrally, rarely with minute spines on anterior margins; genicular lobes of femora unarmed or armed with short spines, often only inner genicular lobes armed. Fore and mid tibiae unarmed dorsally, both ventral margins with immovable spines as long as 1/4 to 1/2 diameter of tibia; hind tibia armed on all four dorsal and ventral margins; apex of tibia with two pairs of ventral and one pair of dorsal movable spurs. Tympanum on fore tibia bilaterally closed, tympanal slits facing forward, tympanal area only weakly swollen, with pair of small, elongated pits below tympanal slits.

Abdomen.— Dorsal surface of abdominal terga smooth, unmodified. Male 10th tergite with shallow apical emargination, supraanal plate small, triangular. Male cercus slender, with 2 apical spines, both bent inwards under acute angle; upper spine 1/3 to 1/2 as long as lower spine; both spines with apices curved downwards when seen from behind ( Figs. 18 E-F); female cercus, simple, slender and weakly incurved. Subgenital plate of male with pair of styli, distinct median keel, and shallow, triangular apical emargination; female subgenital plate with posterior margin straight or weakly emarginated.

Male concealed genitalia without well developed titillators but with part of phallic membrane partially sclerotized and covered by small chitinous callosities. Ovipositor narrow, weakly but noticeably curved down; as long as or longer than hind femur; both dorsal and ventral margins of ovipositor smooth, parallel; apex of upper valvula sharp, slightly thickened.

Coloration.— Coloration usually uniformly green, rarely brown; green individuals sometimes with dorsum of head, pronotum and posterior edges of tegmina ochre or tan; sometimes edges of pronotum with lighter stripes. Stridulatory area of male tegmina light brown.

Remarks.— The genus Caulopsis is represented by 12 described species, distributed from California through Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America to Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina in South America. In Costa Rica it is represented by 2 species.

Caulopsis is closely related to the genus Neoconocephalus as well as the Old World genus Pseudorhynchus Serville. In fact, some species of the latter are morphologically indistinguishable from Caulopsis , and this may represent another case of solely geographic separation of the two “genera,” similar to that of genera Neoconocephalus , Ruspolia and Euconocephalus .

Caulopsis can be easily identified among other Central American Conocephalinae s.l. by its extremely slender body form and strongly asymmetrical mouthparts. From the somewhat similar, albeit always larger and more robust species of Neoconocephalus it differs in having much longer and more conical fastigium of vertex, which is always touching the fastigium of frons. Also, the metasternum is strongly compressed in its posterior part in all species of Caulopsis , resulting in the hind coxa being very close together, nearly touching in some species.

Little is known about the biology of Costa Rican species of the genus. Caulopsis microprora is locally common in swampy areas covered with long grasses. The species is nocturnal and seems to feed exclusively on both seeds and leaves of grasses (in captivity some individuals somewhat reluctantly ate carrots but refused to eat any fruit or insect food). Caulopsis cuspidata have been observed feeding on a variety of grass species as well as leaves of Heliconia sp. within lowland secondary forest. Zayas (1974) reports this species to be an economically important pest species of rice in Cuba. Nothing is known about the acoustic behavior of Caulopsis spp.

Figures

FIG. 17. Metacaputus brenesi. A. female - habitus, B. female face, C. female head and pronotum, dorsal view, D. female subgenital plate, ventral view, E. male cerci, dorsal view.

FIG. 18. Costa Rican species of Caulopsis. A, C-F. C. microprora: A. female - habitus, C. female face, D. female head and pronotum, dorsal view, E. male cerci, dorsal view, F. male cerci, posterior view; B. C. cuspidata - ovipositor.

FIG. 46. Stridulatory files of Costa Rican species of Conocephalinae s. l. A. Bucrates capitatus, B. ditto, enlarged fragment, C. Bucrates clausus, enlarged fragment, D. ditto, entire file, E. Pyrgocorypha rogersi, entire file, F. ditto, enlarged fragment, G. Pyrgocorypha hamata, enlarged fragment, H. ditto, entire file.

FIG. 48. Stridulatory files of Costa Rican species of Conocephalinae s. l. A. Sphyrometopa femorata, C. Sphyrometopa atlantica, C. ditto, enlarged fragment, D. Eppia truncatipennis, enlarged fragment, E. ditto, entire file, F. Caulopsis cuspidata, entire file, G. ditto, enlarged fragment, H. Caulopsis microprora, enlarged fragment, I. ditto, entire file.