Griffinipteryx, Massa, Bruno, 2016

Massa, Bruno, 2016, The identity of the tropical African Polichnemukonja Griffini, 1908 (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Phaneropterinae), ZooKeys 621, pp. 37-44 : 38-40

Taxon classification Animalia Orthoptera Tettigoniidae

Griffinipteryx gen. n. Figs 1-5, 6

Type species.

Griffinipteryx mukonja (= Polichne mukonja Griffini, 1908).

Diagnosis.

Griffinipteryx is characterized by slender body, lateral lobes of pronotum as deep as wide, ovipositor much reduced (Figs 1-4, 6).

Description.

Head and antennae: fastigium of vertex narrow and pointed, much narrower than the first antennal segment. Eyes round, prominent, face smooth without fronto-genal carinae, higher than wide.

Thorax: pronotum just longer than high, with a well-developed humeral excision, lateral lobes are as deep as wide.

Legs: long (ratio body length/length hind femur: 0.9), fore coxae armed with a fine spine, fore, mid and hind femora unarmed, fore, mid and hind tibiae with ventral and dorsal spines. Fore tibiae with anterior and posterior open tympana.

Tegmina elongated, well developed, shorter than hind wings.

Ovipositor very reduced, crenulated on upper apex.

Etymology.

Griffinipteryx (Griffini + pteryx) is dedicated to the late Achille Griffini (1870-1932), distinguished Italian entomologist, who studied many African collections of Orthoptera and described Polichne mukonja ; the Greek suffix pteryx (wing) is a reminder of the genus Catoptropteryx .

Affinities.

Catoptropteryx is certainly the only other African genus related to Griffinipteryx . In particular, some Catoptropteryx punctulata Karsch, 1890 specimens have a similar colour pattern in the pronotum (Fig. 7), even if the black stripe is absent on the lateral lobes. Catoptropteryx may have small spines at the ventral inner margin of fore, mid and hind femora, while Griffinipteryx gen. n. has unarmed fore and mid femora (in actual fact a very small spine is present at the base of the ventral inner margin of the fore and on the ventral outer margin of the mid femora). Other differences are also detectable in the shape of the lateral lobes of the pronotum. In Catoptropteryx the pronotal lobes are deeper than wide, while in Griffinipteryx gen. n. they are as deep as wide (Figs 6-7). Also the length of the hind femora is proportionally longer in Griffinipteryx gen. n. than in Catoptropteryx . However, the most important character that separates the two genera is the shape of the ovipositor. While in Catoptropteryx the ovipositor is very reduced and simplified (cf. Fig. 2 of Huxley 1970), in Griffinipteryx gen. n. it is more apically chitinous, mainly in the apical dorsal margin, where it is a somewhat crenulated. In some species of Catoptropteryx the dorsal valve may also be crenulated ( Huxley 1970), but the ovipositor appears longer with slender infra- and supra-gonangulum, and less chitinous. In Griffinipteryx the ovipositor and the subgenital plate are more chitinous and infra- and supra-gonangulum are stout (compare Figs 4 and 5).