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Systematics of the southern African Meconematinae (Orthoptera : Tettigoniidae)

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This paper reviews all known, and describes several new taxa of the Meconematinae of southern Africa. One genus, Africariola gen. n., four species of the genus Acilacris Bolivar and three species of the genus Aroegas Péringuey are described as new. Problems with the diagnosis of the Meconematinae are discussed, and a preliminary phylogenetic hypothesis for the southern African genera is presented. Palaearcticgenera Cyrtaspis Fischer and Canariola Uvarov, and southern African genera Africariola gen. n., Paracilacris Chopard, Aroegas Péringuey, and Acilacris Bolívar possibly form a monophyletic group characterized by shield-like pronotum, brachyptery in males, and ovipositor with toothed apex.
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... South African Meconematinae were reviewed by Naskrecki (1996), who listed nine species from this country. Below we describe four additional, new South African species of the Meconematine. ...
... Below we describe four additional, new South African species of the Meconematine. This includes two new species of the genus Paracilacris Chopard, a rather enigmatic taxon placed by Naskrecki in the informal Cyrtaspis-group of the Meconematinae, in itself a rather poorly diagnosed subfamily of the Tettigoniidae (see Naskrecki 1996 for a discussion.) The remaining two species belong to Amyttacta Beier, members of the Amytta-group, a lineage never before recorded south of Zimbabwe. ...
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Four new species (Amyttacta marakelensis n. sp., A. farrelli n. sp., Paracilacris mordax n. sp., and P. periclitatus n. sp.) of South African Meconematinae (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) are described, and keys to genera Amyttacta and Paracilacris are provided
... ~ 105 ~ Following conventional protocols and identification, collected specimens were narcotized with menthol (Naphthalene) crystals and transported into the laboratory where they were air-dried for preservation. Specimens were recognized according to the following: Senthilkumar et al. (2001Senthilkumar et al. ( , 2002 [19][20] , Senthilkumar and Divya (2020) [24] , [2] , Raja Ganesh and Senthilkumar (2020) [13] , and Rentz (1979) [14] , Naskrecki (1994Naskrecki ( , 1996Naskrecki ( , 2000 [9][10]12] , Ingrisch and Shishodia (1997, 1998 [25] , Shishodia (2000a, b) [25,26] . ...
... A few even approach the cylindrical egg shape of other subfamilies (e.g., Fig. 2B; Poecilimon pergamicus Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891), while others have larger eggs without a proportionate increase in absolute height (e.g., Fig. 2C; Polysarcus denticauda (Charpentier, 1825)). However, the eggs of the genus Brinckiella Chopard, 1955, previously transferred from Meconematinae to Phaneropterinae by Naskrecki (1996), significantly differ from all other known Phaneropterinae. The figured eggs (Naskrecki and Bazelet 2009) are elongated and cylindrical ( Fig. 1, red triangles). ...
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Tettigonioids typically deposit their eggs within the substrate, whether in the soil or in plants. Consequently, these eggs often exhibit a rounded shape with a relatively smooth surface. Despite this, various studies have consistently demonstrated that egg shape is a stable characteristic within species, differing between distinct groups. However, to date, no comprehensive comparative analysis has been conducted, even though regional studies have suggested that the eggs of Phaneropterinae differ from all others. In this study, we present data on the length, width, and height of 352 species and subspecies, including measurements for 158 species that were newly assessed. Our findings substantiate the claim that the eggs of the Phaneropterinae subfamily can be distinguished by their flattened shape. Based on this important and diagnostic characteristic, we advocate for the re-transfer of the genus Brinckiella into Meconematinae. We propose a hypothesis suggesting that the evolution of the flattened egg shape in Phaneropterinae may have conferred advantages during the adhesive process of attaching eggs to plants—an assumed ancestral method of oviposition in this subfamily. Subsequently, these flat eggs found their way onto leaves or into the ground. While some other subfamilies exhibit eggs conforming to the basic tettigonioid shape, they showcase distinct features (e.g., Pseudophyllinae, Mecopodinae). We anticipate that future investigations into the lesser-explored Meconematinae, focusing on the small eggs and the oviposition behavior within this subfamily, will yield intriguing insights.
... Most species have narrow distributions and endemic species are prominent in restricted ecological habitats. Endemic species often possess unique combinations of morphological characters as were observed by Naskrecki (1996) in other genera of Meconematinae. The distribution of species endemics show that geographical factors might have been prevalent throughout their evolutionary history and can be explained by postorogenic-change hypothesis (Meng et al., 2008). ...
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... A cotton wad immersed in preservative (Phenol, Naphthalene, and Para dichlorobenzene in equal ratio) was kept in the corner of the box to restrict ant and fungal attack. The specimens collected were identified using various publications of Kirby (1914), Henry (1932), Chopard (1969), Rentz (1979), Tanton and Shishodia (1972), Ingrisch (1990Ingrisch ( , 2002, Ingrisch and Shishodia (1997, 1998, 2000, Shishodia (2000a,b), Shishodia and Tandon (1990), Naskrecki (1994Naskrecki ( , 1996aNaskrecki ( ,b, 2000, Naskrecki and Otte (1999), and Senthilkumar et al. (2001Senthilkumar et al. ( , 2002. ...
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