Andeophylloides zarauzensis Cadena-Castaneda, Medellin-Becerra & Molina 2022, n. sp.

Andeophylloides zarauzensis Cadena-Castañeda, Medellín-Becerra & Molina n. sp.

Figures 1–5

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:518325

Etymology. The specific name of the new species refers to the farm Zarauz where insects were collected and the bioacoustics recordings were carried out.

Type material. Holotype. Male. Colombia, Cundinamarca, Bogotá, Usaquén, Finca Zarauz, 2590 masl. 4°45’8.31”N, 74° 1’20.39”W. S. Medellín leg. (CAUD). Paratypes. 1 female same data as holotype. 1 male. Colombia, Cundinamarca, Bogotá, Usaquén, north exit of the city by the 7th avenue, 2610 masl. 4°46’43.24”N, 74° 1’30.30”W. M. Angarita leg. (CAUD). 4 males same data as holotype (ANDES IN).

Description. Male. In addition to the characteristics mentioned in the generic description: Coloration. Lemon green body (alive); purple eyes (Fig. 1C); posterior border of pronotum outlined reddish brown (Fig. 1B). The ventral inner margin of the front and middle legs black (Fig. 1C), in the same way as the first two basal thirds of the outer surface of the hind femur (Figs. 1A, B). Stridulating crest (= A1 vein) of the left tegmen, M + CuA, and CuA veins of both tegmina are outlined in black, and the left tegmen have a grayish mirror (Fig. 1D). Head with normal development, pedicel with a spiniform tuber at the apex. Small fastigium, elevated and triangular in dorsal view; inconspicuous frontal ocellus. Maxillary palps with the first, second, and third segments of similar size; the fifth segment is the longest, expanding towards the apex (Fig. 1C). Thorax. Anterior margin of pronotum rounded, posterior margin straight, pronotal disc flat, with a slight depression on the metazone (Fig. 1B). The meso- and metazonal grooves are deep and attached to the lateral lobes, forming a delimited region from the rest of the pronotum (Figs. 1A, B). The lower border of the lateral lobes is thickened and slightly separated from the propleura in the dorsal view (Fig. 1B). Wings. Ovoid tegmina (Figs. 1D, E), covering the first abdominal segment (Fig. 1B). R vein diverging from M vein, near the base. Rs vein originates near the apex of the tegmen (Figs. 1D, E). Stridulatory file (= A1) almost straight and with 125–130 elongated and flattened teeth laterally, the mirror of the right tegmina has an ovoid shape, almost as wide as long (Fig. 1F); A1 vein of the right tegmina ventrally forms a fold without denticulations. Legs. Fore-femur ventrally armed with five spines only on the inner margin; fore-tibia armed with six spines on each ventral margin. The mid-femur has five ventral spines on the outer margin, and the mid-tibia has seven ventral spines on each ventral margin. The hind femur has eight ventral spines on the outer margin; the hind tibia with four or five spines on the outer dorsal margin and ten on the inner. All genicular lobes armed, except the outer genicular lobe of the mid-femur; spines of the femora and hind tibiae black (Fig. 1A). Abdomen cylindrical (Fig. 1B). Tenth tergite with a straight posterior margin; epiproct wider than long, as a semicircle shape covering the paraprocts (Fig. 2A). Cerci cylindrical, tapering smoothly from base to apex (Figs. 2A–C). Subgenital plate notch with shallow and narrow U-shape, styles dorsoventrally flattened (Fig. 2C). Male genitalia. dl rounded and without modifications; ldl curved inwards with a concave curvature at the base; df narrow (Fig. 2D); up.vl rounded and dome-shaped, the inner edges fold in a dorsal direction; ti finger-shaped, not exceeding the distal edge of the phallus; ec quadrangular, surrounding the structures of the anterior area of the phallus (Figs. 2E, F); ejv ovoid and connected by small conduct internally to the ejd (Figs. 2D, E).

Female. Similar in shape to the male, differing by its larger size (Fig. 3A). General coloration of the body brown; anterior and posterior margin of pronotal disc outlined in black; tegmina and pleura ocher brown (Fig. 3B); legs and ovipositor light brown, with black spots arranged as follows: on the apex of the femurs, inner side of the ventral margin of the fore and middle femur black, as well as on the mesal region of the dorsal margin of the hind femur and in the middle distal part of the ovipositor (Fig. 3A). Anterior margin of pronotum with a spiniform tubercle; tegmina are covering the first abdominal tergite, and not touching dorsally (Fig. 3B). Tenth tergite with a straight posterior margin, cerci conical and tumescent, epiproct small, not exceeding half the cerci length, and a rounded posterior margin (Fig. 3C). Ovipositor wide and not noticeably curved, dorsal margin wavy and with serrulations from the middle to the apex (Fig. 3D). Subgenital plate triangular, almost as long as it is wide, and with a small V-shaped notch at the apex (Fig. 3E).

Variation. Some males may have more conspicuous black regions in the body, especially in the tegmina veins, which may have wider stripes. A small portion of the base in the posterior femur may be yellow or green instead of black.

Measurements (mm). Male / Female: LB: 17.5–18.5/23, Pr: 5.8–6/6.5, Teg: 5–5.3/4, HF: 9.5–10/12, HT: 11–11.5/12.5, SP: 2–2.5/2, Ov: 11.

Acoustic parameters: The call consists of uniform consecutive syllables and a highly variable echeme duration, ranging from 1.05 to 19.24 s with an average of 5.9 ± 3.1 s (Figs. 4. A 1 and B1). Like many other katydids in the tropics, A. zarauzensis stridulates in ultrasound frequencies, with a peak frequency of 22.5 kHz and a bandwidth of 5.7 kHz (Table 1). A. zarausensis is nocturnal, with peak activity between 19:00 and 23:00, decreasing until 05:00 (Fig. 5A). Males sing throughout the entire year, but it has a higher acoustic activity in the months of the first rainy season of the year (March to May) in the Savannah of Bogotá (Fig. 5B).