The Chorthippus albomarginatus-group (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Gomphocerinae) in the Carpathian Basin: traces of hybridization between C. albomarginatus and C. oschei in Southern Slovakia

V.Yu. Vedenina (1), Jaroslav Holuša (2), Petr Kočárek (3)

1)Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, B. Karetnyi per. 19, Moscow 127994, Russia
2) Department of Forest Protection and Game Management,, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 1176, CZ-16521 Praha 6-Suchdol, Czech Republic
3) Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, CZ-710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic, E-mail: petr.kocarek@osu.cz


Abstract
Specimens of the Chorthippus albomarginatus-group were studied from two localities near Ardovo in southern Slovakia. We analyzed the male courtship songs and the stridulatory peg number on the inner side of the hind femora. During recording of courtship songs, the stridulatory movements of the hind legs were also recorded. On the basis of the courtship song analysis and the measurements of the peg number, the specimens from both populations are regarded as C. oschei pusztaensis. However, deviations in song and leg movements for some specimens are consistent with hybridization between C. albomarginatus and C. oschei. Our study provides evidence that C. albomarginatus and C. oschei hybridize in Slovakia.