Isophya longicaudata Ramme 1951

Isophya longicaudata Ramme, 1951

Isophya longicaudata Ramme: Ramme 1951 (sp.n.); Chobanov 2009a (stat.rev.). Isophya modesta longicaudata Ramme: Kis 1960 (stat.n.).

Isophya pravdini adamovici Peshev: Peshev 1985 (ssp.n.).

Isophya longicaudata longicaudata Ramme: Chobanov 2009a.

Isophya longicaudata adamovici Peshev: Chobanov 2009a (comb.n.).

Morphological description: see the references above; Bey-Bienko 1954; Harz 1969 (as I. modesta longicaudata); Peshev 1985 (as I. modesta longicaudata). Bioacoustics: Chobanov 2009a. Karyotype: Warchałowska-Śliwa et al. 2008 (as I. modesta longicaudata and I. pravdini adamovici).

Diagnosis: The largest species within this complex (hind femur> 20–28 mm) with the longest ovipositor in the genus (> 17–25 mm). The body colouration is similar to that in I. plevnensis— bluish- or greyish-green with whitish opalescence. Male tegmina are equal or (usually) longer than pronotum; their disc (the Medio-Anal area) is yellowish-brown, more bulged and membranous than in the other taxa. CuP vein is yellowish, very long (>3/4–>4/ 5 of the width of metazone) and thick, situated closer to CuA in comparison with the other species in the complex. The stridulatory file is longest within the complex (> 3.5 mm), with 145–160 teeth. The song consists of single syllables, repeated at intervals of few seconds to more than a minute. The syllables are compact (instead of these in I. modesta) and last 0.5–1 s (at Т°>25°C) to> 1.5 s (at Т°<20°C). Each syllable has 45–80 impulses arranged in two attached parts—first one of compact decrescending impulses, and second one of loose impulses with a fusiform amplitude modulation.

This species shows features in the male song pattern and morphology of the tegmen, which clearly distinguish it from I. modesta. Therefore its species status was restored by Chobanov (2009a). The species has two subspecies, distributed along the Western Black Sea coast between the Danube in North and Strandzha Mountains in South (for phenology see the subspecies).