Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902

Felix, Rob, Bouwman, Jaap, Odé, Baudewijn, Ketelaar, Robert, Pham, Duc Minh & Bailey, James, 2025, The grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): a comprehensive overview and a description of a new Oecanthus Tree Cricket (Oecanthidae), Contributions to Entomology 75 (1), pp. 21-166 : 21-166

Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902

Figs 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87

References for Socotra.

Krauss 1902: 4; Burr 1903: 412, 424 [as Sphingonotus caerulans ]; Krauss 1907: 17, 20, plate II: fig. 3; Mistshenko 1937: 157; Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)): 376; Wranik 2003: 323, plate 157.

Diagnostic notes.

In the subgenus Sphingonotus Fieber, 1852 , the intercalary vein in the medial area of the tegmen is serrated. In females, it is only slightly serrated or smooth ( Husemann et al. 2011).

Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)) stated that S. (S.) albipennis (Figs 82 , 83 ) is very close to S. (S.) savignyi Saussure, 1884 and that the only difference is the missing dark band in the hind wings of albipennis , which is present in savignyi . However, S. albipennis can have a faint dark wing band (Fig. 84 ) (see also Mistshenko (1937)). The hind wings are whitish / hyaline, not bluish, as Wranik (2003) stated. Another difference is that in S. albipennis , the inner sides of the hind femora are yellow with three dark bands. S. savigny has entirely yellow inner sides of the hind femora, except for one dark band. Furthermore, S. albipennis is a much smaller species than savigny . Differences with Sphingonotus (S.) ganglbaueri Krauss, 1907 , occurring on Socotra and Samha Is. are as follows: Sphingonotus albipennis has an obtusely-angled posterior margin of the pronotum, longer hind femora and a sloping head seen from the side. In S. ganglbaueri , the posterior margin of the pronotum is acutely angled, the head has a straight profile seen from the side and the hind femora are much shorter. The hind wings often have a trace of a smoky dark band and are bluish at its base.

Taxonomic notes.

Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis has been described and re-described by Krauss (1902; 1907), based on specimens collected by Simony on Abd el Kuri between 17 and 22 January 1899 (Fig. 83 ). During two visits of Forbes and Ogilvie-Grant to Abd el Kuri (3–6 Dec 1898 and 22–25 Feb 1899), they also collected S. albipennis , but Burr (1903) misidentified those specimens as S. caerulans (Linnaeus, 1767) (Fig. 84 ) (Uvarov in Uvarov and Popov (1957)).

Material collected during the Forbes expedition to the Archipelago in 1898 and 1899 processed at that time in London ( NHMUK) bears the label “ Sokotra 1900-234 ”. Material collected on the island of Abd el Kuri also bears that label (see earlier in this paper). For this reason, Mistshenko (1937), who identified Burr’s specimens correctly as S. albipennis , erroneously considered those specimens as collected on Socotra in the year 1900 (Uvarov in Uvarov and Popov (1957)). The material from the Forbes expedition processed in Liverpool has been labelled correctly and bears a label with Abd el Kuri as the collecting site.

Distribution and occurrence.

Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis is endemic to Abd el Kuri Is (Fig. 85 ). Mistshenko (1937) erroneously mentioned the species to occur on Socotra.

A rough idea of where Simony and Forbes and Ogilvie-Grant collected S. albipennis on Abd el Kuri in 1898 and 1899 can be determined from Rebel (1907) and Forbes (1903), respectively. According to Rebel (1907), the collecting events by Simony on Abd el Kuri were primarily on Jebel Saleh and Cimali. These two mountains are only accessible from the northern plains and slopes, their southern slopes being steep, inaccessible cliffs.

In Forbes (1903), it can be read that, on 5 Dec 1898, the collecting party went up Jebel Saleh through its north-western slope, departing from base camp at a sandy beach at the foot of the mountain southwest of it, known as Bandar Saleh. The specimens collected on 22 Feb 1899 were also encountered very close to Bandar Saleh ( Forbes 1903).

During a trip in 2022, several individuals were observed mainly on the plain north of Jebel Saleh and the adjacent northern slopes (P. van der Wielen, in litt.). Based on this information, the plains near Jebel Saleh and its slopes may have been the only known collecting sites of this Abd el Kuri endemic over the years. The exact collecting sites of Wranik’s specimens are unknown to us.

Habitat and biology.

In 2022, the species was observed on the plains north of Jebel Saleh and its slopes, especially on stony sites covered by small rocks and scattered stands of Euphorbia abdelkuri (Figs 86 , 87 ) (P. van der Wielen, in litt.). Records of the species are from December – March.

Bioacoustics.

Members of the Oedipodinae subfamily are known to emit quiet, buzzing sounds during rivalry, courtship and flight ( Roesti and Keist 2009). The sound of this species is unknown.

Figures

Figure 82. Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902, male. Abd el Kuri, 21 Oct 2022 (photograph Pierre van der Wielen).

Figure 83. Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902, male, syntype. Collected by Simony on Abd el Kuri in 1899. Scale bar: 1 cm (photograph Rob Felix).

Figure 84. Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902, male. Collected by Forbes and Ogilvie-Grant on Abd el Kuri, 22 Feb 1899 and erroneously identified by Burr (1903) as S. caerulans (Linnaeus, 1767). Scale bar: 1 cm (photograph Rob Felix).

Figure 85. Distribution of Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902 in the Socotra Archipelago.

Figure 86. Habitat of Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902 on Abd el Kuri. With Euphorbia abdelkuri (photograph Pierre van der Wielen).

Figure 87. Habitat of Sphingonotus (S.) albipennis Krauss, 1902. Northern slopes of Jebel Saleh, Abd el Kuri with Euphorbia abdelkuri (photograph Pierre van der Wielen).