Holotype.—Male, Tanzania, southern slope of Mt. Hanang, 2600 m, montane grassland, UTM zone 36 M 9506496E 0765425S, 1/08, depository: MNB.

Paratypes.— 1 female, same data as holotype, depository: MNB. 1 male, 1 female, same data as holotype, depository: NHML. 1 male, 1 female, same data as holotype, depository: EDNMK.

Further paratype material studied: 17 males, 8 females, same data as holotype. 1 male and 1 female, near top of Mt. Hanang, montane grassland, 3400 m 1/08.

Description.—Male. Color: predominant color of living insect bluegreen, with red lines on pronotum, reddish areas on hind femora and fastigium verticis; tibiae red-orange (Fig. 3A–C). Preserved insect olive-green, red on fastigium verticis (Fig. 1A), on carinae of pronotum (Fig. 1B) and on hind tibiae.

Head and antennae: antennae typical for genus, slightly shorter than head and pronotum together; first and second antennal segment dark red; frontal ridge sulcate throughout; basal width of fastigium verticis 1.3 × greater than length; lateral margins red. Furcula of fastigium well developed. Median carina of head distinct throughout; granules of cheek dirty yellow or absent; in living insect a conspicuous dark band begins at posterior eye margin, running to anterior margin of pronotum (Fig. 3A–C); in preserved insect this band faded; face greenish.

Thorax: pronotum slightly broader than long; pronotal disc with granules on pro- and mesozona; on metazona granules more evenly distributed; median and lateral carinae of pronotum well developed, red colored; lateral carinae converging in prozona, diverging in meso- and metazona (Fig. 1B); lateral lobes similarly textured as pronotal disc (Fig. 1D), granules of lower margins not arranged in any distinct row; first pronotal sulcus crossing lateral lobes, but not crossing pronotal disc; second and third sulcus well developed, continuous; second sulcus crossing at about center of pronotum; interstitial sulcus present. Posterior margin of pronotum shaped by shallow midline excision into two broadly convex halves lined red; prozona as long as meso- and metazona of pronotum taken together (Fig. 1B); prosternai tubercle low; mesosternal interspace almost square.

Legs: in preserved insect uniformly olive-green, joints yellowish; lunules of hind femora brown-reddish; outer side of hind femora with a pattern of olive green and faded bluish stripes arranged in a parallel fashion; in living insect especially the outer side of hind femora, more vividly blue and green, upper half intermingled with yellow (upper margin of hind femur in some specimens lined red); lunules of knees red-brown; inner sides of femora partly blue. Abdomen: abdominal terga smooth shiny, with only a few minute scattered punctures, especially on 1st and 2nd tergites (in preserved insects abdomen of uniformly dark olive green to red brown without any pattern); in the living specimen abdomen olive green, posterior parts of sternites with black markings of variable extent (in some specimens a dark red central line is present); tips of abdomen red; cerci conical, laterally slightly compressed, ending before tip of supra-anal plate; subgenital plate with blunt knob-like apex, supraanal plate triangular (Fig. 1C).

Female: larger and stouter than male (Figs 1E–I, Fig. 3B). Color in living specimens not so contrasting as in males, but principally same color patterns as for male holotype. Preserved females brown to green with red orange hind tibiae. Pair of lateral fasciae on cheeks as in male, black. Cerci very broad at base, laterally compressed, about half as long as supra-anal plate (Fig. 1G). Exposed area of dorsal valves are on average 1.1 mm broad and 2.2 mm long, thus very stout (Fig. 1I). Dorsal surface of dorsal valves sculptured (Fig. 1G), the tips up-curved sclerotized; ventral valves as visible beyond margin of subgenital plate are only 1 mm long, the tips sclerotized and down-curved (Fig. 1H, I).

Measurements.— All measures in mm.

Diagnosis.—A large species, both sexes having similar dimensions as, e.g., P. chyuluensis, with comparatively little sexual dimorphism. Generally it belongs to Parasphena species characterized by a comparatively broad fastigium (Figs 1A, 2A, G, M), a male pronotum with clearly marked (also in color) median and lateral carinae (Figs 1B, 2B, H, N), and in males an angularly excised terminal abdominal tergite, which is medially slightly uplifted and notched, and stout cerci which are shorter than the supra-anal plate (Figs 1C, 2D, J, P).

The females of this morphological group have stout valves, the dorsal one sculptured and the dorsal surface slightly inflated (Figs 1G, 2E, K, Q), while the ventral valves have two levels at their posterior part and small, down-curved apices (Figs 1H, 2F, L, R). These characters are found in P. pulchripes from Mt Kilimanjaro, P. teitensis from the Taita Hills, P. chyuluensis from the Chyulu Hills. They are similarly found in P. nairobiensis from around Nairobi, the lower Ngong Hills and the Machakos area of Kenya and in P. campestris from Mt Kenya (unfortunately the specimens of P. campestris seen in the NHML seem to have been discolored in alcohol). In Fig. 2, P. pulchripes, P. teitensis, and P. chyuluensis are shown for comparison of these characters.

The color pattern of Parasphena seems to vary little within species and thus seems a good character for their identification. In the species listed above, a dark to black band, from behind the eyes running to the anterior margin of the pronotum, is very typical and very conspicuous, especially in P. hanangensis (Figs 1D, 3A–C). This band is present in the majority of specimens including P. pulchripes (Fig. 3D), P. chyuluensis (Figs 2O, 3E), P. teitensis (Fig. 2l), and P. nairobiensis (Fig. 3F). All other Parasphena species lack this black band, excepting P. elgonensis. However, P. elgonensis seems to be a generally dark-pigmented species, the whole genae and dorsal surface of the head being blackish, hence a black band as such not being defined. As mentioned above, investigated P. campestris specimens which could also exhibit this character, since otherwise morphologically related to this group, were probably discolored.

Morphologically P. hanangensis is most closely related to P. pulchripes from Mt Kilimanjaro. The two species also occupy a similar habitat — montane (afro-alpine) grass and bushlands — on two of the highest mountains of Tanzania. As in P. pulchripes and in contrast to the other two related species (Fig. 2C, I, O), P. hanangensis does not have a row of granules along the lower margin of the pronotal lobes. Also the genae are more or less smooth. These structures are also very reduced in P. pulchripes (Fig. 2C) and P. campestris. Nor does P. keniensis rehni show these structures. In P. imatongensis granules are present, but scarcely arranged as bands and in P. kulalensis granules are present on the genae, also not arranged as a band. In most other Parasphena species these granules are present on the lower margin of the pronotal lobes and the genae and are often a conspicuous row of (partly) large granules marked in color (mostly yellow or whitish).

Differences to P. pulchripes are found in general color pattern: P. pulchripes is the most colorful Parasphena species (Fig. 3D), while P. hanangensis is a more uniformly bluish-greenish color. The lunules of the leg joints are red-brown in P. hanangensis (Fig. 3A–C), while they are black in P. pulchripes (Fig. 3D). Furthermore, sexual size dimorphism is very marked in P. pulchripes, males being very tiny, while their females are among the largest of all Parasphena species, (P. pulchripes females on average being 1.8 times larger than males; 5 measured males and females). In P. hanangensis females are only slightly larger than males, especially when not carrying eggs (on average females being 1.25 times larger than males). The female of P. pulchripes from Kilimanjaro has ovipositor valves very similar to P. hanangensis. However, in P. pulchripes the surface is strongly sculptured with large elevated tubercles, while in P. hanangensis the tubercles of this area are not as large as in P. pulchripes (Fig. 1G, H and Fig. 2E, F). Another difference is the color — deep black in P. pulchripes and brown in P. hanangensis.

Distribution.— So far, P. hanangensis is only known from the type locality of montane grasslands of Mt Hanang in northwestern Tanzania. Table 1 gives information about distribution, habitat and altitudinal ranges of the 17 Parasphena species known at present.

Co-occurring Saltatoria species.—Saltatoria species co-occurring with P. hanangensis were noted on two montane grasslands on the southern slopes of Mt Hanang. One is a recently burnt area with former Erica bushland intermingled with grasslands in regeneration at 2600 m and the second an open grassland at the same elevation.

On the burnt-bush grassland Hadrolecocatantops kilimandjaricus (Ramme, 1929), Heteropternis couloniana (Saussure, 1884), Parepistaurus sp. and Phlesirtes sp. occurred. On the open grassland Coryphosima stenoptera (Schaum, 1853) was very frequent. Further grassland species were Parepistaurus sp. and Altihoratosphaga hanangensis (Hemp et al. 2009 b).

The Saltatoria composition of Mt Hanang at this altitude corresponds well with coenoses found on other high mountains in East Africa at this elevation. Very typical are Coryphosima stenoptera and Heteropternis couloniana. These two species have a high altitudinal range on mountains from submontane to afroalpine habitats (Hemp & Hemp 2003). Restricted to the high montane and alpine zone are species of the genera Parasphena, Phlesirtes, and Uganda (Table 2). Typical open-land inhabitants of the montane zone are e.g., Hadrolecocatantops kilimandjaricus, Gymnobothroides, and Altihoratosphaga species. Parepistaurus species are usually dwellers of herb vegetation of forest edges and clearings of the lower montane and submontane zones of mountains. On Mt. Hanang single Parepistaurus individuals of a yet-undescribed species were found exceptionally high up, perhaps having “climbed” up the mountain in the hot season of the year.