Parnassiana Explained

Parnassiana is a genus of bush crickets in the tribe Platycleidini and genus group Platycleis, erected by F. E. Zeuner in 1941.^[1] Species have been called "Greek bush-crickets" and members of this genus have been recorded mostly from that country.

Habitat and life cycle

Grecian species such as P. chelmos and P. fusca often live in upland (1200-2300 m.) pastures and with thorny, low-growing shrubs such as Astragalus spp., often perched in these, rather than near the ground. Adults can typically be found between July and October. Several species are locally endemic: for example, P. fusca is only found on Mount Taygetos in the southern Peloponnese.^[2]

Species

The Orthoptera Species File^[3] lists the following:

1. Parnassiana chelmos (Zeuner, 1941) (3 subspecies)
2. Parnassiana coracis (Ramme, 1921)
3. Parnassiana dirphys (Willemse, 1980)
4. Parnassiana fusca (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1882)
5. Parnassiana gionica La Greca & Messina, 1976
6. Parnassiana menalon Willemse, 1975
7. Parnassiana nigromarginata (Willemse & Willemse, 1987)
8. Parnassiana panaetolikon Willemse, 1980
9. Parnassiana parnassica (Ramme, 1926) - type species (as Metrioptera parnassica Ramme)
10. Parnassiana parnon Willemse, 1980
11. Parnassiana tenuis (Heller & Willemse, 1989)
12. Parnassiana tymphiensis (Willemse, 1973)
13. Parnassiana tymphrestos Zeuner, 1941

Notes and References

1. The classification of the Decticinae hitherto included in Platycleis Fieb. or Metrioptera Wesm. (Orthoptera, Saltatoria). 1941. Zeuner. F. E.. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London. 91. 1–50 [19]. 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1941.tb03001.x.
2. http://www.pyrgus.de/Parnassiana_fusca_en.html Wagner W: European locusts and their ecology
3. http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1142654 Orthoptera Species File: genus Parnassiana Zeuner, 1941 (Version 5.0/5.0; retrieved 15 November 2022)