Schizodactylus inexspectatus
| Schizodactylus inexspectatus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Ensifera |
| Family: | Schizodactylidae |
| Genus: | Schizodactylus |
| Species: | S. inexspectatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Schizodactylus inexspectatus (F. Werner, 1901)
| |
| Synonyms | |
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Schizodactylus inexspectatus (often misspelled "inexpectatus") is a species of dune cricket (Schizodactylidae) endemic to sand dunes of Çukurova and Göksu Deltas, Turkey.[1]
Taxonomic history[edit]
Schizodactylus inexspectatus was first described by Franz Werner in 1901 under the name Comicus inexspectatus.[2] It was transferred to the genus Schizodactylus in 1931.[1] The species was known from only a single individual and was not found again for almost a century, with the species generally thought to be extinct, but it was rediscovered in the Çukurova Delta after almost a century.[3]
Description and life history[edit]
Adults reach 41 millimetres (1.6 in) long, and are yellow in colour, with black patches on the pronotum that resemble a butterfly. The cephalon and thorax representing more of the length than the abdomen. The antennae are 80–90 mm (3.1–3.5 in) long.[1] The adults have short wings, approximately 10 mm (0.39 in) long, but they are incapable of flight. There are nine nymphal stages before adulthood, the first of which has a body length of 7 mm (0.28 in).[1]
Ecology and distribution[edit]
Schizodactylus inexspectatus feeds on the mole cricket Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, the beetles Scarabaeus sacer, Pentodon bidens, Scaurus puncticollis, Zophosis dilatata and Erodius orientalis, the German cockroach Blattella germanica and the ant-lion Myrmeleon.[1] It lives in burrows in sand dune systems in eastern Turkey, especially in the Çukurova delta.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Gökhan Aydin & Andrey Khomutov (2008). "The biology, nymphal stages, and life habits of the endemic sand dune cricket Schizodactylus inexpectatus (Werner, 1901) (Orthoptera: Schizodactylidae)" (PDF). Turkish Journal of Zoology. 32: 427–432.
- ^ Schizodactylus inexspectatus
- ^ Gökhan Aydin (2005). "Distribution of the Dune Cricket Schizodactylus inexpectatus (Werner, 1901) (Orthoptera: Schizodactylidae) in the Çukurova Delta, southern Turkey" (PDF). Zoology in the Middle East. 36: 111–113. doi:10.1080/09397140.2005.10638136. S2CID 83796610.