Phaneroptera parva Ragge 1956

Phaneroptera parva Ragge, 1956

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:8231

(Figs. 25 G–I, 51G–I)

Diagnostic remarks. One of the smallest katydids in Mozambique, P. parva can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the shape of the male cerci (Fig. 25H) and a distinctly shorter tegmen in comparison to the length of the hind wing (Fig. 25I).

Bioacoustics. The call of P. sparsa consists of a series of single syllables produced at the rate of approximately 0.2/s; mean syllable duration is 0.10966 s (SD=0.02159, n=6); the peak frequency of the call is 42.7–50.4 kHz (Figs. 51 G–I). This species is the only katydid in Gorongosa other than Gorongosa carri known to produce a purely ultrasonic call.

Distribution and natural history. P. parva has so far been known only from its type specimens collected in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Malawi (Ragge 1956a), and this is its first record from Mozambique. Based on the known distribution of this species it is likely that it occurs throughout the sub-Saharan Africa. In Gorongosa P. parva is a rarely encountered species, found in open, grassy habitats, where it has been seen feeding on flowers of grasses.

Measurements (1 male, 1 female). body w/wings: male 22.5, female 19; body w/o wings: male 9.6, female 9; pronotum: male 2.4, female 3; tegmen: male 10.7, female 12; hind femur: male 12.3, female 14; ovipositor: 4 mm.

Material examined (8 specimens). Mozambique: Sofala, Gorongosa, Chitengo, E.O. Wilson Laboratory, elev. 42 m (-18.97775, 34.35130), 1–15.x.2017, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 female; GNP, Chitengo, E.O. Wilson Laboratory, elev. 48 m (-18.977722, 34.351333), 15–30.ix.2017, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 male; GNP, Chitengo, Wilson Laboratory, elev. 48 m (-18.977722, 34.351333), 1–15.i.2018, coll. P. Naskrecki & N. Vicente— 1 male; GNP, JAG Exclosure 15, (-18.89506, 34.44695), 10.vi.2017, coll. J. Guyton— 1 female, 1 male (EOWL); Gorongosa Dist., GNP, nr. Lion House, (-18.915186, 34.370425), 27.v.2013, coll. P. Naskrecki— 1 female (MCZ).