Review of the East African species of the phaneropterine genus Parapyrrhicia Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891 (Insecta: Orthoptera): secret communication of a forest-bound taxon

Abstract

The East African species of Parapyrrhicia Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891, are reviewed. Beside the description of five new species from the West Usambara, Udzungwa, Uluguru Mountains, and coastal Tanzania and the male of P. zanzibarica Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891, data on habitat, morphology, acoustics, and the chromosomes are provided. A key to the species of Parapyrrhicia is provided. Eulioptera zanzibarica Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891, is synonymized with Parapyrrhicia zanzibarica Brunner. All species have stridulatory files with intertooth intervals decreasing from anal to basal and low duty cycle calling songs (four species recorded) consisting of very short, narrow-banded, resonant syllables. Parapyrrhicia species showed a plesiomorphic karyotype with a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 31 and a X0 sex chromosome system in males. All species are restricted to closed wet forest areas and thus ideal organisms to be used for monitoring habitat quality of an area since they act as indicators for indigenous wet forest communities. Morphological sister pairs suggest recent speciation processes in coastal and lowland wet forests of East Africa.