Altihoratosphaga nomima MNB

Peronura nomima Karsch, 1896: 327. One male syntype, Tanganyika, Mpwapwa, 5 June 1890 (Stuhlmann); two female syntypes, Tanganyika, Mpwapwa, 7 June 1890 (Stuhlmann); MNB.

Additional material examined: One male and one female, Tanganyika Territory, Mroke 30 August 21 (Swynnerton); one male one female, Tanganyika, Ruaha National Park, 15 March 1966 (FitzGerald); NHML.

Diagnosis: Differs from all other Altihoratosphaga species in a rather smooth pronotum with few very shallow rugosities only on the pronotal disc, and in the lack of black spots on the tegmina. In respect of body size it is the largest Altihoratosphaga species. Differentiating characters of all Altihoratosphaga species are listed in Table 3.

Discussion: The Mpwapwa plateau, a mountainous area north of the small town Mpwapwa, reaches elevations of up to 1500 m a.s.l. It is suggested that A. nomima occupies a similar habitat (i.e. herbaceous vegetation in clearings and along forest edges of the submontane–montane zone) as the other Altihoratosphaga species. As A. nomima specimens are also recorded from further south, from the Ruaha National Park, where this species was collected from riverine vegetation, this species is presumed to occur on the mountainous areas in between, such as further east in the Ukaguru Mountains, which reach elevations of over 1500 m a.s.l., or the Rubeho Mountains, with elevations of over 1800 m a.s.l. However, the male from Ruaha and the holotype male from Mpwapwa differ slightly in some characters. The male cerci in the holotype of A. nomima (Fig. 8H) are more acute than those of the male from Ruaha National Park (Fig. 9D). Also, the venation of the tegmina differs slightly, and the Mpwapwa male has more rugosities on the pronotal disc than the Ruaha specimen. More material from this region of Tanzania is necessary, as well as data on habitat and ecology (song), to decide whether specimens from these two localities belong to the same species.