%0 Journal Article
%T Anatomic Morphometrics of the ¡°Senene¡± Tettigoniid Ruspolia differens Serville (Orthoptera: Conocephalidae) from North-West Tanzania
%A Nicodemus D. Matojo
%A Jacob G. Yarro
%J ISRN Entomology
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/176342
%X The morphometrics of Ruspolia differens (order: Orthoptera; family: Conocephalidae), the longhorn grasshopper that is widely known as senene by its Kiswahili name, was largely unclear although the species serves broadly as a delicacy relish snack. In this study, the anatomic morphometrics of this insect was critically inferred based on the samples that were collected from North-west Tanzania in April-May 2009. R. differens was revealed to have a number of unique anatomic features that can essentially serve in its diagnosis. These include the paired male metathoracic flaps, finger-like prosternal protuberances, hind femoral spines, subequal tibial black markings, and an obvious male biased antennal dimorphism. 1. Introduction Tettigoniid species (longhorn grasshoppers) are widely characterized based on their anatomic morphometrics [1, 2]. However, those of Ruspolia differens (¡°senene¡± by its Kiswahili name) are insufficiently understood despite various earlier efforts. Bailey and McCrae [3] and Bailey [4] analyzed the stridulatory apparatus of the left tegmen, but there is no reliable information on an equivalent organ on the right tegmen. The antennal length of this insect has been reported to be equal to its body length, ranging between 40¨C65£¿mm [4, 5]; however, there are no data of variation of the trait between sexes. Dearth of information of R. differens morphology makes it difficult to distinguish this insect from other tettigoniids. The present paper addresses the anatomic morphometrics of R. differens with a critical focus on the shapes, sizes, orientations, and markings of its salient external structures including the vertex, antennae, sternum, pronotum, metathorax, tympanum, leg segments, tibial markings, stridulatory apparati, terminal segments, and eggs. 2. Materials and Methods The present morphometric analysis was based on a total of 180 R. differens specimens comprising 90 adult individuals per sex. These were collected in April-May 2009 using hands randomly from different bushes in three villages (Figure 1), namely, Nkindo, Makonge, and Rwagati of Bukoba Urban, Bukoba Rural, and Muleba districts, respectively, between 1.00¡ã and 2.45¡ãS, and 30.25¡ã and 32.40¡ãE in the north-western corner of Tanzania [6]. The districts were among the major East African zones with immense abundance of R. differens [4, 5]. The collection task was done based on standard procedures [7, 8]. The specimens were immediately sacrificed and preserved in 70% ethanol [9]. Morphological profiles were examined at the laboratory of the Department of Zoology and Wildlife
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.entomology/2013/176342/