Bioacoustics of Zebragryllus nouragui

Diagnosis. Large, black and white species, with antennae black brown basally. Maxillary palpi dark brown, except for white joint 4. Male. FWs covering almost the whole abdomen; mirror much wider than long, including few distal cells ( Fig. 2 C); stridulatory file with 96 teeth (n=1). Male genitalia. Median lophi short and thick, rounded dorsally ( Fig. 4 E); dorsal and ventral angles acute, distal margin concave ( Fig. 4 F); lateral lophi quite long, abruptly narrowed before apex; pseudepiphallic parameres club-shaped, longer than lateral and median lophi ( Fig. 4 F). Female. FWs present. Body dark brown; mesonotum and tergite 3 white ( Fig. 5 C), the former often hidden by the FWs. Subgenital plate distal angles acute ( Fig. 6 K, L). Female genitalia. Copulatory papilla having the shape of a small, sclerotized ring ( Fig. 6 S–U).

Description. In addition to the characters of the genus: Head dark brown. Large “zebra” species, with dark antenna base. TIII with 4–5 (mean 4.3 in females, 4.4 in males) inner, and 5 outer subapical spurs, the 5th inner most often much smaller when present. Basitarsomeres III with 3–4 (females, mean 3.3) and 3–5 (males, mean 4) inner, and 5 (females) and 4–6 (males, mean 5) outer dorsal spines in addition to apical spines. Coloration. Head and pronotum black brown. Antennae brown, with a short white ring far from basis (17–18 white antennomeres in females (mean 17.5) and 9–17 in males (mean 14.3), after 23–30 in females (mean 27) and 29–34 in males (mean 31.8) dark brown antennomeres; scapes yellowish brown and dark brown. Maxillary palpi dark brown, joint 4 and sometimes tip of joint 5 white. TI, TII dark brown. FI, FII dark brown with a large white patch on inner and outer sides. TIII and basitarsomeres III dark brown with lighter spurs. FIII dark brown ( Fig. 3 E), lower margin white, this longitudinal band wide on both inner and outer sides, interrupted before TIII apical fourth, and connected to the white transverse band at about three fourth of FIII length, and to the white oblique band close to FIII base. Cerci black brown, lighter at base. Male. FWs covering almost the whole abdomen, only the tip of subgenital plate visible dorsally; harp crossed by two transverse, almost parallel veins; mirror clearly delimited and separated from apical field ( Fig. 2 C). Subgenital plate short and truncate ( Fig. 2 H). Male genitalia. Pseudepiphallic sclerite very transverse, the distance between the base of median lophi and the anterior margin of the sclerite very short ( Fig. 4 E). Median lophi ( Fig. 4 E, F) short and quite thick in dorsal view, their inner margins rounded; in lateral view, median lophi with dorsal and aventral angles acute, the dorsal angle curved, not straight, and thin, not thumb like. Lateral lophi abruptly thinner well before apex ( Fig. 4 F). Pseudepiphallic parameres longer than median and lateral lophi in lateral view. Pseudepiphallic apodemes not as short as in other species of the genus. Ectophallic apodemes long and partly fused dorsally; apodeme on top of dorsal cavity short between ectophallic apodemes. Female. FWs present, covering about half metanotum, partly overlapping; dorsal and lateral fields with several parallel, longitudinal veins; transverse veins sparse. Body dark brown; mesonotum and tergite 3 with a wide, uninterrupted white band ( Fig. 5 C), the former often hidden by FWs. Ovipositor quite long for the genus. Subgenital plate transverse; distal margin truncate and deeply emaginate; distal angles acute ( Fig. 6 K, L). Female genitalia. Copulatory papilla resembling that of Z. nauta Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp. from Peru , having the shape of a small, wide ring ( Fig. 6 S–U). Measurements (in mm). Lpron wpron LFW wFW LFIII wFIII LTIII File Holotype 1.9 3.1 5.9 4.5 6.8 2,6 4,7 Paratypes 1.7–1.9 2.5–2.9 5.8–6.3 4.2–4.5 6.2–7.2 2.3–2.6 4.2–4.9 96 teeth (n=1) mean (n=5) 1.8 2.8 6 4.4 6.6 2.5 4.5 Lpron wpron LFW LFIII wFIII LTIII Lovip Allotype 1.8 2.5 0.8 6.8 2.6 4.5 5.1 Paratype 1.9 2.6 1 6.7 2.5 4.6 5.7 Mean (n=2) 1.9 2.6 0.9 6.8 2.6 4.6 5.4 Calling song. Seven calling songs of Z. nouragui Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp. have been recorded in the field (MNHN-EO-ENSIF3183, 3184). Members of this species produce long echemes ( Fig. 8 C), i.e. composed of 114– 200 syllables. Towards the end of each echeme there is a distinct increase in the amplitude of syllables making each echeme appear like a trumpet. Measured calling song features are listed in Table 1 . No. of records Time Temp. (°C) Syllable duration (ms) Syllable period (ms) Syllable duty cycle (%) Z. nouragui _003 11h00 24.8 0.01 0.02 50 Z. nouragui _006 09h10 23.7 0.01±0.001 0.05±0.66 14 Z. nouragui _009 16h45 27.3 0.01±0.001 0.02 50 Z. nouragui _014 11h20 25.1 0.01±0.001 0.02±0.003 50 Z. nouragui _024 10h55 24.3 0.01±0.004 0.03±0.02 44 Z. nouragui _025 11h20 24.8 0.01±0.001 0.02±0.03 48 Z. nouragui _027 08h00 23.3 0.01±0.002 0.02±0.02 47 continued. No. of records No. of syllables/ Echeme duration Echeme period Echeme duty Dominant frequency echeme (ms) (ms) cycle (kHZ) Z. nouragui _003 138±26 2.99±0.6 3.71±0.9 80 4.8±0.1 Z. nouragui _006 164±41 6.48±0.8 16.2±0.8 23 4.7±0.1 Z. nouragui _009 167±9 3.32±0.2 3.66±0.2 91 5±0.1 Z. nouragui _014 230±46 5.72±0.88 5.92±0.77 97 5.1±0.2 Z. nouragui _024 200±40 6.43±0.9 7.64±4.9 84 4.8±0.3 Z. nouragui _025 144±24 3.2±0.6 3.65±0.7 85 5±0.2 Z. nouragui _027 114±14 2.62±0.3 2.81±1 93 4.7±0.4 Variation. In one very small male from the type locality, the ectophallic fold is largely visible between the median lophi of pseudepiphallus. The shape of the other parts of the genitalia are otherwise similar to that of the other males. The specimens originating from Saut Parare are very similar to the specimens from the Nourague by their male genitalia, size and ovipositor length; coloration is also very similar, but with smaller white spots on FI, II. The female copulatory papilla and subgenital plate are however slightly different: the subgenital plate of Saut Parare female has acute lateral angles ( Fig. 6 M, N), and the copulatory papilla is shorter and higher ( Fig. 6 V–X). The identification of these specimens as Z. nouragui Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp. will have to be checked, especially with the recording of the male calling song. In the same way, one male from Arataye shows a slightly different subgenital plate ( Fig. 2 I), higher and with a more rounded dorsal margin than the Nouragues males ( Fig. 2 H). Finally, the females from Saül on one hand, and Montagne Mahury on the other are very similar to the females of Z. nouragui Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp. , but present some differences in the shape of copulatory papilla (see Fig. 6 Y–D’) and subgenital plate ( Fig. 6 O–R), in addition to a longer white antennal ring (more than 20 white antennomeres).