Natalogryllus Gorochov, 2008

Gorochov, Andrej V. & Mostovski, Mike B., 2008, Apterous crickets of the tribe Gryllini from South Africa and Namibia (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), African Invertebrates 49 (1), pp. 109-109 : 119-121

Genus Natalogryllus Gorochov , gen. n.

Etymology: The name refers to KwaZulu-Natal and the genus Gryllus .

Type species: Cophogryllus eshowensis Otte, 1987 (KwaZulu-Natal, environs of Eshowe and Pietermaritzburg ) .

Diagnosis: Medium-sized crickets with hemispherical head, comparatively small eyes and wide area between antennae (distance between antennal cavities approximately equal to width of eye and almost twice as wide as scape); body completely apterous; tympana absent; fore and middle legs neither long nor thickened (not adapted to digging); hind legs typical of Gryllini (distinctly adapted to jumping); abdominal apex without projection. Male genitalia (Figs 32–40) with rather short and wide epiphallus having a pair of large lateral hind lobes and smaller median lobe between them; ectoparameres rather short and not thin, partly membranous; each of them with a single elongate sclerite of more-or-less simple shape; ectoparameral mesal lobes absent; endoparameres moderately long and narrow, without distinct apodemes; spermatophore sac small and simple, without additional loops or distinct apodeme; virga moderately long, weakly curved near distal part of spermatophore sac, without ligament (semi-sclerotised structure connecting virga with endoparameres in some Gryllini ). Ovipositor not shortened and with acute digging apical part.

Figs 32–40. Natalogryllus gen. n., _: (32–34) N. eshowensis ; (35–37) N. escourtensis ; (38–40) N. trichardti (after Otte 1987). Genitalia dorsally (32, 35) and ventrally (34, 40); their distal half ventrally (33, 36, 39), laterally (37), and dorsally (38). Abbreviations: as in Figs 1–5 and 23–31 .

Species included: Type species (Figs 32–34); N. escourtensis ( Otte, 1987) ( Cophogryllus ; KwaZulu-Natal, environs of Cathedral Peak and Bulwer) (Figs 35–37); N. trichardti ( Otte, 1987) ( Cophogryllus ; Limpopo Prov., Soutpansberg) (Figs 38–40).

Comparison: The most important differences of the new genus from the previous genera reviewed here are given in the key. From all other representatives of the tribe Gryllini , the new genus differs in the following combination of characters: both sexes completely apterous; tympana absent; epiphallus with 3 hind lobes; each ectoparamere with a single simple sclerite, its mesal lobe absent; endoparameres without distinct apodemes; spermatophore sac small and simple; virga weakly curved near distal part of spermatophore sac, without ligament; ovipositor not shortened.

Figures

Figs 1–5. Kurtguentheria: (1–4) K. macroxipha sp. n., male genitalia dorsally (1), their distal half ventrally (2) and laterally (3), distal half of ovipositor laterally (4); (5) K. simonsi (after Otte 1987), distal half of male genitalia laterally.Abbreviations: (e) epiphallus, (1ec) first ectoparamere, (2ec) second ectoparamere, (en) endoparamere, (la) lateral apodeme of endoparamere, (m) mesal lobe of ectoparamere, (r) ramus, (s) spermatophore sac, (v) virga.

Figs 23–31. Cophogryllus and Acophogryllus, _: (23–25) C. pietersburgi sp. n., genitalia dorsally (23), ventrally (24) and laterally (25); (26–28) C.? zoutpansbergi (after Otte 1987), distal part of genitalia dorsally (26) and ventrally (27), genitalia laterally (28); (29–31) A. schultzei (after Gorochov 1996), genitalia dorsally (29), ventrally (30) and laterally (31).Abbreviations: (ec) ectoparamere; others as in Figs 1–5 and 15–22.