Ripipteryx Newman, 1834

Heads, Sam W., 2010, A new species of Ripipteryx from the Ecuadorian Andes (Orthoptera: Tridactyloidea: Ripipterygidae), Zootaxa 2476, pp. 23-29 : 24

Genus Ripipteryx Newman, 1834

Ripipteryx Newman, 1834: 204 . Type species: Ripipteryx marginata Newman, 1834 . Rhipipteryx Audinet-Serville, 1838: 316 . LAPSUS CALAMI

Rhipipterix Giglio-Tos, 1898: 105 . LAPSUS CALAMI

Gryrhipipteryx Campos, 1923: 41 . NOMEN SUPERFLUUM [unnecessary replacement]

Diagnosis: Ripipterygidae with body length (including wings) greater than 5.5 mm; interocular distance at least half the width of compound eye; antennae with 9 or 10 segments, usually filiform, occasionally moniliform and sometimes modified considerably in males ( Crassicornis Group); metatarsus approximately equal in length to the metatibial spurs; paraproctal lobes conspicuously formed and often modified; lateral valvulae of phallus well-sclerotised; colouration generally black or very dark brown, most often with starkly contrasting white, yellow and occasionally red markings forming distinctive maculae.

Comments: Günther (1969) recognised five distinct groups within Ripipteryx that he regarded as monophyletic species groups: the Crassicornis Group, the Scrofulosa Group, the Marginipennis Group, the Forceps Group and the Limbata – Marginata Group. These groups are defined largely by the morphology of the male terminalia and phallic complex ( Günther, 1969: 421) and can be differentiated using the preliminary key below. The monophyly of Günther’s species groups and their phylogenetic relationships have yet to be tested cladistically and the subgeneric classification presented in the Appendix is entirely preliminary. Current phylogenetic work on the Ripipterygidae will focus on resolving the internal relationships of the family and will be presented in a future paper (Heads, in prep.).