Montana stricta
| Montana stricta | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Montana stricta | ||||||||||||
| ( Zeller , 1849) |
Montana stricta is a long-nose insect from the subfamily of the Tettigoniinae within the superfamily of the grasshopper . She lives in Italy and the west of the Balkan Peninsula .
features
Montana stricta reaches a body length of 12.5 to 16 (males) or 15 to 17 millimeters (females). The species is very similar in shape to most of the other species of the genera Platycleis and Montana (and just as many species of the genus Metrioptera ): a yellowish-brown to gray-brown colored and spotted or marbled long-antennae terrestrial, with a lighter colored underside. In the species, the side lobes (Paranota) of the pronotum are brown in color, with clearly brightly contrasting front and rear edges. The pronotum is arched very flat on the upper side, almost flat, on the sides with clear edges that converge forward, with a fine but clear central keel. The species is always long-winged (macropter), the more sclerotized fore wings ( Tegmina ) protrude above the tip of the abdomen, but not the rear knees.
The general shape and color characteristics are not sufficient for precise identification and differentiation from the related species. In the female sex it can be recognized by the shape of the subgenital plate: this is clearly outlined at the rear edge (in contrast to Montana montana ), its sides are clearly rounded. The ovipositor is long and slender and comparatively little curved. The form of the titillators (these are movable, hook-shaped appendages on the side of the aedeagus , which serve as clamp organs during copulation) is characteristic of the males . The cerci are short, with a long end tooth, the middle tooth sits under the middle.
Adults are observed in late summer (July to September), there is one generation per year.
Way of life and distribution
The species prefers steppe-like, short-grass habitats, it also occurs in sparsely overgrown gravel meadows and rocky heaths.
Their distribution area extends from Italy via Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Serbia to Montenegro . It also occurs in Sardinia . It is widespread in southern and central Italy, south to Calabria, north to around Lazio and Tuscany. On the Gran Sasso d'Italia , it occurs at over 1500 meters above sea level. From northern Italy (Lombardy and Veneto) only a few isolated, island-like records exist. On the Balkan Peninsula, evidence of distribution extends from Istria in the north to Montenegro in the south. Further information, for example for Bulgaria, turned out to be erroneous. It is completely absent in Central Europe.
The species is quite common in parts of its range, but regionally shows clearly declining population trends. It was classified in the Red List in the “least concern” category. Declines are mainly due to the intensification of agricultural land use.
Systematics and taxonomy
The species was first described as Decticus strictus by the German entomologist Philipp Christoph Zeller , the type locality is the city of Rome. A synonym is Platycleis assimilis fever, 1853. The species belongs to the genus Montana, which includes around 20 species . For a long time this was considered a sub-genus of Platycleis , but is now considered to be independent. In older works the species is therefore listed under the synonymous name Platycleis stricta .
When differentiating between locust species, the shape and pattern of the males' chants are increasingly being used as a taxonomic feature, in this way numerous new species ( cryptospecies ) have been discovered. The style produces verses from rows of short syllables, with longer ones interspersed more or less regularly; it is therefore not clearly distinguishable from some related species.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Kurt Harz: Die Orthopteren Europe. Volume I (Series Entomologica vol. 5). W. Junk Publishers, The Hague 1969. Platycleis (Montana) stricta at pages 255/256. Full text at archive.org
- ↑ a b Hochkirch, A., Skejo, J. Skejo, Gomboc, S., Willemse, LPM, Rutschmann, F., Chobanov, DP, Kleukers, R., Kristin, A., Presa, JJ & Szovenyi, G. 2016. Montana stricta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T68440172A74542394. accessed on September 3, 2018.
- ↑ Daniele Baroni, Marco Chemollo, Marco Bonifacino (2016): Nuove AGCM di Montana stricta (Zeller, 1849) per l'Italia settentrionale (Orthoptera Tettigoniidae). Rivista Museo Civico Storia Naturale "E. Caffi", Bergamo 29: 45-50.
- ↑ Dragan P. Chobanov (2009): New records and a new synonym of Orthoptera from Bulgaria. Articulata 24 (1/2): 1-29.
- ↑ species Montana stricta (Zeller, 1849) Orthoptera Species File online (Version 5.0 / 5.0), accessed on September 3, 2018.
- ↑ Bruno Massa & Paolo Fontana (2011): Supraspecific taxonomy of Palaearctic Platycleidini with unarmed prosternum: a morphological approach (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Tettigoniinae). Zootaxa 2837: 1-47.
- ↑ S. Ivković, I. S. Iorgu, L. Horvat, D. Chobanov, O. Korsunovskaya, KG Heller (2017): New data on the bush-cricket Montana medvedevi (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), critically endangered in Europe (EU 28), and a comparison of its song with all known song patterns within the genus. Zootaxa 4263 (3): 527-542.