Journal
ORGANISMS DIVERSITY & EVOLUTION
Volume 10, Issue 3, Pages 215-226Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s13127-010-0013-3
Keywords
New species; East Africa; Mt. Kilimanjaro; Eastern Arc; Ecological niche
Categories
Funding
- European Community
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A new genus is proposed for a new East African Phaneropterinae species, Lunidia viridis, occurring on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Based on 33 records, notes on distribution and habitat are given, as well as acoustical data provided. Climate and vegetation parameters obtained along several transects on Mt. Kilimanjaro were evaluated describing the ecological niche of the new species. This interdisciplinary approach allows not only a profound characterisation of the ecological demands of the new genus but also predictions of the potential distribution area, which is tested for the first time for an African bush cricket species. Lunidia viridis n. gen. n. sp. occurs within humid and perhumid forests and Chagga home gardens, avoiding subhumid conditions on the mountain. It is found from 1,330 m upwards on the southern slopes, whereas the same ecological conditions are expressed from 1,930 m upwards on the drier northern slopes. Lunidia viridis has an unusually complex and variable song, which is described from field and laboratory recordings. The FISH technique for characterizing chromosomes is applied for the first time for an African species; L. viridis exhibits a karyotype typical for most Tettigoniidae.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available