Laupala

Laupala kohalensis. Photo from here.

Belongs within: Grylloidea.

Laupala is a diverse genus of crickets found on the Hawaiian Islands. The numerous species are morphologically very similar to each other, and until 1994 were thought to belong to a single species. The existence of multiple species was realised when it was discovered that each species had a distinctive song (often together with variations in male genitalia). Laupala may be divided between three species groups, one of which (the L. kauaiensis group) is found on the island of Kauai, whereas the other two groups are each distributed over the remaining four major Hawaiian islands.

See also: A question of taste.

Characters (from Otte 1994): Male genitalia with narrow epiphallic process and short prongs; body colour generally uniform brown to dark brown or black (without dark spots and markings on head, pronotum, forewings or abdomen); legs I and II largely unbanded; song consisting of a slow train of pulses, males singing mainly in daytime (particularly morning).

<==Laupala Otte 1994 O94
    |--L. kauaiensis group O94
    |    |--L. kanaele Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. kauaiensis Otte 1994 [=L. kawaiensis (l. c.)] O94
    |    |--L. kokeensis Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. koloa Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. makaweli Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. olohena Otte 1994 O94
    |    `--L. wailua Otte 1994 O94
    |--L. cerasina group O94
    |    |--L. cerasina Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. eukolea Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. fugax Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. kolea Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. mediaspisa Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. neospisa Otte 1994 O94
    |    |--L. spisa Otte 1994 O94
    |    `--L. waikemoi Otte 1994 O94
    `--L. pacifica group O94
         |--*L. nui Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. eupacifica Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. hapapa Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. hualalai Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. kai Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. kohalensis Otte 1994 [=L. kohalina (l. c.)] O94
         |--L. kona Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. lanaiensis Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. media Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. molokaiensis Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. nigra Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. oahuensis Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. pacifica Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. paranigra Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. parapacifica Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. paraprosea Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. prosea Otte 1994 O94
         |--L. pruna Otte 1994 [=L. kaumana (l. c.)] O94
         |--L. tantalis Otte 1994 [=L. antalis (l. c.)] O94
         `--L. vespertina Otte 1994 O94

Nomen nudum: Laupala orientalis Otte 1994 O94

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[O94] Otte, D. 1994. The Crickets of Hawaii: origin, systematics and evolution. The Orthopterists' Society: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.