Moncheca
| Moncheca | |
|---|---|
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| Female Moncheca pretiosa in Chiapas, Mexico | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Ensifera |
| Family: | Tettigoniidae |
| Tribe: | Copiphorini |
| Genus: | Moncheca Walker, 1869 |
Moncheca[1] is a genus of relatively large, colorful conehead katydids in the tribe Copiphorini, native to the Neotropics.[2]
Description and distribution
Moncheca inhabit humid tropical forests in Mexico, Central America and South America. Moncheca and the closely related Vestria (crayola katydids) have bright aposematic colors are among the few katydid genera to use chemical defenses against predators. They are able to secrete pyrazine compounds from their abdominal gland that repel birds and mammals.[3] They are fairly large katydids where males generally are smaller than females; for example, in M. vestria, a widespread species that is found from Mexico to Bolivia, males typically are about 5 cm (2.0 in) long and females 7 cm (2.8 in) long (excluding the the ovipositor).[4]
Species
Moncheca includes the following species:[2][5]
- Moncheca bisulca (Saint-Fargeau & Serville, 1825)
- Moncheca elegans (Giglio-Tos, 1898)
- Moncheca hyalinata (Haan, 1842)
- Moncheca pretiosa Walker, 1869 - type species
- Moncheca spinifrons (Saussure & Pictet, 1898)
References
- ^ Walker F (1869) Catalogue of the Specimens of Dermaptera Saltatoria in the Collection of the British Museum 2: 289.
- ^ a b "genus Moncheca Walker, 1869: Orthoptera Species File". orthoptera.speciesfile.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
- ^ Naskrecki, Piotr (2013-10-01). "Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea) of the Grensgebergte Mountains and Kasikasima Region of Southeastern Suriname". A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Upper Palumeu River Watershed (Grensgebergte and Kasikasima) of Southeastern Suriname. p. 102. doi:10.1896/054.067.0114.
- ^ F.M., Zapata (1997). "Estudio de la fauna de Tettioniidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera) del Valle del Cauca" (PDF). University of Valle, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology.
- ^ Juárez-Noé, Gino; González-Coronado, Uzbekia (2020-06-30). "Listado preliminar de Mantodea, Blattodea y Orthoptera (Insecta) de la región de Piura, Perú". Graellsia (in Spanish). 76 (1): 103. doi:10.3989/graellsia.2020.v76.240. ISSN 1989-953X.