Holocerus lucifer (Serville, 1838) Figs 1, 2 Common name: Northern Devil’s pygmy grasshopper

Tetrix Lucifer Serville, 1838: Serville (1838: 758; description of the species based on a single ♀ holotype (MNHN) from Paris, see Fig. 1A-D); Augé (1898: 296; drawing of the HT from MNHN Paris = first depiction of this genus member, Fig. 1D);

Holocerus Lucifer: Bolívar (1887: 186, 231, 232; mentioned, tentatively assigned to the genus Holocerus); Kirby (1910: 28; listed in catalogue);

Holocerus taurus Rehn, 1929 syn. nov.: Rehn (1929: 494-497; detailed description of the species based on seven specimens, ♂ HT, 1 ♀ PT and 3 ♂♂ PTs from unknown locality, and 2 ♀♀ PTs from Maroantsetra, depicted) (Fig. 1E-G); Günther (1939: 91; mentioned, new records); Günther (1959: 11; included in key, depicted); Günther (1970: 79-92; discussed); Günther (1974: 966, 967; new records, depiction); Yin et al. (1996: 876; listed in catalogue); Otte (1997: 45; listed in catalogue); Cigliano et al. (2020; listed in catalogue).

Type material.

(1 HT of T. lucifer (Figure 1A-D), 1 HT (Figure 1E-G) + 6 PTs of H. taurus). ♀ HT of Tetrix lucifer, Madagascar (MNHN); ♂ HT of Holocerus taurus, Madagascar, 1♀ PT from Madagascar, 3♂♂ PTs from Madagascar, 2♀♀ PTs from Maroantsetra II.1919 (ANSP).

Additional examined material.

There are a few records of the species since its description - by Rehn (1929) under the name H. taurus; a photographic record from Flickr; a photographic record from Twitter; and several specimens from a museum collection in MNCN, Madrid. For detailed data on all records, see Table 1.

Annotated specific diagnosis.

Holocerus lucifer is similar to H. devriesei sp. nov., which is the only other species of the genus Holocerus . Holocerus lucifer is easily distinguished from H. devriesei sp. nov. with the following set of characteristics: (i) Holocerus lucifer has slenderer femora of fore and mid legs than that of H. devriesei sp. nov.; (ii) dorsal spines are slenderer, more elongate and decurved in H. lucifer than those in H. devriesei sp. nov., and in profile they are, as described by Rehn, 'distinctly falcate, scimitar like’; (iii) middle prozonal spine (promedial projection) is blunter and lower in H. lucifer than that in H. devriesei sp. nov., and (iv) H. lucifer generally has more pale colored parts than H. devriesei sp. nov.

Measurements.

Body length, pronotum length, pronotum width, and hind femora length are shown (Table 2).

Variability.

(Figure 2). Variability is evident in (1) coloration, as there are darker and paler specimens, (2) size, as there are larger and smaller specimens, and (3) the shape of the dorsal spines (elevated internal lateral carinae of the pronotum), as there are specimens in which the spines are more decurved and specimens with almost straight projections.

Distribution and habitat.

The species is known from the rainforests of Madagascar, from Marojejy and Maroantsetra in the north to the rainforests of Zahamena in the south. A specimen with the label ‘Tamatave’ could have been collected in the rainforests in the vicinity of the city of Toamasina, but also anywhere in the wide Toamasina region. The species inhabits primary and secondary rainforests and is probably a good flier, taking into account the observations of its sibling species’ ecology. As only one photo of a living individual of this species has been taken to date, hardly anything can be concluded about the species’ natural history. Despite being described for already 180 years, this species is less known and understood than H. devriesei sp. nov.