Xiphoceriana, Dirsh, 1958

Massa, Bruno, 2020, Remarks on some interesting African Pamphagidae and Acrididae (Insecta Orthoptera: Acridoidea), Zootaxa 4751 (1), pp. 29-54 : 41-43

Xiphoceriana unidentified (Figs. 44, 46)

Material examined: 4 specimens. Malawi, Zomba IX.1928 (3♂) ( MZUR); Tanzania, Wakindiga Land, Zwischen- lager 16-17. VI .1911, E. Obst (1♂) ( ZMUH) .

FIGS. 41-44. 41) Cultrinotus poultoni male from Mozambique; 42) Female of Xiphoceriana atrox from Tanzania (left) and label of identification by B. Uvarov (right); 43) Head and antenna of X. atrox male from Tanzania; 44) Head and antennae of unidentified Xiphoceriana male from Malawi.

FIGS. 45-48. Xiphoceriana . 45) Lateral view of X. atrox male from Tanzania; 46) Unidentified male of Xiphoceriana from Malawi; 47) Lateral view of male of X. brunneriana from Sudan; 48) Lateral view of male of X. arabica from Arabian Peninsula.

Remarks. According to the keys of Dirsh (1958), Hemp (2013) and Rowell et al. (2015) in the genus Lobosceliana Dirsh, 1958 the medial part of antenna consists of two clearly divided segments, and the upper margin of the hind femur is straight, while in the genus Xiphoceriana Dirsh, 1958 the medial part of the antenna consists of a single segment (sometimes with a faint trace of division in two) and the upper margin of the hind femur is slightly incurved in front of the knee. However, the specimens above listed may belong to the genus Lobosceliana for the medial part of antenna, and to the genus Xiphoceriana for the upper margin of hind femur which is incurved in front of the knee. Actually the two genera are difficult to separate (C. Hemp, pers. comm.), only clear differences are in the male genitalia ( Rowell et al. 2015); probably they are synonyms. The size of the four males is given in Table 3; only X. atrox (see above) has a similar size, but it differs by the shape of pronotum (compare Figs. 45 and 46). Thus, considering the high number of the species described, the number of synonyms and the scarcity of material belonging to the subfamily Porthetinae preserved in the collections, for the moment they remain unidentified.