Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2020 | 12(5): 15655–15660

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4331.12.5.15655-15660

#4331 | Received 04 June 2019 | Final received 09 March 2020 | Finally accepted 04 April 2020

 

 

Some new records of katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Uttar Pradesh, India

 

Ramesh Singh Yadav 1 & Dharmendra Kumar 2

 

1 Government School Dehariya, Post - Rohuna (Zamania), District- Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh 232331, India.

2 Janta Vedic College Baraut, Baghpat District, Uttar Pradesh 250611, India.

1 ramesh_bhu@rediffmail.com (corresponding author), 2 vermaento@gmail.com

 

 

 

Editor: R.K. Avasthi, Rtd. Associate Professor/Head, Vaish College, Rohtak, India.                 Date of publication: 26 April 2020 (online & print)

 

Citation: Yadav, R.S. & D. Kumar (2020). Some new records of katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(5): 15655-15660. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4331.12.5.15655-15660

 

Copyright: © Yadav & Kumar 2020. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: None.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful to the Professor-in-charge, RGSC, BHU, Barkachha, Mirzapur, India for laboratory assistance.The  first  author  wishes  to  extend  his  gratitude  to  Dr.  Sigfrid  Ingrisch,  Germany  for  providing  the  translation  of  Beier’s  key  (1954),  and  also  to Dr M.A. Farooqi (India) for providing the necessary literature.

 

 

Abstract: In the present investigation intensive field surveys were undertaken to explore katydids of Uttar Pradesh.  Five species of katydids from four genera, namely, Letana cf. megastridula Ingrisch, 1990, Parasanaa donovani (Donovan, 1834), Sathrophyllia femorata (Fabricius, 1787), S. rugosa (Linnaeus, 1758), and Acanthoprion suspectum (Brunner 1895) were recorded for the first time from Uttar Pradesh, India.

 

Keywords: Acanthoprion, Chandauli, Ghazipur, grasshoppers, Letana, Mirzapur, Parasanaa, Sathrophyllia.

 

 

Grasshoppers and katydids are an important group belonging to the order Orthoptera.  Globally, more than 28,530 valid species of orthoptera have been catalogued in which more than 7,500 species of tettigoniids are known worldwide (Cigliano et al. 2018).  Exploration of tettigoniids from Uttar Pradesh, India is not much more explored as compare to Maharashtra (Chandra & Gupta 2012).  However, due to the scattered reporting on this group, exact estimation is unavailable also at the national leve as well as from Uttar Pradesh.  However, Shishodia et al. (2010) mentioned some 160 species from 72 genera of tettigoniids in his checklist of Orthoptera  from India.  Due to the scattered reporting on this group, exact estimation is unavailable at the national level, however, Shishodia et al. (2010) mentioned some 160 species from 72 genera of tettigoniids in his checklist of Orthoptera from India.  They are dominant fauna of tropical and subtropical ecosystems.  In India, most of the taxonomic studies of katydids are carried out from the northeastern Indian states as compare to other states (Shishodia et al. 2010).

Katydids are also called long-horned grasshoppers.  They belong to the suborder Ensifera and the superfamily Tettigonioidea.  They are very easily identified by their very long antennae, (hence the common name) and sword- or sickle-shaped long ovipositor with four segmented tarsi.  They are more similar to crickets than other grasshoppers.  The Indian katydids are grouped in nine subfamilies of which Phaneropterinae is the most diverse and Phyllophorinae is the least diverse subfamily.  Letana is a highly diverse genus of katydids (Tettigoniidae) in India (Shishodia et al. 2010).  Some important notable works on the taxonomy and distribution of Tettigoniidae from India are done by Barman & Srivastava (1976), Barman (1993, 2003), Ingrisch & Shishodia (2000), Shishodia (2000), Shishodia & Tandon (2000), Kulkarni & Shishodia (2004, 2005), Shishodia & Barman (2004), Senthilkumar et al. (2006), Chandra et al. (2007), Senthilkumar (2010), Shishodia et al. (2010), Srinivasan & Prabakar (2012), and Yadav (2016).

Uttar Pradesh is one of the largest states in India and considered biogeographically diverse ranging from plains to dry and plateau areas.  Here, floral and faunal diversity is very varied but katydids are under-studied probably because of their nocturnal habit.  Farooqi & Usmani (2016) recorded 13 species of katydids from this state.  Hence, the authors have tried to explore the long-horned grasshoppers from Uttar Pradesh.

 

Materials and Methods

The present exploration was part of a series of surveys at several locations in eastern Uttar Pradesh during 2017 (Image 1).  The katydids were collected using sweep nets, light traps, and by hand picking.  Most collections were made during night and morning hours, i.e., 19.30–23.00 h and 07.00–10.00 h, respectively.  The collected katydids were killed in a container containing ethyle acetate.  Subsequently, the materials were cleaned with hair brush, pinned and relaxed (as per need) on the handmade stretching board of thermacol.  It was kept for more than 60–72 hours for drying to avoid decomposition of the specimens.  The identification is based on the morphological and genital features and classification was done according to Cigliano et al. (2018).  The specimens collected were deposited in the Department of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology (RGSCE), Faculty of Agriculture, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus, Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India.  The coordinates of the survey sites are presented in Table 1.

 

Results

Order: Orthoptera

Suborder: Ensifera

Superfamily: Tettigonioidea

Family: Tettigoniidae

1. Subfamily: Phaneropterinae

Tribe: Letanini

Letana cf megastridula Ingrisch, 1990 (Image 1)

1990. Letana megastridula Ingrisch, Entomologica Scandinavica 21(3): 258.

2007. Letana megastridula Chandra et al. Zoos’ Print Journal 22(5): 2684.

2016. Letana megastridula Gaikwad et al. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(2): 8534.

Materials examined: RGSCE 006–007, 17.ix.2017, 1 male, 1 female, Uttar Pradesh, Chahaniya (Chandauli), grasses, coll. R.S. Yadav; RGSCE 008, 10.ix.2017, 1 female, Nagra (Ballia), grasses, coll. R.S. Yadav; RGSCE 009, 24.ix.2017, 1 male, Jangipur (Ghazipur), bushes, coll. R.S. Yadav; RGSCE 0010, 24.ix.2017, 1 female, Sahadatpura (Mau), bushes, coll. R.S. Yadav.

Diagnosis characters: Bluish-green, medium-sized insect.  An antenna is about a double the length of the body.  The tegmina is narrow, dorsal portion of tegmina is brown in colour, surpassing the hind knees and with forked radial areas (Ra); the left tegmina with broad stridulatory field.  Body along with legs is reddish or blackish dots.  Cerci expanded internally.

Distribution: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu (Shishodia et al. 2010), and Uttar Pradesh (present study).

Habitat: The species is more common in grasses.

Remark: The genus Letana is the most diverse taxon of katydids in India.

 

2. Subfamily: Pseudophyllinae

i. Tribe: Cymatomerini

Parasanna donovani (Donovan, 1834) (Image 2)

2000. Parasanaa donovani, Ingrisch & Shishodia, Mitt. Munch. Ent. Ges. 90 : 21.

2003· Parasanaa donovani, Barman, State Fauna Series, 9: Fauna of Sikkim, Part 2, Zool. Surv. India: 199.

Materials examined: RGSCE 001, Uttar Pradesh, 5.ix.2017, 1 female, Maujhi (Chandauli), forest tree, coll. RS Yadav; RGSCE 002–003, 10.ix.2017, 2 females, Barkachchha (Mirzapur), shrubs, coll. D Kumar.

Diagnosis characters: Medium to large insect.  Beautifully decorated.  Antennae are brownish in colour. The head and body are brownish in colour whereas the pronotum is light yellow in colour with two brown spots.  The tegmina are with three reddish-brown irregular spots between the radius and cubitus region.  The ovipositors are reddish-brown in colour.

Distribution: Rajasthan, Sikkim (Shishodia et al. 2010), and Uttar Pradesh (present study).

Habitat: Small bushes are the preferred habitat of the species.

 

Sathrophyllia femorata (Fabricius, 1787) (Image 3)

1869. Sathrophyllia femorata, Walker, Cat. Derm. Salt. Brit. Mus.: 401.

1954. Sathrophyllia femorata, Beier, Trab. Inst. Esp. ent. Madrid: 236.

1993. Sathrophyllia femorata, Barman, State Fauna Series, 3: Fauna of West Bengal, Part 4, Zool. Surv. India: 359.

2003. Sathrophyllia femorata, Barman, State Fauna Series, 9: Fauna of Sikldm, Part 2, Zool. Surv. India: 197.

Materials examined: RGSCE 0011–12, 5.viii.2017, 2 females, Uttar Pradesh, Barkachchha (Mirzapur), shrubs, coll. D. Kumar.

Diagnosis characters: It is the large insect with brownish colour.  The vertex of head excavated at the apex portion with two horny projections.  The pronotum is strongly crested over.  The tegmina is rounded at apex.  Wing is close to the tegmina.  The all femora are waved below.  Subgenital plate is broad, styli conical and epiproct rounded with curved cerci.  Sword shaped ovipositors with black at tip.

Distribution: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. (Shishodia et al. 2010), and Uttar Pradesh (present study).

Habitat: It is prevalent in bushes and forest tree.

Remark: Only female specimens were found.

 

Sathrophyllia rugosa (Linnaeus, 1758) (Image 4)

1758. Gryllus (Tettiginia) rugosa Linnaeus, Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, (10th ed.): 430.

1815. Conocephalus cornotus Thunberg, Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Peterburg. 5: 277.

1906. Sathrophyllia rugosa Kirby, Syn. Cat. Orth.: 306.

1993. Sathrophyllia rugosa Barman, State Fauna Series 3: Fauna of West Bengal, Part 4, Zool. Surv. India: 284, 285.

2004. Sathrophyllia rugosa Shishodia & Barman, State Fauna Series 10: Fauna of Manipur, Zool. Surv. India: 144.

2016. Sathrophyllia rugosa Gaikwad et al., Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(2): 8536.

Materials examined: RGSCE 021–022, 5.viii.2017, 2 females, Uttar Pradesh, Barkachchha (Mirzapur), shrubs, coll. D Kumar.

Diagnosis characters: It is an ash coloured large insect.  The pronotum has one anterior and several posterior teeth.  The tegmina is slightly shorter than wings.  The fore femur is stout with ventral margin and is strongly lamellate and with distinct lobe.  The dorsal edge of mid femur is only faintly lamellar and mostly straight.  Inner dorsal edge of hind tibia is with distinct teeth.  The supra anal plate oval and little cut at apex.  Ovipositor is toothed at apex.

Distribution: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (Shishodia et al. 2010), and Uttar Pradesh (present study).

Habitat: The species prefers shrubs, bushes and tall grasses

Remark: The fauna was recognized by its ash colour, rugose body and crested pronotum.

 

ii. Tribe: Phyllomimini

Acanthoprion suspectum (Brunner, 1895) (Image 5)

1895. Aprion suspectum Brunner von Wattenwyl, Verhaud. K. K. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wier: 77.

1962. Acanthoprion suspectum, Beier, Das Tierreich, 73 : 155.

1993. Acanthoprion suspectum, Barman, State Fauna Series 3: Fauna of West Bengal, Part 4, Zool. Surv. India: 361.

2010. Acanthoprion suspectum, Shishodia et al.. Record Zoological Survey of India, Occ. Paper No. 314: 314.

Materials examined: RGSCE 0023–24, 10.xii.2017, 2 females, Uttar Pradesh, Gaighat (Ghazipur), sorghum and flower plant, coll. RS Yadav.

Diagnosis characters: Medium to large insect.  The insect body is light green in colour.  Fastidium conically produced with blunt apex.  The head is conical in appearance.  The antennal base is distinguishably elevated.  The posterior portion of the pronotum is conical in shape.  The tegmina are wrapping the whole body and uniformly in green colour.  Ovipositor is sword-shaped, reddish-brown at apex.

Distribution: India: Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (Shishodia et al. 2010), Meghalaya (Barman 1995), and Uttar Pradesh (present study).

Habitat: The species prefers shrubs and are more common during the month of August in this area from where the material was collected.

Remark: The fauna was much more mimics to leaves.

 

Conclusion and Summary

The five species of katydids discussed above are firstly recorded from Uttar Pradesh.  Further more intensive field work may enrich katydids fauna of the Uttar Pradesh, India.

 

 

Table 1. Coordinates of survey sites.

 

Site

Coordinate

1

Barkachchha, Mirzapur

25.1330N & 82.5640E

2

Chahaniya, Chandauli

25.4180N & 83.2110E

3

Gai Ghat , Ghazipur

25.4150N & 83.5590E

4

Jangipur, Ghazipur

25.6540N & 83.5570E

5

Maujhi, Chandauli

25.2600N & 83.2660E

6

Nagra, Ballia

25.9680N & 83.8710E

7

Sahadatpur, Mau

25.9240N & 83.4520E

 

For figure & images - - click here

 

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