''Oecanthus dulcisonans'' is a species of

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sparsely but widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin and in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Distribution and habitat

The species can be found in several Thyrrhenian coastal regions of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, as well as in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. ''O. dulcisonans'' was originally reported from Saudi Arabia and is present also in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. In the Mediterranean area, its range overlaps that of its congener ''O. pellucens''. According to some studies, ''O. dulcisonans'' sings preferentially from trees while ''O. pellucens'' seems to prefer high grass such as the vegetation growing along the small streams. This thermophilic and heliophilic species is not particularly demanding, and can be found both in wet and in xeric environments.

Description

The adult males grow up to long, while females reach . The overall color is yellowish. Long forewings cover entirely the abdomen, hind wings are decidedly longer. It can be distinguished from ''O. pellucens'' by its bigger size, by the different shape of the sternal plate, and by the male genitalia. The morphological differences were investigated by Cordero et al. Its namesake song is among the most useful characters to recognize ''O. dulcisonans'' form ''O. pellucens'': the strong and melodious trill of the former is continuous, as opposed to the equal, discrete 0.5sec - 1sec trills of ''O. pellucens''. Furthermore, peak frequency by ''O. dulcisonans'' is slightly higher. Both species are difficult to locate by the unaided ear: the insect can vary the elevation of the forewings making difficult to identify the provenance of the sound, reverberated by the high grass or by the reeds.

Biology

''O. dulcisonans'' is omnivorous but mainly zoophagous, and is more active at night. Adults appear in July / August and their song can be heard until early autumn. Eggs are deposed into the stem of various herbaceous plants. Its shape and color make captures difficult, but it can be attracted to artificial light. This species is most probably underrecorded due to its elusiveness and its similarity with ''O. pellucens''.

Gallery

Oecanthus dulcisonans 2013 08 17 RiuBillittu Sardinia.jpg, A specimen collected in Fluminimaggiore, Sardinia on 17 August 2013

References

Bibliography

* Brizio, C. & Buzzetti F.M. 2014
Biodiversity Journal, 2014, 5 (1): 25–38
>> Ultrasound recordings of some Orthoptera from Sardinia (Italy) * Gorochov d. 1993. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 13:90 – urn:lsid:Orthoptera.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:26112 * Ingrisch. 1999. Esperiana 7:352 >> Orthopteroid insects of Yemen – * Schmidt G.H. & Herrmann M., 2000. Boll. Soc. Sarda Sci. Nat.,32: 83-128. >> Occurrence and distribution of Orthopteroidea, Blattoptera, Mantodea, Phasmodea and Dermaptera in Sardinia/Italy.

External links

* *
Page with an audio sample of ''Oecanthus dulcisonans''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q10607194 Insects described in 1993 dulcisonans Orthoptera of Europe