Aglaothorax khioneos Cole, Weissman, and Lightfoot, 2025

Aglaothorax khioneos Cole, Weissman, and Lightfoot View in CoL , sp. nov.

Fig. 6 View FIGURE 6 (distribution), Fig. 13 View FIGURE 13 (male and female habitus, calling song, male and female terminalia, karyotype), Plate 4 View PLATE 4 (male terminalia), Plate 7 View PLATE 7 (female subgenital plate), Plate 10 (male titillators), Plate 14 (male calling song)

Common name. White Mountains Shieldback.

History of recognition. Previously treated as a population of N. (A.) armiger ( Rentz & Birchim 1968) . We describe this population as new based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence.

Type material. HOLOTYPE MALE: USA, CA, Inyo Co., Cedar Flat Group Camps , Inyo National Forest , jct. SR168 and White Mountain Road , 37.28385, -118.15546, 2276 m, 17-VII-2023, JA Cole, C Wong, DNA814, SING1435, JCR230817_003, deposited at CAS, Entomology type #20384 GoogleMaps . PARATYPES: (n=27) USA, CA , Inyo Co., same data as holotype, LACM, 6♂ GoogleMaps ; SR168 and White Mountain Road, 37.28200, -118.02999, 2224 m, 23- VIII-2019, JA Cole, J Bailey, SA GoogleMaps Downing , LACM, 1♂ ; Westgard Pass, 10 miles east of Big Pine on SR168, 37.2491, -118.1753, 1968 m, 15-VIII-2002, JA Cole, LACM, 1♂ GoogleMaps ; Westgard Pass, 9.5 miles east of Big Pine on SR168, 37.2458, -118.1853, 1887 m, 13-VII-2003, JA Cole, JF Eguizabal, LACM, 1♂ GoogleMaps ; White Mountain Road, 1.2 miles NW of SR168, 37.29290, -118.16749, 2283 m, 11-IX-2016, JA Cole, J Bailey, LACM, 3♂, 1♀ GoogleMaps ; same data except 17-IX-2017, JA Cole, K Halsey, JAC, 1♂ GoogleMaps ; 4-5 miles W of Westgard Pass , 37.300172, -118.245132, 1968 m, 19-VIII-1982, DB Weissman, CAS, 5♂, 1♀ GoogleMaps ; Grandview Campground, 19 miles northeast of Big Pine off SR168 and White Mountain Road, 37.3332, -118.1923, 2610 m, 2-3-VIII-2005, JA Cole, LACM, 2♂ GoogleMaps ; same data except 5-VIII-2004, JA Cole, LACM, 2♂ GoogleMaps ; Pinyon Picnic Area, 4 miles north of SR168 on White Mountain Road, 37.3143, -118.1811, 2353 m, 2-VIII-2005, JA Cole, AMNH, 1♂ GoogleMaps ; same data except LACM, 1♂ GoogleMaps ; Mono Co., White Mountains , 37.578355, -118.207943, 14-VIII-1985, DM GoogleMaps Martinelli , CAS, 1♀ .

Measurements. (mm, ♂ n=3, ♀ n=3) Hind femur ♂ 17.51–17.96, ♀ 18.70–20.72, pronotum total length ♂ 12.01– 12.64, ♀ 11.68–12.84, prozona length ♂ 5.21–5.53, ♀ 5.86–6.08, metazona dorsal length ♂ 6.62–7.22, ♀ 5.82–6.85, pronotum constriction width ♂ 3.69–4.20, ♀ 4.05–4.35, metazona dorsal width ♂ 7.86–8.10, ♀ 8.25–9.15, head width ♂ 5.34–5.54, ♀ 6.14–6.36, ovipositor length ♀ 17.15–18.35.

Distribution. White Mountains of California at high elevations above 1900 m.

Habitat. Pinyon-juniper woodland, arboreal on Utah Juniper ( Juniperus osteosperma ) and Pinyon Pine. Most males called from higher than 3 m in Pinyon Pines and junipers.

On favorable years populations occur in washes down to 1880 m elevation.

Seasonal occurrence. Summer (13-VII-2003, JA Cole, JF Eguizabal, LACM) into Fall (17-IX-2017, JA Cole, K Halsey, LACM). Late onset of adult activity due to high elevation occurrence .

Stridulatory file. (n=3) length 4.50–4.70 mm, 88–102 teeth, tooth density 20.6±1.4 (19.6–22.2) teeth/mm.

Song. (n=27). Pulse trains 40±10 ms in length repeat at a rate of 9.6± 1.0 s- 1. Mean peak frequency is 13.98±2.30 kHz, with peak frequencies as high as 17.54 kHz in high frequency recordings. Echemes contain 2–5 pulse trains, with 1–3 (mean 1.65±0.60) s silent intervals between echemes.

Karyotype. (n=3) 2n ♂ =23 (22t +Xt), S82-75, T82-149 , 150 , 163 .

Recognition. Morphology, karyotype. Body usually green (may be tan at lower elevations), abdomen with longitudinal dorsal red stripe; body is wood brown without a dorsal abdominal stripe in A. gurneyi and usually tan in A. armiger . Black streaks present on the center of the pronotal disk, which are commonly limited to the periphery of the disk in A. armiger . Pronotum without white stripes as in A. ovatus . Male paraproct process with subapical ventrally directed tooth, unlike the apical, mesally directed tooth of A. segnis and A. strobilion . Male pronotum is not heavily rugose as in A. giganteus and A. tinkhamorum .

Etymology. Gr. khioneos snowy white. Descriptive of the White Mountains type locality.

Notes. Gene trees found conflicting relationships of this lineage: nDNA ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 ) found A. khioneos related to A. ovatus and A. giganteus , while mtDNA ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 ) found relationship with the eastern Mojave A. armiger , A. segnis , A. strobilion , and Colorado Desert A. tinkhamorum . The White Mountains are geographically situated between the Spring Mountains of Nevada and the Sierra Nevada of California, suggesting a hypothesis of gene flow when Ovatus Group populations were panmictic.

Material examined. See Type Material above.