Toledopizia salesopolensis (Piza, 1980)

Fianco, Marcos, Engelking, Phillip Watzke & Tavares, Gustavo Costa, 2021, Rediscovering the rare short-winged unicorn katydid Toledopizia salesopolensis (Piza) (Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae) from South and Southeastern Brazil: First description of male and bioacoustics, Journal of Orthoptera Research 30 (2), pp. 193-200 : 193

Toledopizia salesopolensis (Piza, 1980)

Acantheremus salesopolensis Piza, 1980: 111 (Fig. 1 ) (original description).

Toledopizia salesopolensis - Chamorro-Rengifo and Braun 2010: 53 (Fig. 2 ); Cigliano et al. 2021 ( Orthoptera SpeciesFile online).

Holotype -

Brazil • ♀; São Paulo, Salesópolis, Reserva Biológica de Boraceia; 25 Dec. 1963; F. Werner and H. Reichardt leg.; Departamento de Zoologia da Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.

Material examined. -

Brazil • 1♀; São Paulo, Sao Lourenco da Serra ; 23°55 ’40.6” S, 46°54 ’15.6” W; Nov.2017; P.W. Engelking leg.; MNRJ • 2♂; São Paulo, Extrema ; 22°52 ’46.8” S, 46°18 ’16.4” W; Mar.2018; P.W. Engelking leg.; MNRJ • 2♂; Paraná, São João dos Pinhais, Estr. Guaricana ; 25°43 ’19” S, 49°0 ’30” W; 09.Apr.2021; M. Fianco & D.N. Barbosa leg.; active night collecting; DZUP • 1♂; Paraná, Morretes, Serra da Graciosa ; 25°20 ’41” S, 48°53 ’28” W; 22.Apr.2021; M. Fianco & A.L. Mott Jr. leg.; active night collecting; DZUP • 1♂ 1♀; same data as for preceding; 08.Apr.2021; M. Fianco, A.L. Mott Jr. & C.C. Borda leg.; DZUP .

Additional description. -

Body slender, general color green, fastigium of vertex quite long, ovipositor as long as body (Fig. 2A-C ). Head (Fig. 3A, B ) opisthognathous; eye small (smaller than scapus); fastigium of vertex triangular, acuminated, and very long (at least five times longer than scapus), with a row of tiny tubercles on each side; antennae filiform and long, almost twice as long as body. Pronotal disk (Fig. 3C ) without furrows, anterior and posterior borders truncated-in males, posterior border more produced behind, with posterior margin slightly elevated. Lateral lobes of pronotum longer than tall, with an arched and oblique anterior margin, anteroventral angle widely obtuse; ventral margin anterior half slightly concave, posterior half convex; posteroventral angle widely obtuse; humeral sinus inconspicuous. Wings small, tegmina (Fig. 3D, E ) marked with black dots, not surpassing third abdominal tergite in females and sixth in males; anal area and surface below CuA reddish; ScP and R almost straight; R branching on apex, branches parallel; M straight, branching near half of tegmen; A1 (Fig. 3G ) slightly curvate. Stridulatory file 1.7 mm long, bearing 159 teeth. Hind wing (Fig. 3F ) short, not surpassing tegmina. Prosternum bearing two thin spines near anterolateral margin. Mesosternal lobes almost triangular (Fig. 3H ), with convex anterolateral margins, and almost straight lateral and posterior borders. Metasternal lobes (Fig. 3H ) almost triangular, bearing two protuberances anterolaterally; posterolateral margin forming a straight angle. Lateral lobes of metasternum similar to those of mesosternum. Legs with all femora dorsally smooth and all genicular lobes armed with a conspicuous spine; fore femora armed internally and mid femora externally; hind femora on both ventral margins with 14 teeth, increasing in size apically; hind tibia on both dorsal margins armed basally and apically with black spines, ventral spines concolorous. Tenth tergite (Fig. 3I ) with hind margin in males and females produced into two conspicuously acuminated lobes. Male cerci (Fig. 3J, K ) robust and blunt, with an inward finger-like projection medially and a ventral mediodistal fold. Phallic complex (Fig. 4 ) bearing two parallel irregular bars comprising the titillator’s sclerites, the only sclerotized appendage of the external face of the phallus. Male subgenital plate (Fig. 3L ) with a well-developed medial keel throughout all extension and a V-like sinus on posterior border. Females with long and conical cerci; subgenital plate short (Fig. 3M ), posterior margin produced into two thin lobes separated by U-like sinus; ovipositor very long, as long as body, and nearly straight.

Chromatic pattern. -

Specimens can be found with two color patterns: green and brownish-yellow (Figs 2 , 5 ). On both morphotypes, tip of fastigium of vertex blackish; dorsal surface of pronotum and fastigium of vertex slightly darker than surroundings; lateral carinae yellowish in green morph, and light yellow in brownish-yellow morph, brownish near posterior margin in males; tegmina marked with black spots and reddish on the area between CuA and hind margin behind stridulatory area; abdomen lighter than other body parts and dorsally translucent, evidencing the dorsal vessel. In addition, green morphotype has conspicuously yellowish tarsi.

Biology. -

All individuals sampled seem to have a particular relation to bamboo (see Fig. 5A, B , and Fig. 6B , male resting at bamboo leaves) ( Poaceae: Bambusoideae). Even with several sampling efforts in the Coastal Atlantic Forest, the individuals were only collected in areas with bamboo. We hypothesize that females use the bamboo stalks or roots to oviposit since the Copiphorini generally oviposits in grasses ( Poaceae). Individuals were found resting and feeding in the leaves of grasses, including bamboo, in the field, but males call while in stems inside vegetation. We hypothesize that they go to more open areas to forage, but males could avoid predation with this behavior. The species is omnivorous; individuals were seen feeding on seeds of grasses in the field, but in laboratory conditions, they also fed on insects, using the forelegs to catch the preys (Fig. 6A ).

Bioacoustics. -

Males stridulate only at night, producing long echeme sequences (Fig. 7A ) with a duration of about 45.3 ± 12.3 min (5-82 min, n = 18). Each echeme (Fig. 7B ) is of moderate duration, of about 1.3 s ± 0.16 (0.8-1.7 s, n = 128), consisting of 22 ± 3 syllables (19-29, n = 128) emitted continually, with a duration of 40 ± 4 ms (20-49 ms, n = 336) each and a mute interval of 17 ms ± 3 (7-38 ms, n = 321). The echemes are separated by a constant mute interval with a duration of 1.3 ± 0.3 s (0.6-2.7 s, n = 140). The peak frequency is 17.4 ± 0.7 kHz (15.5-22.5 kHz, n = 464), and the bandwidth 95% is of 6.4 ± 0.5 kHz (4.7-9.4 kHz, n = 464); the total bandwidth ranges from 12 ± 2 kHz to 25 ± 3 kHz (8.4-27 kHz, n = 464) (Fig. 7C, D ). The sequence of echemes is produced in a crescendo of intensity that stabilizes after 5 min. The echemes are also in a crescendo of intensity that generally stabilizes after the fourth syllable, but each syllable is produced in a constant intensity. At the field, they call from small to medium-thick branches or stems, in heights ranging from 50 cm to 1.5 m. Additionally, we heard many individuals singing at the same time in chorus behavior.

Measurements (mm). -

Males: BL: 25.0-29.1; TL: 9.0-10.8; FL: 5.3-8.0; HW: 4.0-4.7; PL: 7-9; LLPL: 5.6-8.0; LLPH: 3.5-4.5; FiiiL: 14.1-18.0; TiiiL: 14.7-18.0; SPL: 2.7-3.5; CL: 1.5-2.5; SFL: 2; TN: 159. Females: BL: 30.0-35.1; TL: 8.0-8.4; FL: 6.2-8.0; HW: 5-6; PL: 6.9-8.0; LLPL: 6; LLPH: 3.8-4.0; FiiiL: 19.5-19.7; TiiiL: 19-21; SPL: 1.4-1.5; CL: 2; OL: 38.0-40.2.

Figures

Figure 1. Occurrence map of Toledopizia salesopolensis. A. South America; B. Sampled areas. Red circles: new records; yellow square: type-locality.

Figure 2. Habitus of Toledopizia salesopolensis. A. Male; B. Female; C. Ovipositor. Scale bars: 1 cm.

Figure 3. Specific characters of Toledopizia salesopolensis. A, B. Head in lateral (A) and dorsal view (B); C. Pronotum, dorsal view; D, E. Male left (D) and right tegmen (E); F. Posterior wing; G. Stridulatory file (A 1 vein); H. Meso and metabasisternum; I. Tergite X; J, K. male left cercus in ventral (J) and dorsal view (K); L, M. male (L) and female subgenital plate (M). Scale bars: 6 mm (A-C); 7 mm (D-F); 1 mm (G-I, M); 0.5 mm (J, K); 1.5 mm (L).

Figure 4. Male genitalia of Toledopizia salesopolensis. A, B. Anterior view; C, D. Posterior view.

Figure 5. Toledopizia salesopolensis in vivo. A, B. Male on bamboo leaf, green morph; C. Male on leaf, yellow morph.

Figure 6. Toledopizia salesopolensis in vivo. A. Nymph feeding on a cockroach; B. Male on a bamboo leaf.

Figure 7. Calling song of Toledopizia salesopolensis. A. Sonogram of an echeme sequence; B. sonogram of one echeme; C. 2 - D spectrogram, ranging from 5 to 30 kHz, of one echeme; D. spectrogram of an echeme sequence, in linear intensity scale.