The Phlesirtes complex (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Conocephalinae, Conocephalini) reviewed: integrating morphological, molecular, chromosomal and bioacoustic data

Abstract

The tettigoniid genus Phlesirtes Bolivar and its allies are reviewed. Morphological, ecological and molecular data prompt the erection of the new genus Chortoscirtesgen.n. with type species Xiphidion meruense Sjöstedt. The genera Phlesirtes, Chortoscirtes, Karniella and Naskreckiella are characterized by morphological characters supported by molecular, acoustic, ecological and chromosomal data. Four species, Chortoscirtes pseudomeruensissp.n., C. masaicussp.n., C. puguensissp.n. and C. serengetisp.n., are described from localities in northern and coastal Tanzania and one Karniella, K. crassicercasp.n., is described from Uganda. The following comb n. are proposed: Phlesirtes kibonotensis (Sjöstedt) and Phlesirtes kilimandjaricus (Sjöstedt). Subtribal status is proposed for the four investigated African genera. A key to the Chortoscirtes species is provided.

Broken bridges: The isolation of Kilimanjaro's ecosystem

“…The last period allowing a dense forest cover and the spread of flightless montane species could have been at the end of the African humid period about 4,000–5,000 years ago (Thompson et al., ), when a high peak in arboreal pollen and fern spores were found in palaeo soils on the northern slopes of Kilimanjaro (Montade et al., accepted). Based on the actual distribution pattern and ecological demands of Aerotegmina kilimandjarica , a flightless bushcricket in montane forests on most high mountains in northern Tanzania (including Meru and Kilimanjaro) up to the highlands of Kenya (Heller et al., ; Hemp, ,b,c; Hemp, Heller et al., ; Hemp, Kehl et al., ), we conclude that a corridor suitable for the migration of this montane forest species would require a lower or middle montane wet evergreen forest of Cassipourea or Ocotea type with a mean annual precipitation of at least 1,100–2,400 mm and a mean annual temperature of about 12–17°C (cp. Hemp, ), that is, 2–7°C cooler and 400–1,700 mm wetter than today in the area between Meru and Kilimanjaro.…”

“…Tropical mountains are not only hot spots of biodiversity and endemism (Körner & Spehn, ; Mittermeier, Turner, Larsen, Brooks, & Gascon, ; Myers, Mittermeiers, Mittermeier, da Fonseca, & Kent, ) but also evolutionary cradles, accumulating neo‐endemics as has been suggested for many tropical regions (Merckx et al., ) as well as on the East African mountains—particularly in their forest belts (Hemp, Kehl, Schultz, Wägele, & Hemp, ; Schwery et al., ). Climatic fluctuations on East African mountains over the past few 1–2 million years were the motor for the high biodiversity in Orthoptera in the area (Hemp, Grzywacz, Warchałowska‐Śliwa, & Hemp, ; Hemp, Kehl, Heller, Wägele, & Hemp, , ; Hemp, Heller et al., , ) connecting and isolating forest habitats and thus enabling a spread of forest dependent taxa or boosting speciation through isolation. During the last glacial maximum (LGM), East African vegetation now classed as montane was wider ranging at lower elevations (Schüler, Hemp, Zech, & Behling, ; Van Zinderen Bakker & Clark, ).…”

Ecological adaptations of grassland‐inhabiting flightless Orthoptera: Fulvoscirtes and Acanthoscirtes, two new genera of African Karniellina (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Conocephalinae, Conocephalini)

“…Our results show that the species formerly united in Phlesirtes belong to five well‐separated taxa. Hemp et al (2010b) erected the genus Chortoscirtes (five species) on species confined to coastal grasslands and savannah habitats. Another well‐defined genus, Melanoscirtes (four species), is adapted to submontane and montane forest clearings in the area of the northern branch of the Eastern Arc mountains and Mt Kilimanjaro (Hemp et al , 2010c).…”

“…the pyrgomorphid genus Parasphena with about 25 species in eastern Africa (Hemp et al , 2009a), the lentulid genera Rhainopomma and Usambilla (Hemp et al , 2007; Schultz et al , 2007), the eumastacoid genus Chromothericles (Hemp, 2009b), or species of the recently erected genus Altihoratosphaga (Hemp et al , 2010a). However, the highest diversity is found within the subtribe Karniellina of Conocephalini with over 30 species distributed over East Africa (Hemp et al , 2010b, c). Genera and species of Karniellina described at present (excluding the new genera Fulvoscirtes and Acanthoscirtes ) are listed in Table S1.…”

Review of the genus Lunidia Hemp (Orthoptera: Phaneropteridae) and the description of a new species from the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania, East Africa

“…That these processes led to the biogeographical pattern we see today for flightless Orthoptera was shown e.g. for species of the tiny lentulids Rhainopomma and Altiusambilla (Lentulidae; Schultz et al 2007), the coptacridine genus Parepistaurus (Hemp et al 2015) and members of the Karniellina (Conocephalinae) in the genera Fulvoscirtes, Chortoscirtes, and Melanoscirtes (Hemp et al 2010a(Hemp et al , c, 2012. This suggests that climatic fluctuations of the past 1-2 million years were the drivers of the high biodiversity in the area and that most orthopteran species are the product of a young radiation.…”