Roeseliana ambitiosa ( Uvarov, 1924 )

Massa, Bruno, Tagliavia, Marcello, Buzzetti, Filippo Maria, Fontana, Paolo, Carotti, Giovanni, Bardiani, Marco, Leandri, Fausto, Scherini, Roberto & Verde, Gabriella Lo, 2023, A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic genus Roeseliana (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Tettigoniinae: Platycleidini): a case of ongoing Mediterranean speciation, Zootaxa 5270 (3), pp. 351-400 : 366

Roeseliana ambitiosa ( Uvarov, 1924)

Figs. 1c , 3f , 5m , 6a , 8e , 11 , 22a, 22b , 23a, 23b

Uvarov, 1924. Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. London, 71(3–4): 533 ( Metrioptera ambitiosa ); type locality and depository: Macedonia, Hortiack Plateau ( NHM, London) .

Material examined. Macedonia, Tetovo, Kratnica (700 m) 1.VIII.1966, F. Willemse & J. Scherpbier (1♁, 1♀) ; Same locality (600 m) 12.VII.1969, F. Willemse (1♁, 1♀) ; Macedonia, N of Tetovo, Ljuboten (1000 m) 23.VII.1972, F. Willemse (1♁) ; Greece, Pindos , 5–10 km N of Metsovon (1600 m) 3.VIII.1971, F. Willemse (1♀) ; Greece, Dodonis, lake of Ioannina (470 m) 12.VII.1976, F. Willemse & J. Tilmans (1♁, 1♀) ; Greece, Florina, Vernon Ori , 4 km E of Pisoderion (1600–1700 m) 26.VII.1972, F. Willemse (1♁, 1♀) ; Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia, W of Kalavrita, near Vouraikos river (650 m) 26.VII.2005, L. & F. Willemse (1♁) ; Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia, Kalavrita (700 m) 31.VII.1970, F. Willemse & J. Scherpbier (1♁, 1♀) ( NBC) ; Bulgaria, Arkutino-blatoto 30.VIII1963, Peschev (1♁, 1♀) ; Bulgaria, Petric ( Strumesnica ) 10.VIII.1960, J. Maran (1♁, 1♀) ; Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia, Kalavrita 31.VII.1970, F. Willemse & J. Scherpbier ( RMNH) ; Greece, Epirus, Ioannina 12.VII.2000, P. Fontana (3♁, 2♀) ( MCR, coll. P. Fontana).

Remarks. According to Ramme (1951) R. ambitiosa and R. pylnovi are very similar, but they differ in the size, male cerci shape and female subgenital plate. Nadig (1961) considered that R. ambitiosa and R. pylnovi show a high variability in the years, probably depending on humidity and temperature. Ĝtz (1969) highlighted that the width of the eye in this species is greater than in the other Roeseliana (♁: 4.4–5.2 vs 3.6–4.2; ♀: 5.0–5.8 vs 4.0–5.1). He also found some variability in Bulgaria; in the eastern part of this country he found a remarkable expansion of this species. Heller (1988) considered R. ambitiosa synonymous with R. roeselii . Willemse & Willemse (2008) and Chobanov & Mihajlova (2010) listed it as R. roeselii ambitiosa , while Massa & Fontana (2011) and Willemse et al. (2018) recorded it as a valid species. However, on the base of morphological and biometrical characters the latter taxa resulted to be well separated. R. ambitiosa has slender male titillators with variable presence of small spines at their apex, absent in some specimens ( Fig. 5m ); further, the male cerci are similar to those of R. azami ( Fig. 6a ), and the female subgenital plate resulted to be different from that of R. roeselii , with a shorter central concavity with lateral apices more squared ( Figs. 8b, 8e ). See also Table 2 and 4 .

Distribution. Balkan peninsula from Greece and Albania to Bulgaria.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Ovipositor of five taxa of Roeseliana in lateral view. In 1c the method to take three measures of the depth of the ovipositor (named “ovipositor depth” in the text) is explained.

FIGURE 3. Stridulatory file under the left tegmen of some taxa of Roeseliana.

FIGURE 5. Male titillators of different taxa/populations of the genus Roeseliana.

FIGURE 6. Dorsal view of the male supragenital plate and cerci of four taxa of Roeseliana.

FIGURE 8. Ventral view of the female subgenital plate of six taxa of Roeseliana.

FIGURE 11. Habitus of other five taxa of the genus Roeseliana.

FIGURE 22. Roeseliana females. a) R. ambitiosa, Macedonia (photo: M. Lemonnier-Darcemont); b) R. ambitiosa, Greece (photo: F. Rutschmann); c) R. brunneri, Friuli, Italy (photo: F. Tami); d) Roeseliana n. sp. Lemonnier-Darcemont & Darcemont, in press, Greece (photo: M. Lemonnier-Darcemont); e) R. azami minor, Marche, Italy (photo: G. Carotti); f) R. azami minor, Lombardy, Italy (photo: R. Scherini); g) R. azami minor, Lombardy, Italy (photo: F. Leandri); h) R. roeselii, Lombardy, Italy (photo: R. Scherini).

FIGURE 23. Roeseliana males. a) R. ambitiosa, Macedonia (photo: M. Lemonnier-Darcemont); b) R. ambitiosa, Greece (photo: F. Rutschmann); c) R. brunneri, Friuli, Italy (photo: F. Tami); d) Roeseliana n. sp. Lemonnier-Darcemont & Darcemont, in press, Greece (photo: M. Lemonnier-Darcemont); e) R. azami minor, Lombardy, Italy (photo: R. Scherini); f) R. azami minor, Marche, Italy (photo: G. Carotti); g) R. oporina, Spain (photo: R. Kleukers); h) R. azami, France (photo: V. Derreumaux).