Gryllus (Gryllus) providiensis Cadena-Castañeda, 2021

Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J., Díaz, Carlos Julio Arango, López, Víctor Hugo Grande & Cárdenas, Andrea Del Pilar Floréz, 2021, Studies on Neotropical crickets: New species and notes on the classification of Field Crickets genera Anurogryllus and Gryllus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Gryllinae), Zootaxa 4970 (3), pp. 515-532 : 521-526

Gryllus (Gryllus) providiensis Cadena-Castañeda n. sp.

( Fig. 4–7 )

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:514178

Etymology. It refers to the Providencia Island, Archipelago of San Andres, from where this species was collected.

Type material. Holotype. Male. Colombia, Providencia Island , road to “Pico” 13.346 994, -81.374616. 300 m. J. Arias ( CAUD) . Paratypes. Female adult, two females and one male subadults with same data as holotype .

Description. Male. Mid-size for the genus ( Fig. 4A, B ). Coloration. Head with the dorsal surface from the vertex to the fastigium, between the middle of the antennal sockets and partially the clypeus dark brown, the rest of the cephalic capsule ocher including the jaws; ocelli and palps light yellow; lateral ocelli joined by an ocher inverted “Y” (epicraneal suture); eyes black with depigmented ommatidia in the supra-internal region ( Fig. 5A ). Pronotal disc and partially the lateral lobes of the pronotum dark brown, with the lower half whitish-yellow ( Fig. 4A ). Meso and metathorax light yellow, legs light ocher, although the tibiae have brown bristles. Tegmina ochre with the base with a light-yellow spot ( Fig. 4B ), veins with brown and ocher portions. Dark brown abdomen. Head. Rounded and as wide as the pronotal disc; frons between antennal cavities 1.5 times as wide as scape; ocelli moderately large and located almost on one transverse line, median ocellus transverse and lateral ones round. Maxillary palp with five palpomeres, first and second shorter, third almost as long as the fourth, fifth-largest, enlarged, apex rounded, devoid of the cuticle covering the others of the segments ( Fig. 5A ). Thorax. Pronotum pubescent, with thicker bristles on the edges; anterior edge of pronotal disc concave, posterior edge convex; midline traversing from the anterior edge, interrupting near the posterior edge of the pronotal disc, and on each side, a mark in leaf form, no varying in color with the rest of the pronotal disc ( Fig. 4A, B ). Legs. Pubescent; with conspicuous bristles on the dorsal edge of the femora, fore and mid legs similar; fore tibia with one outer and two inner apical spurs, outer tympanum large and ovoid, inner tympanum small and rounded; hind tibia with eight outer-dorsal and five inner-dorsal spines; hind basitarsus with two rows of dorsal denticles, four inner and six outer, two apical spurs, the internal longer than the external. Wings. Tegmina covering up to the seventh abdominal segment ( Fig. 4B , 5B ); stridulatory file with 130 teeth; harp with three diagonal veins ( Fig. 5C ), first or proximal harp vein originating near the base of the second or mid harp vein, in turn, the first or proximal harp vein branching out in the first basal third of its length, this branching is hardly visible, tenuous and does not lead on the Cu1 vein (or Branch of CuPB sensu Desutter-Grandcolas et al., (2017)), as if the other veins of the harp do. Chordal area with all three veins present, veins Cu2 and 1A parallel and arcuate; mirror divided as normally happens in species of this genus; apical area developed and reticulated ( Fig. 5C ). Hind wings widely exceeding the abdomen. Abdomen. Epiproct semi-oval, the base of straight lateral edges and protruding dorsally like keels. Subgenital plate longer than wide and with the apex divided into a medial incision. Genitalia. Three typical projections of the pseudepiphallic lophi region, similar to other species of the genus ( Fig. 6A–C ).

Female. Similar to the male, although the color tones are a little darker, in essence, it follows the same color pattern as the male ( Fig.7A–C ). Ovipositor longer than the length of the hind femur ( Fig. 7A ).

Measurements (mm) male/female: LB: 17/20. Pr: 3.5/4. Teg.: 12/14. HF: 8/9. HT: 7.5/8.

Comparison. This new species is similar to G. (G.) assimilis in its habitus, conspicuous bristles in the pronotum, epicranial suture and pale circumocular area, although the new species is smaller than G. (G.) assimilis , and the venation of the tegmina is different ( G. (G.) assimilis have 4–5 harp veins). Although the coloration of the Gryllus species is variable, some patterns remain, and the new species has yellow legs and wings (especially the tegmina with a light-yellow spot at the base), in contrast, G. (G.) assimilis has darker coloring patterns, usually with legs and tegmina in shades of brown.

Few Gryllus species have less than 4 harp veins, in the Caribbean species, it happens in G. (G.) arijua Otte & Perez-Gelabert, 2009 and G. (G.) providiensis n. sp. in both there are 3 veins, but in G. (G.) arijua all originate from the stridulation vein (Cu2 traditionally, CuPb vein sensu Desutter-Grandcolas et al., (2017)), but in the new species, only the second and third veins of the harp are born from the stridulating crest, the first vein arises from the second vein and in turn branches into a thin and short vein that is not considered an additional vein of the harp, this is peculiar to G. (G.) providiensis n. sp., as the well-documented Caribbean and Neotropical species do not have this condition. The new species also differs from G. (G.) arijua , in its coloration and length of the tegmina, which reaches the seventh abdominal segment, in contrast, G. (G.) arijua , has darker tones, resembling more to G. (G.) assimilis , brown hind femur, with dark brown stripes and the tegmina covers until the last abdominal segment.

Comments. Recent publications have suggested using acoustic data to complement the description of new taxa for Gryllus , since they do not present significant variability that allows defining species with genitalia, as is traditionally done with crickets ( Weissman & Gray, 2019). But the description of G. (G.) providiensis n. sp., maybe an exception, due to its particular morphology, differing conspicuously from the closest species, as mentioned in the comparison. Also, the organization of the harp veins is not shared with the other Caribbean and continental species. Only G. (G.) marchena Otte & Peck, 1997 from the Galapagos Archipelago has a similar pattern, but this species differs from G. (G.) providiensis n. sp. since all the Galapagean species have short wings and a more elongated ovipositor, and a completely black cephalic head.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Gryllus (Gryllus) providiensis n. sp. male habitus A. Lateral and B. Dorsal view respectively.

FIGURE 5. Gryllus (Gryllus) providiensis n. sp. A. Frons and legs. B. Tegmina. C. Stridulation file.

FIGURE 6. Gryllus (Gryllus) providiensis n. sp. male genitalia A. Ventral. B. Dorsal and C. Lateral view respectively.

FIGURE 7. Gryllus (Gryllus) providiensis n. sp. female habitus A. Lateral. B. Dorsal view. C. Frons and legs.