Paracinema tricolor tricolor (Thunberg, 1815)

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:67633 Figure 48

Material examined. ETHIOPIA: SNNPR, Keffa, Bamboo Forest (2620 m), 20.IV.2015, R.P.W.H. Felix (1Ƌ, RFPC), B. Massa (2Ƌ, BMPC); Keffa (Chena), Boka Forest (2500 m), 15.IV.2015, B. Massa (1Ƌ); Keffa, Gogomma (1720 m), 24.IV.2015, B. Massa (1♀, BMPC); Keffa, Hana Wetland (2400 m), 19.IV.2015, R.P.W.H. Felix (4Ƌ, 3♀, RFPC), B. Massa (12Ƌ, 4♀, BMPC); Keffa, Shorori Wetland (1610 m), 21.IV.2015, R.P.W.H. Felix (2Ƌ, 1♀, RFPC), B. Massa (3♀, BMPC); Oromia, Bale, Gaysay grasslands, Bale Mountains N.P. (3050 m), 9.XII.2015, B. Massa (7Ƌ, 3♀); Bale, Dinsho (3130 m), 8.XII.2015, B. Massa (2Ƌ, 2♀); Bale, Goba Forest, Bale Mountains N.P. (3130 m), 10.XII.2015, B. Massa (1Ƌ, 1♀); Bale, Harenna Forest, Bale Mountains N.P. (1950 m), 13.XII.2015, B. Massa (15Ƌ, 5♀) (BMPC).

Taxonomy & distribution. Three subspecies are recognized: P. t. tricolor occurs in the whole of Africa south of the Sahara and on Madagascar, P. t. bisignata (Charpentier, 1825) occurs in Mediterranean Europe and P. t. arabica Uvarov, 1952 is described from Arabia.

Habitat. Most of the Ethiopian collecting sites were situated in high elevated grasslands.

Remarks. Generally all specimens of this genus are identified as P. tricolor, except for the clearly different P. luculenta Karsch, 1896. According to Uvarov (1934) the genus requires a revision, and for that reason he did not name the series of specimens collected in Ethiopia. A revision was published by Key (1936), who described the ssp. montana Key, 1936, from the Ethiopian specimens mentioned in Uvarov (1934). These were collected at Djem-Djem Forest, 60 km west of Addis Ababa. Ssp. montana was later synonymized with the nominate by Dirsh (1966). We treat our material here as belonging to P. t. tricolor. Specimens from Ethiopia are unusually small and tegmina are clearly shorter than in North African and European specimens. Further taxonomic study is required.