Conocephalus (Anisoptera) guartela Fianco 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Fianco, Marcos
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Conocephalus
Conocephalus guartela

description: Conocephalus (Anisoptera) guartela sp. nov.
(Figure 4 and 5b)
Diagnosis
The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by several features; it is similar to C. (A.) goianus Piza and C. (A.) saltator (Saussure), being differentiated from the former by having minute spines on dorsal branch of titillator, females with ovipositor longer than half length of the hind femur, and the male cerci are more elongated, with the apex more produced and a little curved outwards, not so triangular; and from C. (A.) saltator by the titillator branched on apex, females with ovipositor smaller than hind femur, and the male cerci more curved beyond mid-length and distally more produced.
Description
Holotype male. Small,mesopterous, brownish,with yellowish and green stains (Figure 4a). Head: a black longitudinal band in vertex enlarged in the posterior region, entirely covering the surface of fastigium, but proximal area yellowish (Figure 4e–f); lateral regions of vertex brownish/yellowish with reddish spots (Figure 4e); fastigium as large as one-third of eye. Fastigium of the frons triangular, bearing a golden ocellus. Gena and frons greenish with brown and reddish spots (Figure 4f). Thorax: Pronotal disc (Figure 4e–f) bearing a blackish/ brownish longitudinal band, covering half of its size, lateral regions brownish with reddish spots; anterior margin sinuous; posterior margin slightly convex. Lateral lobes of pronotum (Figure 4f) longer than high; brownish/greenish with reddish stains and reddish spots; trapezoidal; posterior margin entirely straight; inferior margin curved on proximal area; anterior margin curved on ventral area. Tegmina burnt yellow (Figure 4d), restricted, not surpassing the sixth abdominal tergite (Figure 4a); ScA and ScP quite long and well developed; R quite long (Figure 4d); M straight and with four bifurcations on apex (Figure 4d); CuA long and sinuous; mirror grey (Figure 4d, 4g); A1 golden (Figure 4d, g–h). Abdomen: bearing two dorsal dark brown lateral bands on tergites (partially seen in Figure 4i); tergite X (Figure 4i) smaller than tergite IX, medial apex slightly pointed. Cercus (Figure 4i–j) subtriangular; curved inwards before mid-length, and outwards after middle; apex obtuse; medial region with a spine, before its mid-length. Subgenital plate (Figure 4j) almost square; lateral margin slightly convex; posterior margin straight; styles small, one divergent from another; lateral flange barely apparent; lateral field oblique, almost horizontal; ventral field quite deplaned; styliform process and medial keel absent. Titillator (Figure 4k) straight and enlarged on proximal half, curved outwards after that; apex bifurcated, ventral branch thinner than dorsal which bears minute spines.
Female paratypes. General characteristics and structures as in males. Ovipositor orangish; elongated, longer than half length of the hind femur, but not surpassing it.
Bioacoustics (Figure 6c –)
Males call mostly after midday and during sunshine. Duration of the pulses: 37.7 ± 2.4 ms (32.1–42.8 ms); duration of echemes: 12.8 ± 6.4 s (2.5– 26.7 s); mute interval between echemes: 11.3 ± 1.4 s (8–37 s); bandwidth: 18.3 ± 0.5 kHz (17.4–19.3 kHz); peak frequency: 13.8 ± 0.5 kHz (12.5–14.4 kHz).
Type material
Holotype male. ′ Brasil, PR, Tibagi, Parque \ Estadual do Guartelá [Guartelá State Park] \ 24.5660°S, 50.2561°W 21–24.x.2020 Coleta ativa\diurna [diurnal active collection] M. Fianco & H. Preis ', deposited at ′ Coleção Entomológica Padre Jesus Santiago Moure ' (DZUP). Paratypes: Three males and one female, same data as holotype; one female, same data, except ′ Coleta ativa\noturna [nocturnal active collection]'; two males, same data, except ′ 09–12.xii.2020', ′Coleta ativa\noturna [nocturnal active collection]' and ′M. Fianco & N.\ Szinwelski '; two females, same data, except ′ 09–12.xii.2020' and ′M. Fianco & N. \ Szinwelski '; all deposited at DZUP.
Measurements (mm)
Holotype (mesopterous): BL: 15; TegL: 9; HW: 2; PrL: 3; PrH: 2; FLiii: 13; TLiii: 12; SPL: 1.5; CL: 2; SFL: 1.5; TN: 48. Male paratypes (mesopterous): BL: 14–17; TegL: 8–10; HW: 2–2.4; PrL: 2.8–3.2; PrH: 1.9–2.2; FLiii: 13–15; TLiii: 11.5–13; SPL: 1.4–1.8; CL: 2; SFL: 1.2–1.6; TN: 44–53. Male paratype (macropterous): BL: 14; TegL: 19; HW: 1.8; PrL: 3.2; PrH: 2.1; FLiii: 13.5; TLiii: 11.5; SPL: 1.6; CL: 2. Female paratypes (mesopterous): BL: 13–18; TegL: 4–6; HW: 1.8–2.6; PrL: 2.9–3.4; PrH: 2–2.3; FLiii: 14–17; TLiii: 13–16; OL: 10–12.
Etymology
In honour of the type locality, the Guartelá State Park.
Comparison
This new species is related to Conocephalus (A.) goianus and C. (A.) saltator, mainly by the form of the male cerci and titillator. Conocephalus (Anisoptera) guartela sp. nov. differs from its congeners in several features; however, it is similar to C. (A.) goianus but can be differentiated by the minute spines on dorsal branch of titillator, females with ovipositor longer than half length of hind femur, and can be differentiated from C. (A.) saltator for the titillator branched on apex, and females with ovipositor smaller than hind femur. The medial spine of the male cercus is more evident and triangular in the new species compared to C. (A.) saltator, and its apex is straight, not curved as in C. (A.) goianus. Additionally, the apex of tergite X in the new species is not bilobed (Figure 4i) as in all species of Conocephalus except C. (A.) saltator.
From the Brazilian species of Conocephalus Thunberg, the new species can be easily distinguished by its colouration: individuals of Conocephalus (Anisoptera) guartela sp. nov. present a more brownish colouration, especially on the dorsum, with the laterals somewhat greenish, and apex of abdomen orangish without any band of different colour on abdomen, whereas C. (A.) goianus can be greenish or brownish, but always presenting a lateral black band on abdomen, and dorsum of abdomen often yellowish; individuals of C. (A.) saltator have a green body, with last tergites of abdomen entirely orange; C. (A.) truncatus (Redtenbacher) has a green body with almost the whole abdomen purplish, additionally a black band is present on lateral lobes of pronotum; representatives of C. (A.) ochrotelus Rehn and Hebard have the last abdominal tergite entirely orange, posterior margin on last three tergites of abdomen black, and dorsal surface of abdomen orange; C. (A.) unicolour Bruner entirely green; individuals of C. (A.) versicolor (Redtenbacher) generally present the colour green, but with a dorsal black band on abdomen, with some yellowish spots.
The mirror on males of this new species also has some differences to other species, being more similar to C. (A.) versicolor, since the proximal area is at least 1.4× larger than posterior margin; in the other Brazilian species of Conocephalus this area is only 1.1× larger than posterior margin. The shape of the mirror in C. (A.) guartela sp. nov. differs from C. (A.) versicolor by the absence of prolongations on the posterior corners, additionally, the medial corner is in a curvature, not right angulated as in all other species of Conocephalus.
From the Brazilian species of Conocephalus, the females of C. (A.) guartela sp. nov. can also be differentiated by the size of the ovipositor in relation to the posterior femur, which is longer than in C. (A.) goianus, C. (A.) versicolor, and C. (A.) aberrans (Redtenbacher), and smaller than in C. (A.) unicolour.
Comments
This species is polymorphic; the individuals can be mesopterous or macropterous, independent of the sex. This also occurs in C. (A.) saltator (see Chamorro-Rengifo et al. 2018). Sex association was done by observing copulation: the holotype was collected copulating with the female of same data; when rearing, the female started copulation with another male, which is macropterous. Furthermore, the bioacoustics of mesopterous and macropterous individuals have a few variations, as detailed below. In vivo, some individuals had colours that varied from green to brownish, with legs usually brown, and the apex of abdomen always lighter than the general colouration, usually orangish.
Individuals of this species were quite difficult to collect, even if the population seems to be large in the driest areas of the GSP; they were very active, and when the vegetation was minimally disturbed, they quickly jumped or flew to the ground, hiding in the dense grass leaves.
Specimens were collected in the driest areas of Cerrado formations; they were observed feeding on seeds of grasses, such as Steinchisma and Melinis (Poaceae). Females were observed laying eggs in stalks of grasses of these genera. The Cerrado formations seem to be quite important to the conservation of this species, especially given that these areas occupy mainly the highest portions of the park. If we note that there are only two Cerrado formations inside Paraná parks, the preserved area that this species inhabits is extremely restricted.
description: Published as part of Fianco, Marcos, 2023, Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Guartelá State Park, State of Paraná, Southern Brazil: diversity, bioacoustics and description of five new species, pp. 1080-1137 in Journal of Natural History 57 (1) on pages 1087-1093, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2023.2231579, http://zenodo.org/record/8273542