Songs and Systematics of Some Tettigoniidae from Colombia and Ecuador I. Pseudophyllinae (Orthoptera)

This paper provides taxonomic description for 16 species of pseudophylline katydid. Analysis of the calling songs is given for all but one. Among 14 genera Mystron and Stetharasa are new. Eleven new species are described from four Provinces in Ecuador: Morona Santiago, Pichincha, Los Rios and Napo, and two southern Departamentos of Colombia: Valle del Cauca and Risaralda. The diverse species-specific calling songs of Pseudophyllinae are comprised of either transient or sinusoidal pulses. The carrier frequency song spectrum occurs in conjunction with these two pulse types, as either a band (transient pulse, low Q) or a single dominant narrow-peak carrier (sinusoidal, high Q). And stridulatory file morphology differs accordingly. Principal carriers in the songs of the species described here range from the audio to the low ultrasonic (20-30 kHz); overall among pseudophylline species whose songs are known (n = 65), a majority (75%) incorporate high Q pulses.