New species of mole crickets of the Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa group (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) from Israel, based on morphology, song recordings, chromosomes and cuticular hydrocarbons, with comments on the distribution of the group in Europe and the Mediterranean region

Abstract

Two sibling species of mole crickets of the Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa group inhabit Israel. Both are described as new species based on differences in their morphology, acoustic behaviour, chromosome number, cuticular hydrocarbon pattern and habitats. The species with males having 2n = 23 chromosomes, described in the past as the ‘Dead Sea race’, is designated as G. marismortui sp.n. It is an endangered species. In morphology and chromosome number it is similar to G. cossyrensis Bacetti & Capra from Italy, but differs in the composition of cuticular hydrocarbons. Gryllotalpa marismortui occurs in a limited geographical area along the shore of the Dead Sea. Another species, with 2n = 19 chromosomes, is described as G. tali sp.n. and is found throughout Israel. The calling songs of the males of the new species differ markedly. Females of the respective chromosomal numbers discriminate in favour of the homospecific call. Their habitats are strikingly different: G. marismortui lives in hypersaline soil along the Dead Sea shore (total chloride 187.25 meq %), G. tali inhabits freshwater soil (9.31 meq %). The distribution of the twelve known sibling species and one chromosomal race (not yet described) of the G. gryllotalpa group from Europe and the eastern Mediterranean is summarized. The zoogeography and phylogeny of the group are discussed.

New distributional data on the Orthoptera (Saltatoria) of the northern Dodecanese (“Southern Sporadhes”) Archipelago, Greece

“…Solely based on karyotypic terms, Baccetti (1992) has described and named the 19-chromosome one; in his study, the holotype comes from the nearby island of Kos. Unlike other areas in eastern Mediterranean where (in addition to the karyotype) morphological features have been successfully used for taxonomic differentiation (Broza et al, 1998), the Greek taxa are currently distinguished only according to the chromosome number which can be measured in fresh specimens. Both races have been reported from the southeastern Aegean (Krimbas, 1960), so the specimens from Lipsos might belong to either of them or even both of them: it has been shown (Broza et al, 1998) REMARKS: This taxon is common throughout the Mediterranean region.…”

First finding of Steppe mole cricket Gryllotalpa stepposa (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) in Croatia

“…Only a partial distribution of 13 European taxa is currently known (Broza et al, 1998, including several taxa described mostly on the basis of different chromosome number and with uncertain reproductive isolation. Apart from Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Linnaeus, 1758), Harz (1969) quotes three more species for Europe: G. africana Palisot deBeauvois, 1805 for S-Spain, G. septemdecimchromosomica Ortiz, 1958 for Spain andG.…”

“…Precise location of the locus typicus of G. gryllotalpa is still uncertain, noted as "Europa" in Harz (1969) and Orthoptera Species File (Cigliano et al, 2017). Broza et al (1998) published a review of European taxa from G. gryllotalpa group, citing the following species: northern species G. gryllotalpa with 12 chromosomes, sibling species or chromosome "races" with 15 to 23 chromosomes G. cossyrensis, G. quindecim, G. sedecim, G. octodecim, G. viginti, G. vigintiunum described from Italy and middle Mediterranean islands, including Pantelleria (Baccetti & Capra, 1978;Baccetti, 1991), and five other taxa outside Italy: G. africana, G. septemdecimchromosomica and G. vineae in WEurope, the 14-chromosome taxon from Romania (= G. stepposa Zhantiev, 1991) and G. krimbasi in SE-Europe. However, G. stepposa is known to have polymorphic chromosome number, 2n= 14, 15, 16 (Fyodorova et al, 1991), and its southern possibly sibling allopatric taxon G. krimbasi has 19 chromosomes (Baccetti, 1992), but morphological examination of topotypic specimens was not performed.…”

Extraordinary Multilocus Genetic Organization in Mole Crickets, Gryllotalpidae

“…The evolutionary significance of genetic diversity in nature has been reviewed using the environmental-genetic correlation methodology at the local, regional, and global scales (Nevo 1988(Nevo , 1998. The following conclusions were drawn:…”

“…We tested the niche-width variation hypothesis, which predicts a positive correlation between ecological and phenotypic (Van Valen 1965) or genotypic (Soulé and Stewart 1970;Nevo 1988Nevo , 1998 diversities. Particular attention was devoted to subterranean mammals including the blind mole rat, Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies, as an evolutionary model of speciation and adaptation (Nevo 1991(Nevo , 1999.…”