On Malaysian katydids (Gryllacidae and Tettigoniidiae) from the Raffles Museum, Singapore
H.H. Karny, a German entomologist based at the Zoological Museum in Buitenzorg (Dutch East Indies), published this comprehensive revision of the Malayan katydid fauna in 1923, drawing on specimens held at the Raffles Museum, Singapore. The paper establishes a definitive catalogue of the families Gryllacridae and Tettigoniidae for the Malayan sub-region, describing 35 new species and one new genus, and expanding the known regional fauna from 320 to 357 species.
Summary
Karny’s work addresses the fundamental problem of an incompletely known orthopteran fauna in the Malayan sub-region, where prior knowledge was fragmented across scattered descriptions by Serville, De Haan, Brunner, Griffini, and others, often based on single specimens or ambiguous localities. The Raffles Museum collection—accumulated through collectors such as V. Knight, J.C. Moulton, C.J. Brooks, and H. Overbeck across the 1890s to 1921—provided the critical mass of material that allowed Karny to resolve long-standing synonymies, correct misidentifications, and describe a substantial number of species new to science.
The paper is organised taxonomically by subfamily and genus, with each entry providing a full synonymy, detailed morphological description (often of previously unknown sexes), measurements, locality data, and distribution records. Karny employs a systematic approach to wing venation (his “types I–V” for Gryllacridae) and genital morphology as primary diagnostic characters, a methodology that was at the forefront of orthopteran systematics at the time. Particular attention is given to the Phaneropterinae, where the greatest concentration of new species occurs, and to the Pseudophyllinae, where the new genus Zatricaprion is erected. The paper also corrects earlier errors, including the separation of Gryllacris signatifrons Serville from G. signatifrons De Haan (the latter receiving the new name G. dehaani), and the reassignment of Elbenia loliifolia from Habra back to Elbenia after examination of both sexes.
The empirical foundation rests almost entirely on the Raffles Museum collection, supplemented by comparative material from the Buitenzorg Museum. Karny’s descriptions are meticulous, with detailed illustrations of genitalia and wing venation, and he consistently notes when a species is represented by a single sex or by a single specimen, flagging the uncertainty this introduces.
Key Findings
- The Malayan katydid fauna is expanded from 320 to 357 species; 35 new species and 1 new genus (Zatricaprion) are described, with 21 species new to the Malay Peninsula and 4 new to Borneo (p. 116).
- Eumegalodon vaginatus n. sp. is the largest species described, with a body length of 51.5 mm and an ovipositor of 64 mm—longer than the entire body—representing the first Eumegalodon recorded from the Malay Peninsula (pp. 186–190).
- Gryllacris griffinii n. sp., named in honour of Achille Griffini, is a small (20 mm body length) but strikingly coloured species with black-marked pronotum and legs, belonging to the podocausta-group (pp. 130–131).
- Phaula gigantea n. sp. has tegmina 52 mm long and 13.5 mm wide, making it one of the largest Phaneropterinae known from the region; Karny notes it may warrant a new genus (pp. 146–147).
- Xiphidiopsis mirabilis n. sp. possesses a “very remarkable second plate” (possibly a subanal plate) of unique shape, “nothing similar being hitherto known from others” (p. 180).
- Mecopoda elongata is documented in six colour morphs across the collection, from unicolorous green to fuscous with large black blotches, confirming its status as a noxious species in the region (pp. 160–162).
Conclusion
Karny’s paper establishes the Malayan sub-region as a centre of katydid diversity second only to the most species-rich tropical areas, with nearly 40% of the Raffles Museum specimens representing species new to science. The work demonstrates that the Malay Peninsula, long overshadowed by Java and Borneo in entomological attention, harbours a fauna of considerable originality, particularly in the Phaneropterinae and Pseudophyllinae, and provides the baseline against which all subsequent Malayan orthopteran research would be measured.
Context
- Karny was affiliated with the Zoological Museum at Buitenzorg (Bogor), Dutch East Indies, and this paper forms part of his broader programme of revising the orthopteran fauna of the Dutch East Indies and neighbouring regions, of which his 1920 Zool. Meded. paper on Malayan Orthoptera is the immediate precursor.
- The primary archival source is the Raffles Museum, Singapore; comparative material was drawn from the Buitenzorg Museum. The paper represents a foundational contribution to Malayan entomology, published in the inaugural volume of the JMBRAS.