Mayacephalus dickmanorum, Cadena-Castañeda & Monzón-Sierra & Cortés-Torres, 2016

Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J., Monzón-Sierra, José & Cortés-Torres, Carolina, 2016, Studies in Guatemalan Ensifera: Mayacephalus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) a new cone-headed katydid genus, Zootaxa 4084 (2), pp. 293-300 : 294-298

Mayacephalus dickmanorum n. sp.

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:474185

Holotype. ♂. Guatemala, Izabal, Morales, Reserva Hídrica y Forestal Sierra Caral , 600m. Latitud: 15.407148 Longitud: - 88.696255. J. Monzón leg. ( CAUD). ♀. Izabal, Cerro San Gil , 18 March 1990. F. Herrera ( UVGC) .

Paratypes. 2 ♀. Same data as holotype. ♂♀. Guatemala, Izabal, Montaña Chiclera, 30 July 2014. J. Monzón leg. ( CAUD).

Description. Male. Body size medium. Fastigium of vertex forming a large, sharply pointed horn, slightly curving backwards distally, 6 – 6.5 times as long as eye diameter; basal and dorsal surface of fastigium granulose, ventral denticle present, lateral ocelli circular and reduced. Face oval, genicular ridge granulose and well developed. Pronotum smooth, with three furrows that limit the prozone, mesozone (this region is subdivided by an additional furrow) and metazone, pronotal lateral lobes rectangular and wider than deep, moderately expanding laterally in dorsal view, lateral lobes with ventral margin thickened. Tegmina covering the first abdominal tergite, venation reticulate, pronotal disc in metazona covering stridulation area, stridulation ridge straight and moderately thick, as long as the posterior margin of pronotal disc. Fore coxa armed with a dorso-distal spine, anterior femur armed with three triangular spines above ventro-external margin, fore tibia with tympanum covered, only visible as a small longitudinal aperture and armed with five small spines in each ventral margin; mid-coxae ventro-distally armed with spiniform tubercle, mid-femora ventrally armed with four triangular spines, mid-tibiae ventrally armed with six small spines on both edges; hind femora ventrally armed with seven spines on outer edge, hind tibiae with twelve dorsal spines on inner edge and fourteen on the outer edge. External genicular lobes of fore and mid-femora unarmed, the others armed with a sharp spine. Tenth tergite without modification, with posterior margin moderately undulate; supra-anal plate lanceolate, longer than wider, apex rounded and with dorsal furrow from the base to medial portion. Cercus robust, not extending beyond subgenital plate, superior branch wide in dorsal view with an additional small denticle on the internal margin in the antero-apical section; inferior branch originating ventrally in the medial portion of cercus, slender and slightly longer than superior branch. Subgenital plate as wide as long, narrowing smoothly from the middle of its length, cylindrical apex “U” shaped.

Female. Similar to male except for: Tegmina covering second abdominal tergite. Tenth tergite unmodified, with posterior border rounded; cercus conical, slender and moderately long; ovipositor basal plate ovoid, longer than wide. Ovipositor 1.5 times longer than body length, with valves slender and smooth. Subgenital plate quadrangular, as wide as long, distally divided in three lobules; lateral ones sharp visible in lateral view, curving upwards and backwards progressively; central lobule spine shaped, slender and small, which introduces in the middle of the ventral valves base of the ovipositor.

Coloration. Live coloration light green, eyes black, fastigium orange; tegmina wing veins, femoral spines, ocelli and pronotal marks yellowish green, abdominal tergites white green. Rostrum without any distinctve color; mandibles with basal half ochre and the apex reddish; clypeal apex blackish purple. Pronotal disc with four triangular marks of which, two are located in the anterior margin of pronotal disc and the other two over the furrow that separates the meso- from the prozona; metazona with two lateral bands along its entire length. Tegmina with three black ovoid marks, over the ventral border of Sc vein, one near the base, the other in the middle of the tegmina and the last in the antero-apical portion.

Etymology. Named for Maishe Dickman and his family for all his support to study the Guatemalan insect fauna.

Variation. The variation in this species is mainly in the color of some of the structures: the specimens collected at “Montaña Chiclera” with light orange fastigium, clypeus red and only two tegmina marks, one close to the base and the other in the antero-apical portion. The first chromatic description provided is from individuals from the other locality.

Measurements (mm) ♂ / ♀: LB: 16 – 17/27 – 29, Pr: 8 – 8.4/8 – 8.5, Teg: 10 – 10.5/11 – 12, HF: 11 – 12/19 – 20, HT: 18 – 19/21 – 22, PS: 2.5 – 3/1.5 – 1.8, Ov: 44 – 46.

Comments. The known specimens of Mayacephalus n. gen. were found in Izabal Department very close to the Honduran border and relatively close to Belize, being very possible that is also occur in those countries.