Parapyrrhicia virilis Carl, 1914

Massa, Bruno, 2017, New taxa of Orthoptera (Insecta Tettigoniidae Phaneropterinae) from Madagascar, Zootaxa 4242 (2), pp. 299-312 : 301

Parapyrrhicia virilis Carl, 1914

( Figs 3 A–3D, 4A, 4C, 4F, 4G)

Material examined. Madagascar, Ampanefena (1♂) ; Madagascar, Vohémar (1♀) ( NHMP).

Characters. Only the male of P. virilis was shortly described and later this species has no more reported; for this reason peculiar characters of both sexes are here listed.

Male ( Figs 3 A, 4A, 4C, 4F, 4G). Green with a two small blackish areas at the base of tegmina and along their hind margin. Eyes round prominent. Pronotum longer than high, anterior margin straight, posterior rounded ( Fig. 4 A). Stridulatory file curved and constituted of ca. 100 evenly spaced teeth ( Fig. 3 A). Fore coxae armed, fore femora with 7 small spines ventrally, fore tibiae with open tympana on both sides, superiorly rounded (not forrowed), with 5 inner and outer ventral spines + 1 spur on each side; mid femora with 4 ventral outer spines, mid tibiae with 9 inner and outer ventral spines + 1 spur on each side; hind femora with 3 inner and 12 outer ventral spines, hind tibiae with many spines + 3 spurs on each side. All genicular lobes with a pair of small spines on each side. Last tergite long, pointed and down-curved ( Fig. 4 C). Cerci slender, long and incurved, flattened in the apical part ( Fig. 4 F). Subgenital plate narrow, ending with a wide concavity and two sulcate divergent lobes ( Fig. 4 G).

Female ( Figs 3 B, 3C, 3D). Same characters and colour of the male, with the following differences. Hind femora with 3 inner and 13 outer ventral spines. Ovipositor 2 times longer than pronotum, with upper and lower apices serrate ( Fig. 3 D). Subgenital plate small and triangular ( Fig. 3 B) [different from that of P. dentipes Saussure, 1899 and P. madagassus (Karsch, 1889) ]. In addition, the female has on inner margin and on the dorsal area of right tegmen some transverse and longitudinal veins with little teeth covered by very small bristles ( Fig. 3 C), that certainly are used for acoustical communication with the male. A similar character (one to three transverse veins) has been already highlighted by Hemp et al. (2016) in the female of P. abdita Hemp, 2016 . However, most females of Phaneropterinae have some teeth on the right tegmen to communicate with the other sex ( Heller et al. 2015).

Measurements. Male. Body length: 23.0; length of pronotum: 4.8; height of pronotum 3.4; length of tegmina: 30.7; width of tegmina: 5.7; length of hind femora: 19.2. Female. Body length: 19.2; length of pronotum: 4.2; height of pronotum 3.1; length of tegmina: 31.5; width of tegmina: 5.9; length of hind femora: 19.0; ovipositor: 9.1.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Parapyrrhicia virilis, male stridulatory file (A), female subgenital plate (B), stridulatory files on the right tegmen of female (C), lateral view of the ovipositor (D).

FIGURE 4. Parapyrrhicia virilis, male: lateral view of head and pronotum (A), lateral view of last abdominal segments (C), dorsal view of last tergite and cerci (F), subgenital plate (G); Parapyrrhicia longipodex n. sp., male: lateral view of head and pronotum (B), lateral view of last abdominal segments (D), cerci (E), subgenital plate (H).