Bioacoustics of Conocephalus (Aphauropus) leptopterus

Conocephalus leptopterus Hebard. 1932 . Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 58(3):336. Conocephalus (Aphauropus) leptopterus Otte, D. 1997 . Orthoptera Species File 7:39. Conocephalus (Aphauropus) leptopterus García-García & Fontana. 2006 . Entomología Mexicana 5(2):251. Conocephalus (Aphauropus) leptopterus García-García & Fontana. 2008 . Guía para el reconocimiento y estudio de los chapulines del Parque Nacional “El Cimatario”, Querétaro. 48 pp. Conocephalus (Aphauropus) leptopterus Fontana, Buzzetti & Mariño-Pérez. 2008 . Chapulines, Langostas, Grillos y Esperanzas de México . Guía fotográfica - Grasshoppers, Locusts, Crickets & Katydids of Mexico . Photographic guide. p. 62. Description (of male except where specified—main body measurements of examined specimens are given in Table 2 .). Total length (1) Pronotum length Hind femur length Tegmina length (2) Ovipositor length 4♂ 15.3–21.0 (18.0) 2.9–4.4 (3.7) 9.9–13.2 (11.4) 0.9–1.5 (1.2) NA 3♀ 20.3–26.5 (22.8) 4.3–5.4 (4.7) 13.0–16.8 (14.2) 0.3–0.8 (0.5) 24.0–32.4 (28.0) (1) Total length: from vertex to apex of hind femur. (2) Tegmina length: exposed portion in lateral view (starting at costal vein in males). Head. Fastigium from above subrectangular, 2.5 times as long as wide and about 0.7 times as wide as scape, forming a rounded line with occiput. Ventral side of fastigium of vertex rounded, hardly protruding over the separation with frons; frons weakly convex. Eyes small relative to head size, well-protruding and tegument of head smooth ( Figures 14 B and 15B & D) with face oval and mandibles symmetrical. Thorax. Dorsal surface of pronotum smooth, concave with anterior and posterior margin weakly concave; transversal section of pronotum cylindrical; lateral carinae absent ( Figures 14 B and 15B & D). Lateral lobes subtriangular with posterior margin almost straight; humeral sinus not deep. Anterior margin of lateral lobes convex. Fairly linear sulcus at posterior end of the second third. Thoracic auditory spiracle large, elliptical, and almost completely hidden under lateral lobe of pronotum. Prosternum armed with two thin, cylindrical, widelyseparated spines; meso- and metasternum with lateral lobes of basisterna subtriangular, emarginated. Wings. In both sexes, wings absent, Tegmina strongly reduced. Male tegmina subtriangular, rounded at apex, hardly surpassing the end of the first abdominal tergite ( Figure 14 A & B); female tegmina extremely reduced and as small as eyes, separated, lateral ( Figure 15 A–D). Stridulatory apparatus of male well-developed; stridulatory file and scraper both short and with the former consisting of 37 thin and narrow tooth ordered in a gently sinuous line ( Figures 14 C and 16A & B) and 43 on the latter ordered in a sinusoidal line ( Figures 14 D and 17A & B). Mirror of right tegmina subquadrate ( Figure 14 D). Legs. All legs thin ( Figures 14 A and 15A & C), fore coxae with elongated, forward-projecting spine located dorsally. Fore and mid femora completely lacking spines except for genicular lobes and fore and mid tibia armed only ventrally with 8 coupled sets of thin and dark spines. Hind femur without consistent genicular spines; hind tibiae armed dorsally with strong black spines on apical portion along ¾ of total length and also armed ventrally with thin dark spines at apical portion along 1/3 of total length. Tympanum of fore tibia bilaterally closed with tympanal slit facing forward; tympanal area weakly swollen. Abdomen and terminalia. Dorsal surface of abdominal tergites smooth, unmodified. 10th tergite in male protruding in a subtriangular expansion formed by two digitiform-joined portions ( Figures 18 A & B). Supra-anal plate poorly developed in both sexes. Male cercus very peculiar, subtrapezoidal, with a short, rounded, subtriangular apical tooth, a long, thin, incurved subapical spine and, posteriorly to the latter, an upcurved, sigmoid, short spine ( Figures 18 B & C). Male subgenital plate with a pair of styli, concave, with rounded posterior margin. Female cercus subconical, slender and straight. Male titillators extremely simple, consisting of two small, semicircular, and upcurved toothless bands ( Figure 19 A & B). Ovipositor twice as long as female abdomen and straight with upper and lower margins almost parallel; acute apex ( Figures 15 A & C and 20A–C). Coloration. Live ( Figures 6 and 7 A & B) and dried, mounted specimens ( Figures 14 A and 15A & C) are light green or yellow with a dorsal longitudinal brown band.