Arostratum, Massa, Bruno, 2015

Massa, Bruno, 2015, New genera, species and records of Phaneropterinae (Orthoptera, Phaneropteridae) from sub-Saharan Africa, ZooKeys 472, pp. 77-102 : 86-87

Taxon classification Animalia Orthoptera Phaneropteridae

Genus Arostratum gen. n.

Type species.

Arostratum oblitum sp. n., here designated.

Description.

Head and antennae: 1st antennal segment larger than fastigium, eyes round. Legs: open tympana on both sides of fore tibiae. Coxae unarmed. 4 spines are present on ventral outer margin of fore tibiae, spines on femora are lacking. Mid tibiae without apical spur and first tarsal segment is of normal size. Thorax: pronotum with a small inflated area on metanotum. Tegmina very short, 2nd pairs of wings very reduced. Abdomen: tenth tergite almost straight, cerci in-curved, ending with a pointed tip at right angle. Sub-genital plate with a v-shaped concavity and thickened margins. Styli absent.

Diagnosis.

Peculiar characters of this genus are the very long legs, hind femurs being 1.4 longer than the body length. Arostratum gen. n. is clearly related to Atlasacris , Monticolaria , Odonturoides and Meruterrana Sjöstedt, 1912. Arostratum gen. n. shows very unique characters, as the absence of the enlarged spur on the mid tibiae of the male (that are present in males of Atlasacris , Monticolaria , Odonturoides and Meruterrana : Ragge 1980) and the very long legs. In Atlasacris male hind femurs are 1.1-1.2 longer than the body length (in the female of Atlasacris specularis they are as long as the body, Rehn 1914), in Monticolaria the male hind femurs are 0.8-1.0 times as the body length. Also the external genitalia are very characteristic, as given in the description of the new species Arostratum oblitum .

Etymology.

From Latin: Arostratum = without rostrum or spur.