1. A new species of Apteroscirtus Karsch, 1891 (Ensifera, Tettigoniidae, Mecopodinae) from Angola
- Author
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Mercedes París, Claudia Hemp, European Commission, Hemp, Claudia [0000-0001-9170-7113], París, Mercedes [0000-0002-0161-7278], Hemp, Claudia, and París, Mercedes
- Subjects
Insecta ,Arthropoda ,Orthoptera ,Mecopodinae ,Tettigoniidae ,Zoology ,Biodiversity ,Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,New species ,Birds ,Angola ,Genus ,Africa ,Animals ,Animalia ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Taxonomy (biology) ,Ensifera ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Taxonomy - Abstract
A new species of Apteroscirtus is described from Angola, enlarging the known area of distribution of this genus to westsouthern Africa. The genus Apteroscirtus contains at present six species with three species confined to the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, one species from the Ruwenzori Mountains along the Albertine Rift in western Uganda on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and two species from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. Five of the six species are apterous or only have tiny lobe-shaped remains of former wings (Hemp 2020) while males of A. inalatus (Karsch, 1886) have reduced but otherwise well-developed tegmina and very likely are able to produce songs. As far as information is available Apteroscirtus are inhabitants of the forest floor and are perfectly adapted to the litter layer but can also be found sitting on taller herbs at night. When studying the Orthoptera collection of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC) in Madrid (Spain) three specimens collected in northern Angola of a new Apteroscirtus species were found and the new species is described here. ., [Material and methods]: Measurements. The total body length refers to the body length of the insect from head to the tip of the abdomen including the male subgenital plate in males but without the ovipositor of the female., [Depository]: MNCN: Museo National de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain., [Results]: Apteroscirtus dundoensis n. sp. Hemp, C. Holotype male. Angola, Dundo (Lunda); A. De B. Machado B. Machado, February 1948 (MNCN_Ent 305876)., This research received support from the Synthesys Project http://www.synthesys.info/ which is financed by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP6 “Structuring the European Research Area Programme” enabling Claudia Hemp to visit the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain.
- Published
- 2021