Cestrophorus paradoxus Redtenbacher, 1891

Braun, Holger & Morris, Glenn K., 2022, New species of awl-head katydids, Cestrophorus and Acanthacara, from the Andes of Ecuador (Orthoptera, Conocephalinae, Cestrophorini), Journal of Orthoptera Research 31 (2), pp. 143-156 : 143

Cestrophorus paradoxus Redtenbacher, 1891

Figs 6 , 8A, B , 11 , 12

Material examined. -

ECUADOR • ♂; Rio Aliso ; 4 Jul. 2003; G.K. Morris leg.; MLP • 6 ♂♂; Rio Aliso ; 10 Feb. 1988; G.K. Morris leg.; ANSP • 6 ♂♂; Rio Aliso ; 19 Feb. 1988; G.K. Morris leg.; ANSP • 5 ♂♂; Rio Aliso ; 4 Jul. 2003; G.K. Morris leg.; ANSP • 1 ♀; Rio Aliso ; 19 Feb. 1988; G.K. Morris leg.; ANSP • 1♀; Cosanga ; 10 Feb. 1988; G.K. Morris leg.; MLP .

Redescription. -

Robust with fastigium projecting well beyond scapus. Males with contrasting coloration: fastigium blackish, dorsal surface of pronotum medially dark, in prozona and metazona blackish, in metazona broadly trapezoideal and fringed by a pair of ovoid elongate whitish lateral maculae (Fig. 8A ), thin distal portion of hind tibiae blackish. Male tegmina greenish, broadened beyond width of pronotum and covering abdomen completely. Male cerci approximately broadly triangular in dorsal and lateral view, obtuse medial lobes with inconspicuous obtuse and recurved hook, almost touching in the middle, cercus terminating in sharp upcurved spine, and at the base with long and more or less perpendicularly upcurved spine (up to beyond the height of the dorsal hook).

Measurements. -

Male: midline pronotum 4.6 mm, fastigium verticis 1.8 mm, tegmina 9.2 mm; female: midline pronotum 3.8 mm, fastigium verticis 1.7 mm (based on two specimens, no apparent variation in size).

Note. -

All specimens-in February 1988 and again in July 2003-were taken from beside a forest path tracing the south bank of the Río Aliso upstream; the site is reached by a (very) secondary road branching west from the main highway just before the town of Cosanga. About 3 km along this sideroad is the lodge Cabañas San Isidro; a few km farther on, a posted sign at an iron bridge identifies the Río Aliso.

Figures

Fig. 6. C. paradoxus. Illustration of male adult from Karny H., 1912. Genera Insectorum Orthoptera Fam. Locustidae, Subfam. Agraeciinae (Plate 8, item 16).

Fig. 8. Cestrophorus spp. male genitalia compared. A. White pronotal maculae of C. paradoxus; B. Parameres of C. paradoxus ' upside-down dancing anteaters'; C. Dorsal aspect C. ditachus parameres; D. Lateral view of C. ditachus paramere; E. Photo of terminalia of C. amplitenuis; F. Lateral aspect of C. amplitenuis paramere.

Fig. 11. Song of C. paradoxus is an ongoing sequence of lisp pairs. A. Sequence at low time resolution showing two complete pairs; B. A lisp at higher resolution reveals its composition as a long train of> 25 discrete rapid-decay pulses; C. Three pulses showing stereotyped waveform detail; D. Power spectrum of C. paradoxus with frequencies confined to the audio range in a narrow band 8 - 13 kHz.

Fig. 12. Waterfall record of one C. paradoxus 60 - ms pulse train / lisp indicating absence of ultrasonics.