Bioacoustics of Paraphyllomimus pipiens

Distribution. Known only from Mt. Kaindi near Wau, Morobe District, NE New Guinea . P. pipiens and P. buergersi wauensis sing perched on understorey vegetation within earshot of each other at the higher elevations of Mt. Kaindi in undisturbed forest. Stridulation. At 20°C a recorded male had a mean call period of 1.5 s (n =24 consecutive calls). The field name ‘zipper’ arose from the several short pulses comprising each call, these giving a human listener an impression of infrastructure. Though the pulses of P. pipiens are much shorter than those of P. buergersi wauensis , they still leave a tonal impression when ‘sample-rate slowed’. The first trace of Fig. 15A , is one complete song. Its 4 pulse groups each consist of a series of short sinusoidal pulses such as that shown in Fig. 15D , this latter being the penultimate pulse of Fig. 15B . The last pulse group of A is shown in B at higher resolution, with Fig. 15D as a very high resolution of the penultimate pulse in B. The FFT spectrum ( Fig. 15C ) is calculated upon the entire trace of Fig. 15B . Peak frequency is near 10kHz with a low-Q somewhat broadened carrier peak, as one might expect with these less sustained pulses. The spectrum of the penultimate pulse of Fig. 15B is shown in Fig. 15E with a higher Q peak at 14 kHz.

( Figs 5–8 , 9C , 11A , 12A , 13A , 15 ) Specimens studied. Holotype male: “19.viii.81 Mt. Kaindi PNG Acaulo. small zipper 81-1” &”nr. Wau PNG 3-1 coll. G.K. Morris ( Depository NBC Leiden). Paratypes : 2 males PNG , near Wau, Mt Kaindi , 30.viii.1981 , G.K. Morris (Depository NBC Leiden) . Description. Male.—General appearance ( Fig. 9C ) close to P. buergersi wauensis described above but size slightly smaller. Elytron shorter, anterior margin less bowed, more strongly tapering apically but venation as in P. buergersi (s.l.), i.e., M ending into apex, Cu just behind, Rs just in front of it. Stridulatory area of left elytron 5.1–5.4 mm long, 2.2–2.4 mm wide, file in dorsal aspect inflated over 1.6–1.9 mm ; file in ventral view of usual shape, shortest distance between most proximal and distal tooth 2.1 mm , number of teeth about 100, spacing widest in mid part, about 10–11 teeth per 0.25 mm . Abdominal terminalia with supra-anal plate narrow, elongate, flat, posterior margin roundly excised; cercus strongly upcurved; subgenital plate narrowing distally into a strongly upcurved, short and undivided stalk bearing elongate styli which are about one third longer than length of stalk. Coloration as in P. buergersi wauensis except for the general pale green which is mixed with rufous brown and the elytra spots which are apparently less conspicuous. Female unknown. The female insect in Fig. 8 is either P. pipiens or P. b. wauensis . Measurements. (Length in mm) (male n = 3): body 12.9–13.3; pronotum 3.5–3.7; elytron 15.0–16.5 (greatest width 6.5–6.6); hind wing 10–11; fore femur 3.5–3.9; hind femur 6.4–7.1; stem of subgenital plate 0.5–0.8; stylus 0.8–1.0.

Diagnosis. This new species can easily be distinguished from nominate P. buergers i and syntopic P. buergersi wauensis by its more widely spaced stridulatory file teeth ( Fig. 11 ), about 10 teeth against>20 per 0.25 mm in the mid part of the file respectively). Also, the shorter file and its lower number of teeth (about 100 in P. pipiens ,> 200 in P. buergersi ) are quite different. The slightly smaller measurements of the 3 [specimens of the] new species seem to be useful to separate it from P. buergersi . Another difference is in the anterior margin of the elytron, which tapers apically straighter in the new species: this margin is more roundly narrowing apically in P. buergersi (s.l.). The general greenish coloration of the few available males of the new species is more mixed with rufous brown than in P. buergersi . However, the colour pattern of antennae, tympanal margins, fore tibiae, pronotum and elytra of P. pipiens and P. buergersi are similar except for the spots of the elytra, which are less obvious in the new species. Separation of the new species from P. apterus and P. pusillus is clearly shown by the strongly reduced hind wings, the basally instead of distally darkened antennal segments, the more widely rounded tip of the elytra, Rs vein reaching the elytron margin behind its tip and the distally less narrowing male subgenital plate in the latter two species.