Poecilimon (Poecilimon) anisozonatus Uluar, Chobanov & Çıplak, 2025

Uluar, Onur, Chobanov, Dragan P. & Çıplak, Battal, 2025, Merging taxonomy to systematics: A holistic approach to understanding the Poecilimon zonatus group (Orthoptera, Phaneropterinae), Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 83, pp. 93-125 : 93-125

3.16 Poecilimon (Poecilimon) anisozonatus Uluar, Chobanov & Çıplak sp. nov.

Description.

Holotype, male. Head. Fastigium of vertex equal or slightly wider than half of scapus. Thorax. Pronotum short, slightly constricted in the middle, median sulcus located after the middle, cylindrical in prozona and somewhat raised in metazona, caudal margin of the disc concave, medial carina occurs as a yellowish line, disk bordered by large light lines slightly divergent in anterior and posterior margins constituting roughly as “) (“ shape; paranotal margin almost straight along prozona and oblique along metazona. Tegmina short, extending beyond the posterior margin of pronotum, stridulatory vein not totally covered by pronotum; stridulatory file with ca. 55 teeth. Male terminalia. Cercus cylindrical, gradually tapering toward apex, curvature is more prominent apically, incurved roughly as L-shaped, with a flattened apex and with 4–5 distinguishable denticles on external margin. Subgenital plate wider than long, with a wide roughly quadrangular median processes apically, distal margin is quadrangularly concave.

Song.

Male song consists of short (9–14 ms) syllables of 10–13 impulses that are usually followed by one to four after-clicks, the complex syllable lasting 27–34 ms at ca. 28 ° C. The peak frequency spectrum lies between 35 and 50 kHz. Male song is exemplified in Figure 14 , and song measurements are provided in Table 3 .

Female.

Similar to males in general. Pronotum slightly raised in metazona, tegmina well visible beyond the hind margin of pronotum. Subgenital plate triangular, ovipositor typical of the group.

Coloration.

General coloration black with a creamish pattern; vertex black or with black dots on a creamish brown background, antennae black with regular white rings as in the group. Disc of pronotum with black patterns or spots on a creamish brown background at the beginning of prozona, black in the middle and reddish brown in metazona; paranota with black spots on a creamish brown background; tegmina with typical black / light (marble or brown) pattern; all legs are black dorsally. Abdominal terga black in front 1 / 2 and light in the remaining part, the black bands laterally extend to subsequent tergum and light bands remain in the middle showing a population-specific pattern.

Diagnosis.

The new species, P. anisozonatus sp. nov., shows sister group relationship with P. isozonatus , and each of them was consistently suggested as a distinct species by all species delimitation tests. The pair of P. isozonatus / P. anisozonatus sp. nov. can easily be distinguished by traditionally used phenotypic characters (Table 3 and Fig. 13 ). The typical cercus with flattened apex and prominent denticles located externally (no denticle on the internal side of apex), and male subgenital plate wider than long, are the most prominent characters distinguishing P. anisozonatus sp. nov. from P. isozonatus . Apart from the cercus and subgenital plate of the male, P. anisozonatus sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. isozonatus also by its male song – the syllable duration being 30.57 (27–34) ms in the first, while 13.6 (10–19) ms (Konya-Taşkent) or 6.46 (2–8) ms (Niğde-Çamardı) in the second (Table 3 ). Along with these phenotypic characters, there are six mutations, detected in the mitochondrial concatenated matrix by applying a PAUP analysis (File S 1), specific to the ancestral node of P. anisozonatus sp. nov., which we considered as a diagnostic character of this species; 1730 (C → T), 1799 (A → G), 1917 (A → C), 1928 (T → C), 2118 (C → T), 2223 (C → T).

Derivatio nominis.

The name of the new species is constituted to express its close relation, but the clear distinction, from P. isozonatus .

Remarks.

Currently, the new species, P. anisozonatus sp. nov., is known only from the type locality, adjacent to that of P. isozonatus , but separated by a lowland valley. Although the samples constituting the type specimens of the new species were reported as P. isozonatus and these two species show sister group relationship, signs from genetic data suggest that they are two independent evolutionary and reproductive units and there are considerable phenotypic differences, especially in male calling songs, supporting their distinctiveness.

Material examined.

See population 17 in Table 1 . Type locality: TURKEY, Antalya, Gündoğmuş, road to Hadim-Konya , 36.88333N, 32.11667E, 1887 m, 15. 6. 2014. 5 males (including holotype), 2 females (leg. S. Kaya and D. Chobanov) (all in alcohol at MEVBIL) . For descriptive structures see Figure 13 . The KnH population given under the P. isozonatus in Kaya, 2018: p. 87, Fig. 1 . represents this new taxon.

Figures

Figure 1. Ranges of the members of the P. zonatus species group. Ranges shown by shaded color-coded areas for each species with the number of sampling locality. Sampled localities are marked by color-coded circles; for additional details about sampled localities in each species see Table 1. The question mark (?) shows the uncertain distribution areas of the P. zonatus.

Figure 13. Diagnostic structures in male and female of P. anisozonatus sp. nov. The upper panel shows female structures (A pronotum from above, B pronotum from lateral view, C ovipositor from lateral view, D subgenital plate, and E epiproct and cercus), and the lower panel shows male structures (F pronotum from above, G pronotum from lateral view, H coloration of 2. and 3. abdominal terga, I abdominal terminalia from above, J subgenital plate, and K cercus)

Figure 14. Oscillographic representation of the male song of P. anisozonatus sp. nov. – male from Hadim-Gündoğmuş, 1900 m. Song recording at T = 27.8 ° C. Song shown at different speeds. A A frame of 1 min; B single syllable without after-click (frame of 100 ms); C single syllable with an after-click (frame of 100 ms).