Plangiopsis nouabalensis, Massa, 2023

Massa, Bruno, 2023, Biodiversity hotspot in the Sangha Trinational Protected Area revealed through Orthoptera Tettigoniidae, Zootaxa 5331 (1), pp. 1-67 : 16

Plangiopsis nouabalensis n. sp.

Figs. 5a , 8a , 10a , 11a , 12a , 13a, 13b

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1913E314-79D4-4D12-9DAC-A64DBBC42DFD

Material examined. Republic of Congo, Sangha prov. , N-N NP, Bomassa camp (secondary forest) (353m), 02°12’36.9”N, 16°11’30.2”E, 18.VI–3.VII.2022, MV Light Trap, V. Dérozier (♂ holotypus) ; Republic of Congo, Sangha prov. , N-N NP, Mbeli camp ( Gilbertiodendron forest) (341m) 02°14’23.8”N, 16°23’52.1”E, 1–10.X.2022, MV light trap, V. Dérozier, B. Fouka, A. Kirk-Spriggs, H. Takano (1♀ paratypus) ( ANHRT) ; Republic of Congo, Sangha prov., N-N NP, Makao camp (secondary for.) 02°35’42.2”N, 17°10’08.3”E, 23–29.IX.2022, MV Light Trap, V. Dérozier, B. Fouka, A. Kirk-Spriggs, H. Takano (1♂ paratypus) ( BMPC) .

Description. Male. General habitus & colour. Medium-sized species, green. Head and antennae. Antennae thin. Fastigium of vertex about 2.0 times as wide as scapus of antenna; fastigium verticis meeting equally broad fastigium of frons along a horizontal line; face smooth ( Fig. 5a ); eyes round. Thorax. Pronotum longer than high, with evident lateral, anteriorly converging carinae, flat and dotted disc, anterior margin broadly incurved, posterior margin rounded ( Figs. 8a , 10a ). Wings. Both pairs of wings fully developed; tegmina rounded at tips, narrow, 3.3 times longer as broad. Stridulatory file arched, consisting of ca. 40 teeth, from the inside towards the external margin always wider between them and thicker ( Fig. 12a ). Legs. Fore coxa armed. Fore femora dorsally unarmed, ventrally with 3 spines. Mid legs lacking. Hind femora with 7 ventral outer and inner spines. Fore tibiae with conchate tympanum on inner side and open tympanum on outer side, with a ventral double row of 4 spines. Hind tibiae with double row of 12 spines on ventral side and many on dorsal side; 3 sclerotized spurs on each side. Abdomen. Last abdominal tergite unmodified. Cerci long, stout, apically narrowing and incurved with a very small apical spine. Subgenital plate straight with two styli ( Figs. 13a–13b ).

Female. Same characters of the male, ovipositor gently upcurved, subgenital plate triangular and pointed.

Diagnosis. P. nouabale nsis n. sp. is characterized by the lateral carinae of pronotum anteriorly converging, cerci long and incurved and stridulatory file of ca. 40 teeth, from the inside towards the external margin wider between them and thicker.

Measurements. Males. Body length: 21.8–22.2; length of pronotum: 6.1–6.2; height of pronotum: 4.9–5.0; length of tegmina: 38.6–39.5; depth of tegmina: 11.6–12.6; length of hind femora: 14.9–15.4. Female. Body length: 21.5; length of pronotum: 5.1; height of pronotum: 4.7; length of tegmina: 33.6; depth of tegmina: 10.2; length of hind femora: 12.9; length of ovipositor: 5.2.

Etymology. P. nouabalensis n. sp. is named after the National Park of Nouabalé-Ndoki ( Republic of Congo).

Affinities. Figs. 5a–5d show the face of P. nouabalensis n. sp., P. foraminata , P. adeps and P. semiconchata . Compared to the other species, the fastigium of the vertex is clearly wider in P. semiconchata . The shape of the tegmina of P. nouabalensis n. sp. is more similar to that of P. adeps than to the other species ( Figs. 8a, 8d , 10a, 10c ). The carinae of the pronotum of P. nouabalensis n. sp. are not denticulate as in P. semiconchata ( Figs. 10a, 10b , 11a, 11b ) and in Plangiola herbacea ( Fig. 10e ), but are more similar to those of P. foraminata ( Fig. 11c ). The stridulatory area of P. nouabalensis n. sp. ( Fig. 11a ) is more similar to those of P. semiconchata ( Fig. 11b ) and P. adeps ( Fig. 11d ) than to that of P. foraminata ( Fig. 11c ), the stridulatory file of P. nouabalensis n. sp. ( Fig. 12a ) is very different from those of P. foraminata ( Fig. 12b ) and P. semiconchata ( Fig. 12c ) and more similar to that of P. adeps ( Fig. 12d ). Finally, cerci and subgenital plate of male and female of P. nouabalensis n. sp. ( Figs. 13a, 13b ) are more similar to those of P. adeps ( Figs. 13c, 13d ) than to those of the other two species of Plangiopsis ( Figs. 14a, 14d ). Finally, P. adeps has a bigger size than the new species (body size: 24.5–26.5 mm).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Frontal view of the head of Plangiopsis nouabalensis n. sp. (a), P. foraminata Karsch, 1892 (b), P. adeps Karsch, 1896 (c) and P. semiconchata Karsch, 1889 (d), belonging to the tribe Plangiopsidini Cadeña-Castaneda, 2015. Arrows indicate the lateral dimples on the fastigium of vertex.

FIGURE 8. Habitus in lateral view of Plangiopsis nouabalensis n. sp. (a), P. semiconchata Karsch, 1889 (b), P. foraminata Karsch, 1892 (c), Plangiopsis adeps Karsch, 1896 (d).

FIGURE 10. Lateral view of the headand pronotum of species here considered belonging to the tribe Plangiopsidini: Plangiopsis nouabalensis n. sp. (a), Plangiopsis semiconchata Karsch, 1889 (b), P. adeps Karsch, 1896 (c), Bongeia puncticollis Sĵstedt, 1902 (d), Plangiola herbacea Bolívar, 1906 (e), Afrotapiena n. gen. (previously Tapiena) minor Bolívar, 1906 (f).

FIGURE 11. Dorsal view of head, pronotum and stridulatory area of Plangiopsis nouabalensis n. sp. (a), P. semiconchata Karsch, 1889 (b), P. foraminata Karsch, 1892 (c), P. adeps Karsch, 1896 (d), Bongeia puncticollis Sjöstedt, 1902 (♀ holotypus) (e), Itokiia silvarum Sjöstedt, 1902 (♁ holotypus) (f).

FIGURE 12. Stridulatory file under the left tegmen of the male of Plangiopsis nouabalensis n. sp. (a), P. foraminata Karsch, 1892 (b), P. semiconchata Karsch, 1889 (c), P. adeps Karsch, 1896 (d).

FIGURE 13. Dorsal (a, c) and ventral (b, d) view of cerci and subgenital plate of the male of Plangiopsis nouabalensis n. sp. (a, b) and P. adeps Karsch, 1896 (c, d).

FIGURE 14. Dorsal (a, c) and ventral (b, d) view of cerci and subgenital plate of the male of Plangiopsis foraminata Karsch, 1892 (a, b) and P. semiconchata Karsch, 1889 (c, d).