Conocephalus maculatus

Conocephalus maculatus (Le Guillou, 1884) Figs 199, 200, 201, 202 References for Socotra. Uvarov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)): 363–364, figs 8, 9 [as Conocephalus bidens]; Popov 1981: 127; Wranik 2003: 314, plate 148. Diagnostic notes. Amongst the bush-cricket species on Socotra, C. maculatus is recognisable as a typical smaller conehead: a slender, grass-green bush-cricket with long wings, a body length including wings around 26 mm, a pointed head in lateral view and the presence of a dark band extending from the frons to the hind margin of the pronotum (Fig. 199). Each male cercus is armed with one inner tooth (Fig. 200). It is the only member of Conocephalus on the Archipelago. Taxonomic notes. Uvarov (1952) described Conocephalus bidens Uvarov 1952 as an endemic species to Socotra, based on a single male. After examination of the type specimen and specimens collected afterwards by Guichard, Popov (1981) concluded that the type has a deformed spine on the cercus. Since all other material collected on Socotra is identical to Conocephalus maculatus, he considered C. bidens a junior synonym. Distribution and occurrence. The species is widespread in Africa and Asia. On Socotra, it is widespread, but only locally common. It also occurs in the Hagher, on the limestone plateaus and near Qalansiyah (Fig. 201). Habitat and biology. C. maculatus occurs in well-vegetated grassy sites, especially near water, for example, in wadis and along springs and lagoons, from 0–1000 m a. s. l. They have also been observed near lowland settlements with adequate weed and grass cover in wetter months (Fig. 202). Adults are fully winged and may visit lights at night in Hadiboh and other areas. Records are from all months. Bioacoustics. The song of C. maculatus consists of high-pitched rustling echemes of 400 ms – 2 s, based upon recordings from UAE (Paolo Fontana in litt.), Mozambique (Naskrecki and Guta 2019) and Tanzania (Hemp 2021).