Bioacoustics of Melanesiana kataouii

Description of male ( Fig. 23–27 ). Head. Vertex brown to ferruginous. Each ocellus sits on a uniform dark brown part of the vertex. Epicranial suture deep, yellowish to greenish. Dorsal postclypeal area about two times shorter than wide, slightly convex, brownish; its anterior border non prominent, following the curve of the supraantennal plate. Scape yellowish and supra-antennal plate brown. Antennal flagella and pedicel blackish. Posclypeus mostly brownish, but darker in median area. Median part of anteclypeus brownish, hairless; lateral parts darker, covered by long silvered hairs. Rostrum with labrum and mentum yellowish. Labium yellowish with blackish tip. Apex of rostrum reaching posterior base of hind trochanter. Gena and lorum brownish covered by dense and long silvered hairs; lateral margin of lorum yellowish prominent. Thorax. Pronotum longer than head, ferruginous with a medio-longitudinal black line bearing a yellow shape like an exclamation mark. Pronotal collar yellowish; lateral parts with two prominent lobes; anterior lobe obtuse, yellowish with dark margin; posterior lobe semi-circular with wide yellowish margin. Ambient fissure black. Mesonotum mostly brown to ferruginous with wide yellowish ornamentations along parapsidal suture and median part. Scutal depression with circular brown patch. Metanotum and cruciform elevation entirely brownish. Opercula separated, longer than wider, pale yellow. Meracanthus brown with yellow exterior margin, slender and sharp. Wings. Forewings hyaline; venation brownish; radial crossvein and radiomedial crossvein with brown infuscation. Hind wing venation brownish. Ambient vein brownish, vannus and jugum hyaline with brown infuscation at margin. Legs. On fore legs, coxa and trochanter brownish with yellow margins; femur brown with wide yellow longitudinal lines; tibia and tarsus brownish with short golden hairs; pretarsal claw yellowish at base, getting darker at tip. Mid legs with coxa and trochanter brown to yellowish with a linear brown spot on the medio-anterior side and latero-exterior side; femur entirely brownish; tibia and tarsus yellowish. Hind legs pretty similar to mid legs, slightly paler. Abdomen. Appearing less inflated than Kanakia ; tergites and sternites uniformly brown, getting darker towards apex (tergite 8 almost black). Genitalia. Pygofer brownish to blackish; upper lobes paler, long, curved medially and becoming slightly slender to form an obtuse tip; basal lobe roundish; much smaller, located at base of upper lobes. Thecal pseudoparameres of aedeagus slender and apically divergent. Acoustic behavior ( Fig. 28 ). Male calling song composed of a continuous and regular succession of phrases. Each phrase lasting from 1.20 s to 1.30 s and separated by interval of 30 ms. Phrases are formed by echemes, emitted with progressive acceleration. Calling song includes frequencies ranging from 2 to 6 kHz with the main energy between 2.5 and 4 kHz and a maximum of energy at 3.4 kHz. Desciption of female ( Figs. 29–30 ). Head. Colouration similar to that of male. Thorax. Colouration and black ornamentation of pronotum similar to that of male. Mesonotum colouration similar to that of male. Legs. Similar in colour to those of male. Abdomen. Tergites slightly darker in colouration to those of male; abdominal segment 9 brownish with a pair of longitudinal near-dorsal black fasciae that extend to the anterior edge and ventrolaterally to some extent, dorsal beak terminally pointed; sternites colouration similar to that of male. Genitalia. Ovipositor sheath black with long golden hairs, reaching approximately the tip of dorsal beak of abdominal segment 9. Repartition. Endemic to New Caledonia , found only on West Coast of Main Island . Derivation of name . Species dedicated to Jean-Pierre Kataoui, a former technician of the IAC entomological laboratory, who first caught this species. Habitat and ecology. Melanesiana kataouii sp. nov. , inhabits shrubbery vegetation of mining scrub formation where Niaouli trees ( Melaleuca quinquenervia ) are scattered or absent. No information on seasonality and peak period of emergence has been recorded.