Studies in Australian Tettigoniidae: the Mecopodine Katydids Part 2 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Mecopodinae; Sexavaini) Queensland Palm Katydid Author(S) :D
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Studies in Australian Tettigoniidae: The Mecopodine Katydids Part 2 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Mecopodinae; Sexavaini) Queensland Palm Katydid Author(s) :D. C. F. Rentz, You Ning Su, Norihiro Ueshima Source: Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 132(3):229-241. 2006. Published By: The American Entomological Society DOI: URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/ full/10.3157/0002-8320%282006%29132%5B229%3ASIATTM %5D2.0.CO%3B2 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. 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Transactions of the American EntomologicalRENTZ, SU, Society AND UESHIMAVolume 132, Numbers 3: 229-241, 2006 229 Studies in Australian Tettigoniidae: The Mecopodine Katydids Part 2 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Mecopodinae; Sexavaini) Queensland Palm Katydid DCF RENTZ, YOU NING SU AND NORIHIRO UESHIMA [DCFR] 19 Butler Dr, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia 4881 [email protected] [YNS] 90 Mugga Way, Red Hill, Australian Capital Territory 2603 [email protected] [NU] 1435-1 Kubo-cho, Matsusaka, Mie 515-004, Japan [email protected] ABSTRACT Two tribes of Mecopodinae (Mecopodini and Sexavaini) are represented in Australia. Both are confined to the tropics. The Mecopodini have been covered recently (see Rentz et al., 2006) and that group comprises a single genus with four species that live in grassy situations, often adjacent to rainforests. The Sexavaini is represented by a single species of Segestidea I. Bolívar, a genus with several species to the north of Australia. Some Segestidea species are well known to cause damage to coconuts. The single species, S. queenslandica, the Queensland Palm Katydid, is apparently facultatively parthenogenetic and is described with notes on its biology and distribution. SEXAVAINI: Karny 1924 This is a contuation of the Monograph of the Australian Tettigoniidae begun by Rentz (1985, 1993, 2001). A recent contribution in this respect was Rentz et al. (2005), a revision the pseudophylline genus Phricta Redtenbacher in Austra- lia. Approximately 70% of the Australian tettigoniid fauna remains to be described. The Sexavaini of the Mecopodinae has been informally dealt with in the literature as “Group Sexavae”. (See Willemse 1977), for example. It is a grouping of at least three genera of large katydids that are known in the South Pacific as Coconut Treehoppers. They are major pests of coconut and oil palm, but some species also feed on banana, karuka, manila hemp, and sago palm (see Young, 1985). Of the three genera included in this tribe, only one, Segestidea I. Bolívar, is known from Australia. The other genera are Segestes Stal (12 species) and Sexava Walker (3 species). Segestidea is known from some 10 species. F. Willemse (1977) provides the latest review of the group but did not know about the Austra- lian species. L. Willemse (2001) reviewed the economic status of species in the tribe. The Australian species is not known to cause economic damage. The species of Segestidea described here has been known to the authors for many years (see specimens examined section). An interesting property of this species is that it is facultatively parthenogenetic. Only a single male has been found in the field. However, captive virgin females in the first author’s lab laid eggs that hatched and developed into females (see specimens examined). Re- 230 AUSTRALIAN MECOPODINAE: 2 cently Alan Henderson of the Melbourne Zoo reported (in litt.) that a female he had collected on the Morris Dam road to Copperlode Dam, near Cairns, Queensland, produced eggs that eventually hatched into females. At this writing the nymphs continue to mature. Parthenogenicity is known in one Australian rainforest species, the Pseudophyllinae, Phricta spinosa (Redtenbacher), (see Rentz et al. 2005). Parthenogenicity is rare in the Tettigoniidae. The reasons for this odd biological strategy in rainforest species are presently unclear. SEGESTIDEA I. Bolîvar Segestidea I. Bolîvar, 1903: 166. Eumossula C. Willemse, 1957: 38. (Type species: Eumossula gracilis C. Willemse, by monotypy. Type species: Segestidea princeps I. Bolîvar,1903 designated by Kirby (1906: 359) (= Segestidea novaeguineae (Brancsik, 1897). As noted above, this tribe was considered as a “group” by F. Willemse (1977) with the suggestion that the subfamily was in serious need of revision. To date, there has been no taxonomic revision of this group. Distinction among the three genera of the subfamily was based on the presence or absence of a posterior dorso- apical spine on the fore and middle tibiae along with the comparative measure- ments of the body, tegmen, head and pronotum. In Sexava and Segestidea the apex of the fore and middle tibia bears a small spine on the dorsal margin of the posterior side (Fig. 9). In Segestes, the dorso-apical spines are absent. (A small number of specimens prove to be the exception!) Comparison of the male teg- mina of Sexava, Segestidea and Segestes demonstrate that the tegmina overlap basally for a short distance in Segestes and Segestidea but in Sexava the overlap is conspicuous for almost the entire length. Details of the differences on the tegminal venation and its probable effect on the stridulatory mechanism can be found in Willemse (1977). If the Australian examples of Segestidea are keyed in Willemse’s paper (1977), they key near rufopalpis (Willemse). The Australia species of Segestidea has a relatively small geographic range, occurring in rainforest south of Cairns and north to the Daintree and west in the Kuranda Range and at localities on the Atherton Tableland. Where it occurs, the species is fairly common and a well-known garden resident where palms are grown. Elsewhere the genus is confined to Obi (Moluccas), mainland Papua New Guinea and the Louisade and Bismarck Archipelagoes. Segestidea queenslandica Rentz, Su & Ueshima, sp. nov. Figs. 1-14; Table 1 Queensland Palm Katydid ANIC Number Segestidea sp. 1 Holotype male.—Label data: “Segestidea sp. male Tettigoniidae: Sexavaini upland rainforest 16°44’00"S 145°33’55"S Black Mt. Road, Kuranda (335m elev.) NQ March 2003 C. Wilson”. Holotype in Australian National Collection, Canberra. Size large for genus, form robust (Table 1). Head protruding well in front of RENTZ, SU, AND UESHIMA 231 pronotum (Figs 1, 2, 5-7), strongly slanting; occiput smooth, fastigium with short, prominent spike protruding only slightly beyond extended antennal scape; eye small, round; frons smooth, flat, but with minute wrinkles laterally; clypeus pro- truding. Mandible (Fig. 12) unique, short, robust, incisor not produced as in other tettigoniids, but seemingly modified as a grinding structure. Antennal scape cy- lindrical, somewhat constricted in the middle, pedicel short, cylindrical, about 1/ 3 length of pedicel; flagellum thickened in proximal 1/3, tapering to apex, total length slightly longer than length of insect itself. Pronotum (Fig. 7) weakly pro- duced forward in the middle; surface of prozona and metazona similarly punctate and rough, surface with 2 prominent transverse shallow sulci; lateral lobe (Fig. 6) with ventral margin only feebly produced. Prosternum with a pair of elongate, widely spaced spikes; meso and metasterna cup-shaped. Tegmen (Fig. 8A) with stridulatory region highly modified with several quadrate cells; costa, short about 1/3 length of tegmen itself, subcosta and radius parallel, flaring apically, media extending nearly to apex of tegmen, Cu1 extending nearly to apex of tegmen; stridulatory file (Fig. 14) straight, teeth broad. Forelegs elongate, tibia quadrate in cross-section, feebly flaring apically, dorsal surface with 3 spines on each side, positioned in the middle 1/3, apex with a spine on each side, ventral surface with 10 spines on each side and an apical spine on each side; tarsus elongate, third article flap-like; fore femur laterally compressed, not modified, with a single spine on the internal margin of the ventral surface, positioned in apical 1/4; middle leg short then fore leg, tibia as in fore tibia, somewhat expanded at proximal end with surface sulcate, carinae more prominent near apex, ventral surface sulcate, with 10 spines on each side, apical spines not much larger than those adjacent, dorsal surface 2 spines on anterior margin, 3 spines on posterior margin and a prominent apical spine; femur without armature, surface smooth. Hind leg with femur not surpassing tegmina at rest; femur smooth, ventral surface with 4 spines on each side; tibia with apex expanded, dorsal surface with many prominent elongate spines, positioned along entire length, on each side; ventral surface with a sparse number of spines; apex with a pair of elongate spines on each surface. Genicular lobes of all femora with