Pediella Roberts 1937

Cigliano, M. M., Amedegnato, C., Pocco, M. E. & Lange, C. E., 2010, Revisionary study of Pediella Roberts (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from the Andes Highlands, Zootaxa 2431 (1), pp. 51-61 : 52-53

Genus Pediella Roberts 1937

Pediella Roberts, 1937:358 ; Liebermann, 1968:34; Amédégnato, 1974:199; Ronderos, 1985:54; Otte, 1995:404; Eades & Otte, 2009

Type species: Pediella colorata Roberts , by original designation

Redescription. Small size, brightly colored ventrally, brachypterous insects. Head conical in dorsal view; face decidedly retreating; frontal costa without lateral margins, not sulcated; fastigium apex bluntly rounded, without lateral carinae, broader than long. Eyes ovoid, not prominent. Antennae short, without surpassing beyond the caudal margin of pronotum. Pronotum with lateral margins broadly rounded into lateral lobes; pronotal disk without lateral carinae; caudal margin broadly emarginated; transverse sulci weakly impressed; metazone impress-punctuate. Prosternal spine prominent directed caudally, apex unilobate. Tegmina short, lateral, with rounded apex and finely reticulate venation.

Male cerci conical, short and slender, directed dorsally; epiproct triangular with median longitudinal sulcus; furculae wide; subgenital plate short conical, with apex extending beyond the tip of epiproct. Pallium coriaceous without internal lobes. Caudal femur with pinnae lightly colored, well indicated.

Phallic complex: ectophallus with largely developed capsule like cingulum ( Fig. 5B, G, L, U ); apodemes wide ( Fig. 5A, F, K, T ); zygoma broad; rami projected caudally, embracing ventrally the apical valves of aedeagus. Sheath of aedeagus with two pairs of lobes widely developed covering dorsally the apex of the aedeagus ( Figs. 5B, G, L, Q, U ). Endophallic plates wide in lateral view ( Fig. 5R ), distal endophallic plates with apical valves stout, arch of cingulum highly developed forming an independent sclerotized structure ( Fig. 5R ). Epiphallus with lophi largely developed.

Female ( Fig. 2A–C ): similar to males but larger and more robust. Head strongly conical in dorsal view with retreating face; fastigium rounded into the frontal costa; eyes not prominent, with the frontal edge straight; pronotum broadly trapezoidal with hind margin emarginated at the middle. Ovipositor valves strongly curved, with acute apex ( Figs. 2B–C ).

Relationship to other genera. Based on the shape of the male subgenital plate and characters of the phallic complex, Pediella could be considered to belong to the tribe Dichroplini . However it lacks one of the synapomorphies of the tribe, the development of a pair of internal lobes in the pallium.

Key 1 to the species of Pediella

1. Found in Venezuelan Páramos; male cerci with blunt apex ( Figs. 4A, E ) .................................................. P. colorata

- Found in the Peruvian Puna; male cerci with acute apex ............................................................................................. 2

2. Hind tibiae with the proximal two thirds yellow, and the distal third red; male cerci wide and short not exceeding the tip of epiproct ( Figs. 4D, H )....................................................................................................................... P. juninensis

- Hind tibiae uniformly colored (red or orange red); male cerci slender, tapering to the apex, exceeding the tip of epiproct ......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

3. Larger specimens (19–21mm males, 22–26 mm females); phallic complex with distal portion of apical valves of aedeagus highly projected ventrally in a longitudinal keel ( Fig. 5K, M ); rami very narrow, thread like ( Fig. 5K, P ); sheath of aedeagus largely developed ( Fig. 5L, Q )............................................................................ P.cajamarcaensis

- Smaller insects (17–19 mm males, 21–23mm females); phallic complex with distal portion of apical valves of aedeagus ventrally concave ( Fig. 5H ); rami wide ( Fig. 5F ), sheath of aedeagus poorly developed ( Fig. 5G )...................... ................................................................................................................................................................. P.ancashensis

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–C, Pediella cajamarcaensis female, A, habitus, B–C, ovipositor valves. Scale bar =1 cm.

FIGURE 4. A–H, male distal abdominal segments of Pediella, dorsal view and lateral views: A,E, P. colorata, B,F, Pediella ancashensis, C,G, Pediella cajamarcaensis, D, H, Pediella juninensis.

FIGURE 5. Phallic complex of Pediella, species as indicated. A, F, K, T, endophallic plates, cingulum and aedeagal valves with sheath, lateral view; B, G, L, U, endophallic plates, cingulum and aedeagal valves with sheath, dorsal view; C, H, M, V, distal portion of aedeagus and aedeagal valves, ventral view; D–E, I–J, N–O,W–X, epiphallus dorsal and lateral view; P, phallic complex lateral view; Q, R, S, endophallic plates and aedeagal valves with sheath, dorsal, lateral and ventral view. Ap, apodemes of cingulum; Ar, arch of aedeagus; Av, aedeagal valves; Ep, endophallic plates; L, lophi of epiphallus; Rm, rami, Sh, sheath of aedeagus; Zy, zygoma.