Eulioptera zambesiana, Massa, 2022

Massa, Bruno, 2022, New and less known Orthoptera from biodiversity hotspots of Mozambique and Zambia (Tettigoniidae; Acrididae), Fragmenta entomologica 54 (1), pp. 27-44 : 30-33

Eulioptera zambesiana new species

urn: lsid: zoobank.org:act: 4657F673-4A3B-47E0-93577F7E80E72320

Material examined. Zambia: Lakeview Lodge, Sinazongwe (493m), MV Light Trap 23-28.II.2019, V . Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (1♂ holotypus, 3♂ paratypi) (holotypus and 2 paratypi in ANHRT, 1 paratypus in BMPC) ; Zambia: Redcliff Zambezi Lodge, Luangwa, Lepiled Light Trap 11-17.III.2019, V . Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (1♂ paratypus) ( ANHRT) .

Measurements (mm). Male. Body length: 17.3-20.2; length of pronotum: 3.5-3.7; height of pronotum: 3.3-3.5; length of hind femora: 18.0-19.2; length of tegmina: 27.4-29.6.

Diagnosis. E. zambesiana n. sp. is a medium sized Eulioptera , characterized by the male subgenital plate long and upcurved, divided into two laterally flattened lobes.

Description. Male ( Fig. 9a ). Colour. Green with black spots on hind margin of tegmina. Stridulatory area reddish or yellowish. Head typical of the genus, eyes round prominent, fastigium of vertex compressed, just raised at the apex, narrower than scapus, not contiguous with fastigium of frons. Antennae reaching the tip of tegmina. Pronotum without lateral carinae, anteriorly and posteriorly straight, longer than high. Hind wings extending beyond tegmina by quarter-fifth of latter. Stridulatory area on left tegmen small raised, mirror on right tegmen wide ( Fig. 9b ). Stridulatory file ca. 0.9-1.0 mm, consisting of ca. 140 more or less evenly spaced teeth ( Fig. 9c ). Fore coxae armed with a small spine. Fore femora with 4-5 small spines on inner margin, mid femora armed with 3-4 couples of spines on lower margins, hind femora armed with 4-5 spines on outer and 2-3 on inner lower margins. Fore tibiae with 5-6 spines on inner and outer lower margins, mid tibiae with 10- 11 spines on outer lower margin and 6-7 on inner lower margin. Hind tibiae with a dozen of spines on inner and outer lower margins + 3 spurs on each side.

Tenth tergite unmodified, cerci thin, long and at the middle length incurved, with pointed apex. Subgenital plate divided into two long lobes, laterally flattened and apically rounded, gently upcurved ( Figs 9d, 9e ).

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. E. zambesiana n. sp. is named after the river Zambesi, where the specimens were collected.

Affinities. E. zambesiana n. sp. is similar to E. montana Ragge, 1980 (Chyulu Hills, Kenya), which has a different male subgenital plate (compare Figs 9e and 9g ), a little different stridulatory file (ca. 125 teeth), and a smaller size (body length of male 26.0 mm, length of hind femur 14.9, length of tegmina 18.7; Ragge 1980). It is also related to E. monticola Ragge, 1980 , characterized by redbrown spots on much of the body and a black mark on the stridulatory area; cerci are less incurved and the subgenital plate is shorter than in E. zambesiana n. sp. (compare Figs 9e and 9f ), while the stridulatory file consists of 130-155 teeth ( Ragge 1980).

Distribution. Presently E. zambesiana n. sp. is known only from the two localities above listed, between them about 350 km away; they are located along the river Zambesi.

Discussion. The genus Eulioptera Ragge, 1956 is closely related to Phaneroptera Serville, 1831 and, like it, is distributed over most of tropical Africa. Presently, this genus is represented by 22 species plus two subspecies (probably to be raised to species level), and possibly others will be discovered in the future years with increasing researches by using light traps. However, differently from Phaneroptera , Eulioptera generally are local species, most of them are known from one or a few localities, and only singles specimens. Very likely they have a great propensity to speciate by isolation.

Figures

Fig. 9 – Eulioptera zambesiana n. sp.: a, habitus of the male; b, dorsal view of the stridulatory area on the left tegmen and mirror on the right tegmen; c, stridulatory file under the left tegmen; d, ventral view of the subgenital plate; e, lateral view of the subgenital plate; f, lateral view of the subgenital plate of Eulioptera monticola Ragge, 1980; g, lateral view of the subgenital plate of Eulioptera montana Ragge, 1980.