Phaloria Stål, 1877

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2009, New and little known crickets from Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu (Insecta, Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Pseudotrigonidium Chopard, 1915, Phaloriinae and Nemobiinae p. p.), Zoosystema 31 (3), pp. 619-659 : 629-630

Genus Phaloria Stål, 1877

TYPE SPECIES. — Phaloria amplipennis Stål, 1877 .

Three Phaloria species are presently recorded from Vanuatu, P. offensa Gorochov, 1999 , P. chopardi (Willemse, 1951) and P. solomonica vanuatu Gorochov, 1999 ( Eades & Otte 2009). Phaloria offensa originates from Banks and Malekula islands, and P.solomonica vanuatu from Aneytum island. Phaloria chopardi has however been described as Heterotrypus chopardi from the Carolines islands, North East of New Guinea, as confirmed by Nishida (1979), and is erroneously mentioned from Vanuatu.

To these species should be added Podoscirtus chopardi Willemse, 1925 , described from Hog Harbour (Espiritu Santo) on a single female. Transferred by Chopard (1968) in the genus Munda Stål, 1877 , this species actually belongs to the genus Phaloria as revealed by type examination (see below). Because of its transfer into Phaloria , Podoscirtus chopardi Willemse, 1925 becomes a senior secondary homonym of Heterotrypus chopardi Willemse, 1951 transferred to Phaloria by Gorochov (1996). Th is last species should consequently be renamed, and I propose here the name Phaloria willemsei n. nom.

Four additional species are described here, attesting the diversity of the genus in eastern Micronesia: P. nigricollis n. sp. is a stout and light ochre species, with short and equal sized subapical spurs on TIII and short HWs, resembling in these characters to P. chopardi ( Willemse, 1925) . By contrast, P. walterlinii n. sp., P. faponensis n. sp., P. offensa and P. pentecotensis n. sp. are slender and highly spotted with yellow and dark brown. Th e last three species are moreover characterized by very long wings and TIII subapical spurs.

REMARKS

Phaloria is a very wide and diversified genus, which includes now more than 50 described species. Three subgenera have been defined to take into account this diversity ( Gorochov 1996), but their definitions seem insufficient with regards to the monophyly criterion. For example, one criterion to separate the subgenus Phaloria from Papuloria Gorochov, 1996 and Trelloria Gorochov, 1996 is the presence of one ( Papuloria , Trelloria ) versus two ( Phaloria ) pseudepiphallic “distal lobes” ( Gorochov 1996). This character would place P. chopardi in the subgenus Phaloria , while it is clearly very close to P. solomonica , presently placed in the genus Papuloria . A phylogenetic analysis using as many morphological and anatomical characters as possible is clearly necessary to clarify the systematics of this group.

KEY TO THE PHALORIA STÅL, 1877 SPECIES KNOWN FROM VANUATU (BOTH MALES AND FEMALES) Phaloria solomonica vanuatu Gorochov, 1999 has been defined on male characters only, as one entry of an identification key, which makes comparison with additional material hazardous. Th e present key consequently considers only the species P. solomonica Gorochov, 1996 , not its subspecies.

1. Colouration globally light ochre, with no or few coloured marks. General shape wide, especially in males ( Fig. 3 ) .......................................................................................... 2

— Colouration yellow and brown, with brown and black spots and stripes. General shape more elongate in both males and females ................................................................... 4

2. Pronotum black with ochre margins .................................................. P. nigricollis n. sp.

— Pronotum entirely ochre, more or less mottled with yellow and brown ....................... 3

3. Female: ovipositor less than 12 mm in length. Male genitalia: pseudepiphallic lophi well developed, long and membranous ( Fig. 5A ) ................................................ P. chopardi

— Female: ovipositor more than 14 mm in length. Male genitalia: pseudepiphallus without median lophi ( Gorochov 1996: fig. 365) .................................................. P. solomonica

4. Tibia III: inner subapical spurs long but shorter than the outer ones, the spurs of each side about the same size; dorsal inner apical spur as long as basitarsus III. Wings only slightly longer than FWs in both males and females. Female ovipositor longer than tibia III ..... ........................................................................................................ P. walterlinii n. sp.

— Tibia III: inner apical and subapical spurs very long, longer than outer ones, the subapical spurs increasing in length toward tibia apex ( Fig. 9A ); dorsal inner apical spur longer than basitarsus III. Wings much longer than forewings in both males and females. Female ovipositor very short (<5 mm), much shorter than tibia III ....................................... 5

5. Colouration pale yellowish with brown patterns on head and legs. Dorso inner apical spur of tibia III more than 1.4 times longer than basitarsi III. Female genitalia: copulatory papilla entirely sclerotized, with a pair of ventral longitudinal crests. Male unknown .... ......................................................................................................... P. faponensis n. sp.

— Colouration darker, especially on brown head. Dorso inner apical spur of TIII less than 1.3 times longer than basitarsi III. Female genitalia (unknown in P.offensa ): copulatory papilla sclerotized ventrally only, having the shape of a horse shoe .............................. 6

6. Mouthparts and palpi light yellow. Lateral lobe of pronotum with a transverse yellow band, crossed by a small brown line at anterior fourth. Female ovipositor more than 4.5 mm in length. Male unknown ................................................................. P. pentecotensis n. sp.

— Mouthparts and palpi light brown. Lateral lobe of pronotum with two yellow spots connected by light stripes. Female ovipositor less than 4.5 mm in length. Male genitalia: see Gorochov (1999: figs 84-86) ..................................................................... P. offensa

Figures

FIG. 3. — Phaloria chopardi (Willemse, 1925) n. comb., ♂ MNHN-ENSIF2102. Scale bar: 3 mm.

FIG. 5. — A-D, Phaloria chopardi (Willemse, 1925) n. comb.; A-C, male genitalia, ♂ MNHN-ENSIF2102, in dorsal (A), ventral (B) and lateral (C) views; D, right pseudepiphallic paramere, ventral view; E, P. nigricollis n. sp., male genitalia, ♂ MNHN-ENSIF2113, right pseudepiphallic paramere, ventral view; F, G, P. nigricollis n. sp. (?), female copulatory papilla in lateral (F) and dorsal (G) views, ♀ MNHN-ENSIF2114. Scale bars: A-C, F, G, 1 mm; D, E, 0.1 mm. Abbreviations: see text.

FIG. 9. — Phaloria walterlinii n. sp., male genitalia, in dorsal (A), ventral (B) and lateral (C) views. Abbreviations: see text. Scale bar: 1 mm.