A comparative study of the stridulatory files of the British Gomphocerinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

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Abstract
Samples of 20 specimens of each of the British species of Gomphocerinae were used as the basis of a comparative study of their stridulatory files. Although agreeing in general with earlier studies based on German samples, the British samples were found to have shorter files (both absolutely and in relation to the length of the hind femur) with denser, usually less numerous pegs. The hind femora themselves are also smaller in all the species except Chorthippus albomarginatus. The shape of the stridulatory pegs was examined critically for the first time, using electron microscopy. Stenobothrus lineatus (which has an unusually long, sigmoidally curved file) differs strikingly from the other species in having laterally flattened, wedge-shaped pegs; the remaining species have pegs of a rounded, conical shape, and show only slightly interspecific differences.