Abstract
A new, morphologically cryptic species of phaneropterine bush-crickets is described from the grasslands of the Romanian Eastern Carpathians. Despite the morphological and acoustic similarities with the recently described Isophya nagyi Szövényi, Puskás & Orci, I. bucovinensis sp. n. is characterized by a peculiar male calling song, with faster syllable repetition rate (160–220 syllables per minute, at 22–27°C) and less complex syllable structure (composed of only two elements instead of three observable in I. nagyi). The morphological description of the new species is supplemented with an oscillographic and spectrographic analysis of the male calling song and male–female pair-forming acoustic duet. An acoustic signal-based identification key is provided for all the presently known species of the Isophya camptoxypha species group, including the new species.
Highlights
The glaciers of the Quaternary ice ages shaped distribution patterns in biodiversity and are considered as one of the primary forces of population divergence and speciation (Stewart et al 2010; Homburg et al 2013)
We discovered this insect at other highland locations in the northern and western areas of the large volcanic caldera of Călimani Mountains and in Suhard Mountains, in the southwestern and western parts of Bucovina region
We report the discovery and give the description of a new bush-cricket species recognized based on its distinctive calling song
Summary
The glaciers of the Quaternary ice ages shaped distribution patterns in biodiversity and are considered as one of the primary forces of population divergence and speciation (Stewart et al 2010; Homburg et al 2013). The Eastern and Southern Carpathians proved to be biodiversity hotspots within the Carpathian Mountains, being the richest areas in endemics regarding several groups of vascular plants and invertebrates, such as arachnids, mollusks and insects (Kenyeres et al 2009, Bálint et al 2011, Theissinger et al 2013, Gajdoš et al 2014, Cameron et al 2016, Hurdu et al 2016, Mraz et al 2016) Most of these endemics are organisms with low-dispersal abilities, species likely to show stronger genetic differentiation patterns due to the absence of gene flow (Homburg et al 2013). A new, morphologically cryptic bush-cricket discovered on the basis of its song
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