Pharmacus concinnus, Hegg & Morgan-Richards & Trewick, 2022

Hegg, Danilo, Morgan-Richards, Mary & Trewick, Steven A., 2022, High alpine sorcerers: revision of the cave wētā genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the description of six new species and three new subspecies, European Journal of Taxonomy 808 (1), pp. 1-58 : 43-44

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2022.808.1721

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7898E29D-1F57-4DC2-AB70-8532234CA118

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6425141

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2582DF14-FB0D-4F8B-A393-6F731907EB8B

taxon LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:act:2582DF14-FB0D-4F8B-A393-6F731907EB8B

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Pharmacus concinnus
status

sp. nov.

Pharmacus concinnus View in CoL sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2582DF14-FB0D-4F8B-A393-6F731907EB8B

Figs 1–2 View Fig View Fig , 6 View Fig , 8I View Fig , 9G View Fig , 11D–F View Fig , 13D–F View Fig , 15D View Fig , 17A View Fig , 18F View Fig

Diagnosis

A mid-sized cave wētā known only from the alpine regions of the Eyre Mountains south of Lake Wakatipu; it is the largest of all Pharmacus species. Body colour is dark, nearly black.

It shares the habitat with Talitropsis chopardi and Macropathus sp. The former has lighter colour, shorter legs and fewer, larger spines on the hind tibiae, and unarmed hind tarsi; the latter has uniform brown colour and much longer legs, which give the insect a very slender appearance.

The species cannot be reliably differentiated from Pharmacus cochleatus comb. nov. without an examination of the terminalia. The two species however are not sympatric.

Etymology

Concīnnus ’ is Latin for ‘pleasing’, ‘elegant’, also ‘symmetrical’, after the Symmetry Peaks in the Eyre Mountains where it was first discovered. Pharmacus concinnus means ‘elegant sorcerer’.

Material examined (see also Supp. file 1: Table S9)

Holotype NEW ZEALAND • ♂, adult; Otago Lakes (OL), Symmetry Peaks, Eyre Mountains ; 45.27797° S, 168.59113° E; 1500 m a.s.l.; 12 May 2018; D. Hegg leg.; on rock tor; night search + insect net; NMNZ AI.052298 (prev. MPN CW3853). GoogleMaps

Paratype NEW ZEALAND • 1 ♀, adult; same collection data as for holotype; NMNZ AI.052299 (prev. MPN CW3843) GoogleMaps .

Other material

NEW ZEALAND – Otago Lakes (OL) • 1 nymph; same collection data as for holotype; GenBank: OM293707 View Materials ; MPN CW4023A GoogleMaps 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 4 nymphs; same collection data as for holotype; MPN CW3842 , CW3852 , CW4023B to CW4023E GoogleMaps 1 ♀; Eyre Peak, Eyre Mountains ; 45.33260° S, 168.47225° E; 1500 m a.s.l.; 16 Feb. 2019; D. Hegg leg.; on rock bluffs; night search + insect net; GenBank: OM293722 View Materials ; MPN CW4477 GoogleMaps 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 1 nymph; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4367 , CW4476 , CW4478 to CW4483 GoogleMaps 1 ♀; Mt Dick, Eyre Mountains ; 45.26572° S, 168.69083° E; 1550 m a.s.l.; 16 Mar. 2019; D. Hegg leg.; on rock bluffs; night search + insect net; GenBank: OM293721 View Materials ; MPN CW4472 GoogleMaps 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 2 nymphs; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4473 to CW4475 , CW4501 to CW4504 , CW4592 , CW4593 GoogleMaps 1 ♀; Billy Creek, Eyre Mountains ; 45.30540° S, 168.45460° E; 1400 m a.s.l.; 23 Feb. 2020; M. Thorsen leg.; on rock bluffs; casual find; GenBank: OM293727 View Materials ; MPN CW4874 GoogleMaps 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4873 GoogleMaps .

Description

MEASUREMENTS. See Table 1. View Table 1

HEAD. As per generic description. Eyes grey or brown. Antennae brown or black.

THORAX. As per generic description.

LEGS. Variegated colour, occasionally dark or almost black; hind tibiae black above. Hind tibiae approximately as long as body, or just under, in both males and females. Fore femora armed with one prolateral spine at the apex in four out of twelve females and one out of ten males examined. Mid femora armed with one retrolateral spine at the apex; prolateral apical spine absent. The first hind tarsus segment is armed with a variable number of linear spines above (up to ten); the second hind tarsus segment is only rarely armed with dorsal linear spines.

ABDOMEN. Tergites glabrous or sparsely tomentose; colour chequered yellow/black in adults ( Fig. 15D View Fig ), the black being predominant and giving the insect a dark look. A thin, pale median line along the whole length of the insect is generally present.

MALE TERMINALIA. Subgenital plate deep when seen from the side; shaped like a spoon when seen from above, broader at the vertex and less constricted at the neck compared to the subgenital plate of Pharmacus cochleatus comb. nov. Paraprocts large and swollen, bristled on the inside, glabrous on the outside ( Fig. 11D–F View Fig ).

FEMALE TERMINALIA. Subgenital plate bilobed, the incision between the two lobes sutured ( Fig. 13D View Fig ), a trait not found in any other Pharmacus species. Ovipositor long and straight, just under three quarters of body length; lower valve with 6 to 8 teeth below at the apex ( Fig. 13E–F View Fig ).

NMNZ

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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