A new genus of katydid from the Amazon Rainforest (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae; Steirodontini): Ninth contribution to the suprageneric organization of the Neotropical phaneropterines

Abstract

Emsleyfolium diasae n. gen. et n. sp., from the Brazilian, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon is described in this contribution. This new genus is morphologically very similar to Stilpnochlora, but is distinguished from the other Steirodiontini genera by its cone-head (similar to some genera of subfamily Conocephalinae, e.g. Neoconocephalus and Bucrates), modification of the tenth tergite into three lobes and absence of styles on subgenital plate. Thanatosis behavior is described as a defense mechanism.

A review of thanatosis (death feigning) as an anti-predator behaviour

“…TI has been described—often anecdotally—in a wide range of taxa, but there remain relatively few papers presenting quantitative accounts of the phenomenon. In the invertebrates, it has been suggested to occur (at least) in: crustaceans, stick insects, spiders, butterflies, stoneflies, water-scorpions, cicadas, crickets, mites, beetles, damselfly larvae, ants, bees and wasps (see Cassill et al 2008 for a partial list and references, and the following for a few more recent invertebrate examples: Coutinho et al 2013 ; Ritter et al 2016 ; Cadena-Castañeda et al 2016 ; Neves and Pie 2017 ). In the vertebrates, it has been recorded in mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish (again, see Cassill et al 2008 for a partial list and references, and the following for a few more recent vertebrate examples: Gally et al 2012 ; Marques et al 2013 ; Sannolo et al 2014 ; Batista et al 2015 ; Muscat et al 2016 ; Sanchéz Paniagua and Abarca 2016 ; Patel et al 2016 ; de Castro et al 2017 ; Freret-Meurer et al 2017 ).…”