Oecanthus chopardi Uvarov, 1957

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

Oecanthus chopardi Uvarov, 1957

Figs 165 , 167 , 168 , 173 , 174 , 175 , 176 , 177

References for Socotra.

Burr 1903: 412, 423 [as Oecanthus pellucens ]; Krauss 1907: 17, 27, 30 [partim; as O. indicus ]; Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)): 364–365 [partim]; Walker 1966: 270; Gorochov 1993: 92 [partim?]; Wranik 2003: 316, plates 146, 149 [partim]; Chintauan-Marquier et al. 2016: 60, 70 [is Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman , sp. nov.]; De Campos et al. 2022: 6 [is Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman , sp. nov.].

Diagnostic notes.

See Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman , sp. nov.

Taxonomic notes.

O. chopardi was described by Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)), based on four specimens from Wadi Dineghen, including the holotype (Fig. 174 ) and one paratype from Maabad. About that last paratype, Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)) mentioned the following: “ There is some variation in the brown elytral pattern of the male; the male from Moabbadh plain [Maabad] is marked very heavily its head, pronotum and antennae being blackish-brown ”. In the collection of the NHMUK, this is written on a note by Bruce Townsend: “ wing pattern of the fifth syntype [= fourth paratype; Maabad] differs markedly from that of the other four and it is clearly a different species ”.

The paratype from Maabad is assigned here as a paratype of Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman , sp. nov. Krauss (1907) also mentioned two different colour types within the specimens collected by Simony. After examination of these specimens, two belong to O. chopardi and two to O. castaneus sp. nov.

All specimens collected by Guichard in 1967, mentioned by Gorochov (1993) as O. chopardi , belong to O. castaneus sp. nov. Gorochov (1993) further mentioned three specimens (2 ♂, 1 ♀) collected by Kurzenko in 1984, the specific status of which is unknown to us. Wranik (2003) depicted O. castaneus sp. nov. instead of O. chopardi (plates 146, 149).

All Oecanthus material from Socotra in Massa’s collection belongs to O. castaneus sp. nov., except for two female specimens from Samha Is. These females are yellowish-white and might belong to O. chopardi or a third species. Further study must reveal the specific status of the taxon present on that island.

Distribution and occurrence.

O. chopardi is endemic to Socotra and is found at several sites in the Hagher and Maaleh Mountains (Fig. 175 ). Records are few and O. chopardi may well be a scarce species.

The labels of the type specimens mention Deneghan, 300 ft (ca. 91 m), while Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)) mentions 3000 ft (ca. 914 m) instead, which is on Adho Dimello. Later, Popov (1984) mentioned 300 ft (ca. 91 m). We consider the latter as correct (see Discussion).

Habitat and biology.

The species is restricted to well-wooded habitats in the zones with Frankincense woodland and forest, montane forest and mosaic. They were collected in a light trap. Records are from 90–914 m a. s. l. and February and March only.

Bioacoustics.

The calling song of Oecanthus chopardi has not been described so far. We also have not been able to record and subsequently collect a specimen of this species. However, in one sound recording from Adho Dimello high in the Hagher, we heard an alleged Oecanthus species, clearly different from Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman , sp. nov. We assume it could be possible that the song in the recording is from this species. The song recorded consists of echemes lasting 800–850 ms and is repeated not very frequently. Echemes consist of about 35 syllables, repeated at about 40 per second. The carrier frequency is 3.2 kHz.

Remarks.

Chintauan-Marquier et al. (2016) genetically analysed an O. castaneus sp. nov. specimen from Ayhaft. However, they published it as Oecanthus chopardi , the only species known to the island at the time of publication (see O. castaneus sp. nov.).

Figures

Figure 165. Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman, sp. nov., male, female, paratypes and O. chopardi Uvarov, 1957, female. A, B. Outer ventral lobe of the hind knee; SpCZ 12 YE 024 B, SpRF 09 YE 329; C, D. Ovipositor; SpCZ 12 YE 022, SpRF 09 YE 330 (photographs Rob Felix and Jaap Bouwman).

Figure 167. Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman, sp. nov., male, paratype and O. chopardi Uvarov, 1957, male. A, B. Right tegmen, dorsal view: a. Stridulatory file, b. Plectrum, c. Chordal field; C, D. Stridulatory file, right tegmen. SpCZ 12 YE 024 B (A, C); SpRF 09 YE 335 (B, D) (photographs Rob Felix and Jaap Bouwman).

Figure 168. Oecanthus castaneus Felix & Bouwman, sp. nov. and O. chopardi Uvarov, 1957, phallic complex of males. A, B. Dorsal view, anterior end on top; C, D. Ventral view; E, F. Lateral view, anterior end on the left. Abbreviations: DP: Distal Prolongation of the Arc; EctAp: Ectophallic Apodeme; MLPs: Main Lobes of the Pseudepiphallus; Ps: Pseudepiphallus; PsAp: Pseudepiphallic Apodemes; PsP: Pseudepiphallic Parameres; R: Ramus; ScEEI: Lateral Sclerotisation of the Epi-Ectophallic Invagination; SpRF 09 YE 323 (A, C, E), SpRF 09 YE 447 (B, D, F); Scale bar: 200 µm (photographs Rob Felix and Jaap Bouwman).

Figure 173. Oecanthus chopardi Uvarov, 1957, male in light trap. Ayhaft, Socotra, 22 Feb 2009 (photograph Rob Felix).

Figure 174. Oecanthus chopardi Uvarov, 1957, male, holotype. Scale bar: 1 cm (photograph Rob Felix).

Figure 175. Distribution of Oecanthus chopardi Uvarov, 1957 in the Socotra Archipelago.

Figure 176. Possible calling song of Oecanthus chopardi Uvarov, 1957. Spectrogram depicting 2 s with a carrier frequency around 3 kHz. Accompanying species shown are Ectatoderus sp. 2 (carrier frequency around 4 kHz) and Modicogryllus perplexus Cade & Otte, 1984 (carrier frequency around 5 kHz), with faint traces of Ruspolia aff. R. basiguttata (Bolívar, 1906) (carrier frequency around 13 kHz); RecRF 10151.

Figure 177. Oecanthus chopardi Uvarov, 1957, female. Maaleh, Socotra, 9 Feb 2024 (photograph James Bailey).