Diversity and distribution of cave crickets in the genus Micropathus Walker, 1869, threatened short-range endemics from Tasmanian wet forest (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae)
2025
P.G. Beasley-Hall | S.M. Eberhard
Rhaphidophoridae, also called cave crickets, is a globally distributed insect group belonging to the katydids and allies (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Tettigoniidea). Rhaphidophorids are restricted to humid microhabitats such as caves and wet forests, but the group’s true diversity is poorly known. In Australia, 27 species are described from nine genera in the subfamily Macropathinae, with the highest diversity concentrated in the mesic island state of Tasmania. Micropathus Richards, 1964 is the most widespread genus on the island and contains five species largely restricted to subterranean habitats. Micropathus is reliant on pockets of relictual wet forest, placing species at risk of decline due to climate and land use change, and one species is listed as Critically Endangered. A recent molecular phylogeny for Macropathinae identified two additional, putatively undescribed species of Micropathus, neither of which can be adequately conserved without formal scientific names. Integrating morphological evidence alongside this phylogenetic framework, we describe Micropathus ditto Beasley-Hall sp. nov., previously thought to be a subpopulation of Micropathus tasmaniensis, and Micropathus zubat Beasley-Hall sp. nov., currently known only from the remote Forest Hills karst system. We also provide a key to Micropathus and redescribe its existing members to better reflect intraspecific morphological variation in the genus.
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