Search

In many groups of animals, especially insects, genital morphology is species distinctive. This is true of bush-crickets or katydids (Tettigonioidea). The calling songs produced by males are species distinctive and do not change significantly during the early stages of speciation. Their patterns are usually relatively simple. We present an example where none of these assumptions is true. Since the last revision of the genus Ducetia in 1961, one widespread species, Ducetia japonica (Thunberg, 1815) has been thought to be morphologically uniform. It is represented by tens of specimens from south and eastern Asia and Australasia on both sides of Wallace's Line. The male genitalic appendages vary little over the extent of its range. In contrast, the calling songs differ considerably from place to place. Examination of the stridulatory organs of both sexes (located on the first set of wings) reflects the differences in song. The teeth, which produce the sound, differ in shape, number, and size. We present details of the song patterns and the stridulatory organs that produce them. As a result, some synonyms are re-established, and new species are described. Chromosomal information is presented for two species. The origins and the distribution and expansion of the group are detailed. Duets between courting pairs have played an important role in the evolution of this song structure where efforts to trick eavesdropping rivals are common. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new genus, Altihoratosphaga, is erected for species formerly assigned to Horatosphaga Schaum, 1853, and a new species is described. Four species are included in Altihoratosphaga: Altihoratosphaga nomima (Karsch, 1896), Altihoratosphaga montivaga ( Sjöstedt, 1909 ), Altihoratosphaga nou (Hemp, 2007) and Altihoratosphaga hanangensis sp. nov. All four species are restricted to Tanzanian localities, and, except for A. nomima, for which no ecological data are available, are confined to montane forest habitats. Data on ecology, acoustics, chromosomes, and molecular relationships are provided, as well as a key to Altihoratosphaga species. The present-day distribution of Altihoratosphaga species suggests former migration events at times when wetter and colder climatic fluctuations favoured connections between montane forest communities, which today are isolated, enabling flightless taxa such as Altihoratosphaga and Monticolaria to spread. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 158, 66–82. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two species currently belong to the genus Monticolaria Sjöstedt, 1909 , both of them restricted to submontane and montane forest, forest edge and clearings. In this study a new Monticolaria species is described which inhabits montane forest edge and forest clearings on Mt. Hanang and the Nou Forest reserve (Manyara escarpment) in north-western Tanzania. The first description of the female of Monticolaria kilimandjarica is also provided and a key for the genus is presented. Segments of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) were sequenced to infer phylogeographic patterns. These analyses confirm the genus as a monophyletic group. The calling song and data on the morphology of the stridulatory file of M. kilimandjarica are presented. The evolutionary history of Monticolaria is discussed in light of biogeographical, ecological and morphological data. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 156, 494–506. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the role of chromosomal characteristics in the analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of the plecotine bats. Comparison of results from morphological and chromosomal data with those from morphology only.