Taxonomic review of the genus Hexacentrus Serville, 1831 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) in Korea: An integrative study to confirm cryptic species

Abstract

The genus Hexacentrus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) comprises two species in Korea: Hexacentrus japonicus Karny, 1907, and H. hareyamai Furukawa, 1941. While H. japonicus is well-known in Korea, H. hareyamai was previously confirmed as a cryptic species through a DNA barcoding study. In this research, we reviewed the Korean Hexacentrus using morphological and bioacoustic characters and conducted a phylogenetic analysis using cytochrome oxidase I (COI) for molecular identification. We describe the cryptic species H. hareyamai in Korea, which was previously recorded as H. unicolor in a prior study. Based on our findings and the biogeographical range of Hexacentrus species, we suggest that the presence of H. unicolor in Korea should be excluded. However, since a systematic comparison of Hexacentrus species, including H. unicolor, in Southeast Asia has not been investigated in detail, further studies are needed.