Phaneroptera sparsa Stal 1857
Creators: name: Felix, Rob
name: Bouwman, Jaap
name: Odé, Baudewijn
name: Ketelaar, Robert
name: Pham, Duc Minh
name: Bailey, James
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Phaneroptera
Phaneroptera sparsa

description: Phaneroptera sparsa Stål, 1857
Figs 213, 214, 215
References for Socotra.
Taschenberg 1883: 184 [Phaneroptera sp.]; Burr 1903: 412, 421 [as Phaneroptera nana]; Krauss 1907: 29 [as Phaneroptera sp.]; Ragge 1956: 226, 236–237 [as Phaneroptera nana sparsa]; Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)): 363 [as Phaneroptera nana]; Popov 1981: 134–135; Wranik 1998: 171 [as Phaneroptera nana]; Wranik 2003: 315, plates 146, 148; Massa 2021: 126 [as Phaneroptera aff. P. cleomis].
Diagnostic notes.
Bush-crickets in the genus Phaneroptera are generic green, elegant species with long legs and tegmina surpassing the hind knees (Fig. 213). Phaneroptera sparsa is the only member of the genus known to occur in the Archipelago. It differs from the only other Socotran member of Phaneropterinae, the endemic Phaneroptila insularis Uvarov, 1957, by its long hind wings extending beyond the tegmina and the shape of its pronotum and cerci. Beyond Socotra, P. sparsa can be separated from other members of the genus by its cerci, song and stridulatory file (Fig. 214).
Taxonomic notes.
Popov (1981) mentioned five species of Phaneroptera occurring in Arabia and the Middle East: P. albida Walker, 1869, P. cleomis Ayal, Broza & Pener, 1974, P. gracilis Burmeister, 1838, P. minima Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878 and P. sparsa. He identified his specimens from Socotra as P. sparsa. Massa (2021) tentatively identified his specimens from Socotra, UAE and Oman as Phaneroptera aff. P. cleomis. New insights, based on comparing the subgenital plate and stridulatory file (Fig. 214) with those of African specimens, reveal that Socotran Phaneroptera specimens belong to P. sparsa (B. Massa, in litt.).
Distribution and occurrence.
Phaneroptera sparsa occurs in most of Africa south of the Sahara, Madagascar and Socotra, extending northwest to Morocco and the Canary Islands and in the northeast to Arabia and eastern Turkey (Ragge 1980; Popov 1981). On Socotra, the species is widespread, occurring from sea level at Hadiboh, up into the Hagher and on the surrounding limestone plateaus. It is also present in the western mountains (Fig. 215).
Habitat and biology.
Records are mainly from high shrubland, Frankincense woodland and forest, Dracaena woodlands and montane mosaic and forests. Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)) mentioned tall grasses on the slopes of the Hagher as its primary habitat. In 2010, we found the species in various shrubs (Fig. 213). On Socotra, the species occurs from 15–1200 m a. s. l. and records are from all months. Phaneroptera is attracted to light.
Bioacoustics.
The song of this species is well-known and consists of short, high-pitched clicks (Hemp 2021; XC 786755, accessible at https://www.xeno-canto.org/786755). There is no information on the bioacoustics of this species on Socotra.
description: Published as part of Felix, Rob, Bouwman, Jaap, Odé, Baudewijn, Ketelaar, Robert, Pham, Duc Minh & Bailey, James, 2025, The grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): a comprehensive overview and a description of a new Oecanthus Tree Cricket (Oecanthidae), pp. 21-166 in Contributions to Entomology 75 (1) on pages 21-166, DOI: 10.3897/contrib.entomol.75.e144389