First results of a faunistic survey on the Orthoptera of Jadovnik Mountain, southwestern Serbia, with data on the calling songs of some bush cricket species

* Correspondence: marko.idvor@gmail.com Jadovnik Mountain is located in southwestern Serbia, on the western edge of Pešter plateau, between Prijepolje and Sjenica, near the border of Montenegro. Triassic sandstones and limestones form this 12-km long mountain with its highest peak being Katunić (elevation 1734 m a.s.l.; Marković, 1990). The high parts are covered with meadows and pastures, while the slopes are covered with dense beech and spruce forests. Jadovnik is best known for Sopotnica Waterfalls, which in 2005 was proclaimed a Natural Monument. Until now, no faunistic study about Orthoptera has been conducted on this mountain. There is only very limited information available about the Orthoptera fauna of western Serbia (e.g., in Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1882; Pančić, 1883; Grebenščikov, 1950; Stevanović, 1953; Adamović, 1970; Adamović, 1975; Pavićević and Karaman, 2001; Ingrisch and Pavićević, 2010; Karaman et al., 2011; Pavićević et al., 2014) However, there are detailed studies for neighboring areas in Montenegro indicating a high diversity in Orthoptera (Ingrisch and Pavićević, 2012). In Serbia, 182 species have been recorded so far (Pavićević et al., 2014; Ivković et al., 2015; Pavićević and Ivković, 2015; Iorgu et al., 2016). The aim of this paper is to present data on the Orthoptera of Jadovnik Mountain, together with new information about ecology and songs of species that have been recently described and are little known in Serbia. This research was conducted in 2 periods, during 9–14 July 2015 and 16–23 July 2016. In the first year observations were performed mostly in the area of Sopotnica Waterfalls Natural Monument, while in the second year this research was expanded to other localities of Jadovnik Mountain. Specimens were obtained by net sweeping of herb and shrub vegetation, beating from trees and shrubs, individual collection of specimens, and night collecting using a headlamp. In addition, collecting using pitfall traps was conducted. Localities where material was collected/observed are represented in the Table. Material was usually identified in the field. For more detailed analysis, Poecilimon, Isophya, Barbitistes, and Metrioptera males were taken alive to the laboratory where their calling song was recorded. Prepared specimens in 96% ethanol are deposited in the author’s private collection. Images of species and habitats were taken with Sony A58 digital SLR camera equipped with a Tamron SP AF 90 mm f/2.8 Di Macro lens. Image editing was done using Silkypix Developer Studio Pro 6 and Adobe Photoshop software. Stridulatory files were studied with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM 6460 LV) at the UCEM– NS (University Centre for Electron Microscopy, Novi Sad). Audio recordings were taken with a Roland R-05 digital audio recorder (microphone frequency response of 0.02–40 kHz; sampling rate of 96 kHz). Sound analysis and figures of the oscillograms were prepared using Adobe Audio CC 2015 software and Cool Edit Pro 2.1. All analyzed recordings in this paper were uploaded to the Orthoptera Species File website (Eades et al., 2016). For the song terminology, Heller et al. (2004) was used. Calling song: song produced by an isolated male. Functional unit of the song: the smallest part of the song, which contains all necessary song elements in the appropriate order to elicit female response. Syllable: the sound produced by one complete up (opening) and Abstract: During field trips conducted in 2015 and 2016 at 22 different localities on Jadovnik Mountain, 68 species were recorded. The calling songs of 4 species were studied in detail, and a new song type of Isophya clara was described. Metrioptera brachyptera and Locusta migratoria are rerecorded for the first time in 40 years for the Serbian fauna.