Typophyllum bolivari Vignon 1925

Braun, Holger, 2015, Little walking leaves from southeast Ecuador: biology and taxonomy of Typophyllum species (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Pterochrozinae), Zootaxa 4012 (1), pp. 1-32 : 15

Typophyllum bolivari Vignon 1925

( Fig. 11 G)

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:5486

Vignon 1925a: 273, Vignon 1931: 137, Beier 1960: 367, Morris et al. 1989, Castner & Nickle 1995a, b, c, and some other references.

Examined specimens. Not collected, photos of a female nymph (2 January 2009, H. Braun) and one adult male (May 2012, A. González), both Maralí.

Description. This species has conspicuously enlarged hind tibiae, the characteristic of Vignon’s (1925a) second group. A reddish brown nymph with a few whitish spots and mossy green coloration was found ( Fig. 11 G). It shows the lateral contour of the dorsal margin of the hind tibiae which is diagnostic for this species: a large lamelliform process just below the knee, and a small pointed one above the middle. Subsequently an adult male (light brown morph with light green palps) was photographed at the same locality, with the tegmina constricted on both margins, another diagnostic feature of this species.

Coloration. Very variable: individuals can be green (sometimes yellowish in museum specimens), or greyish, or light or dark brown, often with several shades mixed ( Castner & Nickle 1995b, photos R. Oelman). This is one of the few Typophyllum species with dark brown fringes on the transversal veins of the yellowish hind wings.

Acoustic behaviour. The song of one male from Limoncocha (Napo, Ecuador) was analyzed ( Morris et al. 1989): It made brief high-audio chirps, consisting of mostly four, sometimes three double pulses, lasting about 500 ms at 22.5ºC. The spectrum shows a narrow peak at 14.9 kHz. Within a series of chirps they were repeated every 20–45 s. The male from Maralí made chirps consisting of three pulses, repeated every 5–21 s (recordings in MP3 format by A. González).

Mating behaviour. For this species is also documented the precopulatory riding of the small male on the large female ( Nickle & Castner 1995a, photo R. Oelman).

Distribution. Amazon region of southern Colombia, Ecuador, and northeastern Peru ( Vignon 1925a, Morris et al. 1989, Castner & Nickle 1995c, specimens in collection of University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and photos by R. Oelman).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Typophyllum onkiosternum sp. nov. (A – C): A. female (paratype, tegmen length 24 mm), B. male (holotype, tegmen length 14.5 mm), C. female nymph (cbt 002 s 12); Typophyllum sp., unknown male of species described from females only or new species (D – F, cbt 003 s 08): D. nymph, E, F. adult; G. Typophyllum bolivari, nymph; photos of live individuals staged during day and approximately to scale.