Talk:Hoplosphyrum
MOGOPLISTES Group (may not be correct – HOPLOSPHYRUM group??)
DIAGNOSIS: Stridulating species with short, rounded tegmina, and nonstridulating wingless or vestigial winged species; clypeus wide, nearly evenly rounded for ¼ circle in profile; scape small, width <0.3x epistomal suture length; three terminal segments of maxillary palpi each about as long as greatest eye diameter; pronotum subquadrate in both sexes or slightly longer in males, covering <¼ tegmina when developed for song; hind basitarsus length 5x height, ca. ½ tibia length, tapering distally in side view, dorsal carinae armed with teeth; male epiproct rigid, triangular; abdominal titillators absent; ovipositor compressed or narrowly triangular in cross section, blade weakly differentiated from shaft, of nearly uniform texture except for narrow polished margin, tip blunt and downcurved or short and deeply sagging.
RANGE -- Members of the Mogoplistes group occur in tropical to mid-latitude temperate Eurasia, Africa (including Madagascar), and North and South America. They occur north to ca. latitude 41° (Hoplosphyrum, California, USA, this study) or ca. 51° (Mogoplistes brunneus Serville 1839/8, s England and south to ca. 34° (H. scottsburgi, Juan Fernandez Ids., Chile, Chopard 1932.)
GENERA INCLUDED -- Mogoplistes Serville 1839/8, Hoplosphyrum Rehn and Hebard 1912, Gotvendia Bolivar 1927 and Derectaotus Chopard 1936. Specimens of the Mid-Eastern genera Derectaotus and Gotvendia examined by REL (CAS and ANSP) appear similar to Hoplosphyrum. We here add Viscainus n. gen. REL has examined several undescribed species in the CAS collection from Africa and Madagascar that are closely related but do not belong to described genera.
DISCUSSION -- In this group, the clypeus is wide, in profile evenly rounded throughout but more sharply rounded than vertex and frons, clearly separating the face from the top of the head. However, in some dried specimens the area above the labral margin collapses, creating a sharp angle and depression below the midpoint. Species that stridulate have tympana in both sexes, silent species (wingless and vestigial winged) lack tympana. When tegmina are developed for singing, the pronotum is slightly longer than wide in males, but not covering >¼ tegmina. The songs known to us are series of chirps of 3 (rarely 2) to >15 pulses per chirp, continuous or grouped, at <100p/s. Mogoplistes brunneus Serville 1839, a wingless cricket from Sardinia, was the first species described.
Genus Hoplosphyrum Rehn and Hebard 1912.
Hoplosphyrum Rehn and Hebard 1912: 222. TYPE SPECIES: Mogoplistes occidentalis Scudder 1868, by original designation.
DIAGNOSIS: Tegmina present in males, dorsal fields larger than disc of pronotum, fully overlapping, with well developed venation, basal ¼ covered by pronotum, entire mirror exposed; male pronotum subquadrate, length 1.0-1.5 times head width; 2nd tarsomere with pulvillus present, lateral lobes lacking stout ventral setae; ovipositor longer than hind tibia, blade elongate-ovoid with blunt tip, ventral valvulae compressed, forming lower part of sides, with tip blunt, not ending in down-curved spine; calling song composed of chirps of 3 (rarely 2) to 15 pulses.
RANGE -- Hoplosphyrum occurs from Texas to California, US, to southern Mexico, and on Juan Fernandez Ids., Chile, SA. However, virtually nothing is known of genus members in between Mexico and the oceanic islands off southern South America. In North America, Hoplosphyrum appears centered around the Sonoran region where there are three described and several undescribed species. REL found no close relatives in the Yucatan, Oaxaca and central Chiapas regions of Mexico, but sampling was limited, and southwestern Mexico and Central America have not been sampled.
SPECIES INCLUDED -- There are many undescribed species of Hoplosphyrum in North America. At present, H. boreale (Scudder) and two species described here, H. californicum and H. microtes, are the only described species from the U.S. Love and Walker (1979), REL (original information) and DCL (personal communication) have found at least 4 additional species north of Mexico. H. occidentale (Scudder) was described from “Cape St. Lucas”, BCS, and H. aztecus (Saussure) was described from Acapulco, Guerrero, mainland Mexico.
DISCUSSION -- Since members do not occur in the U.S. east of the 94th meridian, Love and Walker (1979) did not enlarge on this genus. It is widespread in the west from Texas and Oklahoma to California, and extending southward at least through desert communities in Mexico. REL has examined specimens from Juan Fernandez and found differences that suggest that they are very closely related but may be different at the generic level.
In addition to the diagnostic characters, the subantennal bridge wider than deep, about as deep as subocular bridge, with a moderate, slightly sagging carina; 3rd tarsomere with setae below finer than stout spines beneath basitarsus; claws short, <½ 3rd tarsomere length; ovipositor long and thin, height <0.10 length, laterally compressed; dorsal blade length ca. twice height, marginal flange narrow, weakly differentiated. Tables I and II give a summary of salient characters.
The members of Hoplosphyrum present in North America are strictly ground dwellers, not ascending plant stems or fallen branches except to escape or to traverse short distances. Most live in and under loose surface litter; however some species show a strong preference for large litter accumulations such as wood rat (Neotoma spp.) nests, living in the interstices and tunnels to 20cm or more below the ground surface. Still other species live in talus slopes, lava flows, cliff faces or other principally rocky areas not necessarily associated with litter.
Songs fall into two groups: a) rapid 3-pulse chirp group; and b) slow =>4-pulse chirp group. It is not clear whether these groups are phylogenetically significant as they do not match grouping based on morphological characteristics.
1. Hoplosphyrum californicum sp. nov. (HCA) NOMENCLATURE: Named for its principal geographic distribution in Alta and Baja California.
2. Hoplosphyrum melan sp. nov. (HBK) (melas) NOMENCLATURE: melan - black.
3. Hoplosphyrum microtes sp. nov. (HMI) NOMENCLATURE: mikros - small, the smallest North American Hoplosphyrum.
4. Hoplosphyrum nothrops sp. nov. NOMENCLATURE: nothros - sluggish; ops - voice (f.).
5. Hoplosphyrum occidentale (Scudder, 1868). NOMENCLATURE: occidentalis - of the west.
6. {Hoplosphyrum oreion sp. nov.} {NOMENCLATURE: oreion - of the mountains. }
7. Hoplosphyrum tanyoura sp. nov. NOMENCLATURE: tany - long; oura - tail (f), referring to the unusually long ovipositor.
8. Hoplosphyrum zebra sp. nov. NOMENCLATURE: referring to the zebra stripes on the grey banded morph; this species is unique among those studied in having two color morphs, a grey-banded form with brownish wings, and a black form with white fringes and white wings.
REFERENCES:
Love, R. E. and T. J. Walker. 1979. Systematics and Acoustic Behavior of Scaly Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Mogoplistinae) of Eastern United States. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 105: 1-66.
Rehn, J. A. G. and M. Hebard. 1912. A revision of the genera and species in the group Mogoplistii (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) found in North America north of the Isthmus of Panama. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 64:184-234.
Scudder, S. H. 1868. A Century of Orthoptera. Decade I. Gryllides. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 12: 139-143.
Serville, H. C. A. 1839. . Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Orthopteres. Librairie Encyclopedique de Roret. Paris. 776pp.