Copiphora Explained

Copiphora is a genus of bush crickets or katydids in the subfamily Copiphorinae (coneheads) from southern Mexico, Central America and South America, with a single doubtful species, C. subulata, from Africa.^{[1] [2]}

Copiphora are typically fairly large nocturnal katydids with a conspicuous horn-like structure on the top of their head (indistinct in a few species). Copiphora are omnivorous, but with strong predatory tendencies with large individuals even able to catch small frogs and lizards.^{[3] [4]} They can be quite noisy during the night and certain species produce some of the dominant sounds in their habitat.^{[4] [5]}

Taxonomy

Species include:

• Copiphora azteca Saussure & Pictet, 1898
• Copiphora brachyptera Karny, 1907
• Copiphora brevicauda Karny, 1907
• Copiphora brevicornis Redtenbacher, 1891
• Copiphora brevipennis Bruner, 1915
• Copiphora capito Stål, 1874
• Copiphora cephalotes Saussure & Pictet, 1898
• Copiphora cochleata Redtenbacher, 1891
• Copiphora colombiae Hebard, 1927
• Copiphora cornuta De Geer, 1773
• Copiphora coronata Redtenbacher, 1891
• Copiphora cultricornis Pictet, 1888
• Copiphora festae Giglio-Tos, 1898
• Copiphora flavoscripta Walker, 1869
• Copiphora gorgonensis Montealegre-Z. & Postles, 2010
• Copiphora gracilis Scudder, 1869
• Copiphora hastata Naskrecki, 2000
• Copiphora longicauda Serville, 1831: type species (locality Cayenne, French Guiana)
• Copiphora monoceros Saussure & Pictet, 1898
• Copiphora mucronata Thomas, 1872
• Copiphora ottei Naskrecki, 2000
• Copiphora producta Bolívar, 1903
• Copiphora rhinoceros Pictet, 1888 - rhinoceros katydid
• Copiphora steinbachi Bruner, 1915
• Copiphora subulata Stoll, 1813
• Copiphora vigorosa Sarria-S., Buxton, Jonsson & Montealegre-Z., 2016

Notes and References

1. Web site: species Copiphora subulata (Stoll, 1813). OSF Online. 15 June 2021.
2. Heller . K.-G. . Hemp . C. . Liu . C. . Volleth . M. . 2014 . Taxonomic, bioacoustic and faunistic data on a collection of Tettigonioidea from Eastern Congo (Insecta: Orthoptera) . Zootaxa . 3785 . 3 . 343–376 . 10.11646/zootaxa.3785.3.2 .
3. Escalante . R.N. . Pérez A. . I. . Alvarado A. . A. . Garro A. . D. . Rigabert D. . P. . 2021 . Observations of Arthropods Preying on Amphibians and Reptiles in Sierpe de Osa, Costa Rica . Reptiles & Amphibians . 28 . 2 . 302–305 .
4. Book: Hanson, P.E. . Nishida . K. . 2016 . Insects and other arthropods of Tropical America . 29, 31 . Comstock Publishing Associates . 978-0801456947 .
5. Montealegre-Z. . F. . Postles . M. . 2010 . Resonant sound production in Copiphora gorgonensis (Tettigoniidae: Copiphorini), an endemic species from Parque Nacional Natural Gorgona, Colombia . Journal of Orthoptera Research . 19 . 2 . 347–355 .