Plangia chopardi, Massa, 2021

Massa, Bruno, 2021, Orthoptera Tettigoniidae as indicators of biodiversity hotspots in the Guinean Forests of Central and West Tropical Africa, Zootaxa 4974 (3), pp. 401-458 : 425-428

Plangia chopardi n. sp. ( Figs. 32 a-g)

Material examined. Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Banco Forest (Banco PN) (39-48m) ( MV Light Trap) 21-30.IV.2017, A. Aristophanous, M. Aristophanous, M. Geiser, P. Moretto (1♂ holotype, 1♀ paratype) ( ANHRT) .

Diagnosis. Plangia chopardi n. sp. is characterized by its longitudinal brown stripes on the pronotum disc and by the stout and long ovipositor.

Description. Male. Colour. Yellow-green, with scattered greyish spots on tegmina, pronotum disc with longitudinal brown stripes, tibiae brown with white spots, hind tibiae with black-tipped spines ( Figs. 32 a-b). Head and antennae. Fastigium of vertex just wider than scapus, not contiguous with the fastigium of frons. Face smooth. Thorax and legs. Anterior margin of pronotum straight, posterior margin rounded. Longitudinal brown stripes on the pronotum disc ( Fig. 32b ). Fore coxae armed with a big spine. Fore femora short and compressed, with 4 spines on the inner ventral margin, fore tibiae a little compressed at the base, with open tympana, sulcate above, with 3 outer and inner ventral spines + 1 apical spur on each side, and 1 outer dorsal spur. Mid femora with 4 spines on outer ventral margin, mid tibiae with 4 outer and inner ventral spines + 1 apical spur on each side and 1 inner dorsal spur. Hind femora just compressed, wrinkled, with 5 spines on outer ventral margin, hind tibiae with 11 outer and inner dorsal spines and 8 outer and inner ventral spines + 3 apical spurs on each side. Wings. Tegmina 3.6 times longer than wide, with fore and hind margins more or less parallel, the fore margin only apically rounded. Stridulatory area of the left tegmen just raised, mirror on the right tegmen triangular ( Fig. 32b ), stridulatory file under the left tegmen arched and consisting of ca. 60 teeth regularly spaced ( Fig 32c ). Abdomen. Cerci stout and in-curved ( Figs. 32 d-e); subgenital plate triangular, styli small ( Fig. 32e ).

Female. Same characters as the male ( Fig. 32a ), length/width tegmina 3.2, ovipositor very big for the genus Plangia , gently up-curved, with many small teeth dorsally and a few teeth ventrally at the apex ( Fig. 32f ). Subgenital plate triangular and pointed ( Fig. 32g ).

Measurements (mm). Male. Body length: 23.4; pronotum length: 4.5-5.5; length hind femur: 13.5-16.0; tegmina: 29.0-33.5; tegmina width: 8.0-9.7. Female. Body length: 23.4; pronotum length: 6.8; length hind femur: 17.6; tegmina: 35.3; tegmina width: 11.0; ovipositor: 8.9.

Etymology. Plangia chopardi n. sp. is dedicated to Lucien Chopard (31 August 1885 – 16 November 1971), a distinguished French entomologist, who contributed very much to the knowledge of African orthopterofauna, describing many species of Orthoptera , also belonging to the genus Plangia .

Affinities. No other Plangia species have the combination of characters of P. chopardi n. sp.: longitudinal brown stripes on the pronotum disc, stridulatory file of ca. 60 regularly spaced teeth, and stout and long ovipositor.

Distribution. P. chopardi n. sp. is presently known from Côte d’Ivoire.

Habitat. Eastern Guinean forest, humide psammohygrophile forest characterized by Turaeanthus africanus and Heisteria parvifolia , primary forest and old secondary forest, characerized by Lophira alata .

Figures

FIG. 32. Plangia chopardi n. sp.: a) habitus of the female; b) dorsal view of male head, pronotum and tegmina; c) stridulatory file under the male left tegmen; d) dorsal view of male cerci; e) ventral view of the male subgenital plate; f) female ovipositor; g) ventral view of the female subgenital plate; Plangia karschi Chopard, 1954: h) dorsal view of male head, pronotum and tegmina.