Bioacoustics of Odontura martae

Description . Male ( Figures 3a–3b ). Colour . Green, with three longitudinal lines, of which the central lightcoloured one (ranging from whitish to a pale yellow across individuals) runs lengthwise on the pronotum and abdomen; flanking either side of this middle line are marginally broader parallel lines, whitish in colour on the pronotum and bicoloured on the abdomen, with a whitish outer and inner purple coloration that reaches the tip of the abdomen; the margin between tergites and sternites is also whitish. The lower area of paranota is whitish. Head and antennae . Fastigium of vertex very narrow, scarcely furrowed above, separated from the fastigium of frons, which is tuberculated. Eyes rounded and slightly protrusive. Antennae longer than the body. Thorax . Pronotum small, round above, anterior margin a little concave, posterior straight, lower margin of lateral lobes widely rounded. Tegmina very short with convex fore margin and rounded apex, second pairs of wings atrophic. Stridulatory area of left tegmen raised, speculum of right tegmen wide, oval, the stridulatory file under the left tegmen is arched and consists of three series of 15–17 teeth, with the distal ones more spaced, the central ones less spaced, and the proximal ones lower and very close to each other ( Figures 4a–4b ). Legs . All limbs comparatively long, fore coxae unarmed, fore tibiae furrowed on upper margin, distinctly widening on tympanum area. Tympana open on inner and outer sides. Fore, mid and hind femora unarmed, fore and mid tibiae with 4–5 spines on inner and outer ventral and dorsal margins, hind tibiae with 4–5 outer and 2–3 inner ventral spines and more than 20 spines on both sides of dorsal margins + 2 spurs on each apical side. Abdomen . Tenth tergite with a straight margin, subgenital plate concave, styli absent. Cerci stout, apically folded at right angle ( Figures 1c–1d ). Female ( Figure 3c ). Same common characters as in the male, but slightly more robust and stout. Overall colour green, similar to the male, but with three longitudinal whitish lines, thus lacking the purple line. Tegmina very short, less than pronotum, overlapped. Subgenital plate short and wide with a pointed hind tip ( Figure 4e ). Ovipositor long and gently upcurved with several spines on dorsal and ventral margins. Measurements (in mm). Males. Body length: 14.4±1.4 (11.9–17.0); length of pronotum: 2.8±0.2 (2.5–3.1); length of tegmina: 2.9±0.2 (2.5–3.1); length of hind femora: 15.7±1.3 (13.5–18.0). Females. Body length: 18.2±2.6 (14.0–21.5); length of pronotum: 3.4±0.3 (2.9–3.9); length of tegmina: 2.1±0.5 (1.7–3.0); length of hind femora: 17.4±0.9 (16.4–19.2); length of the ovipositor: 10.1±0.6 (9.4–11.9).

Affinities . The cerci of Odontura martae sp. nov. are apically folded at right angle ( Figures 1c–1d ), while those of O. stenoxypha are apically incurved, quite abruptly ( Figure 1f ), those of O. calaritana are apically gently incurved ( Figure 1e ), and those of O. algerica have only a small apical spine ( Figures 1a–1b ). The male subgenital plate of the four species may be rounded or V-shaped, and, as a consequence, these do not represent a reliable diagnostic character. For the same reason, the female subgenital plate ( Figures 4d, 4e, 4f ) cannot be used as a diagnostic character. Conversely, the length of the ovipositor is a good character to distinguish O. martae sp. nov. from O. stenoxypha ; from specimens examined, it transpired that in O. martae sp. nov. the ovipositor measured 10.1±0.6 (min–max: 9.4–11.9), while in O. stenoxypha it was 9.3±0.60 (min–max: 8.2–10.3). A significant variance in ovipositor length between O. stenoxypha and O. martae sp. nov. was detected (Student’s t-test = -2.982, P = 0.008, fd = 18). The ovipositor of the holotype of O. borrei is 11.1, the length of the ovipositor in O. algerica 9.9±0.8 (min–max: 8.9–10.7); no statistical differences were found neither between the length of the ovipositor of O. algerica and O. martae sp. nov. , nor between O. stenoxypha and O. algerica . Concerning the stridulatory file, we examined those of O. martae sp. nov. from Lampedusa and from Tunisia , O. stenoxypha from Sicily (Ficuzza), O. algerica from Algeria and O. quadridentata from Algeria ; in the specimens analysed, three series of 14–16 teeth were found to be common to all, with the distal ones more spaced, the central ones less spaced, and the proximal ones lower and very close to each other ( Figures 4a, 4b, 4c ). In summary, when comparing stridulatory files of specimens of different taxa, no evident differences were observed. Interestingly, O. martae sp. nov. and O. algerica have been collected in the same locality and on the same date ( Tunisia , Ain Draham 25.V.2010 ). It was possible to separate males by the cerci shape and the female by the presence of distinctly overlapped ( O. martae sp. nov. ) or just minimally overlapped tegmina ( O. algerica ).