Holocerus lucifer (Serville, 1838)

Skejo, Josip, Medak, Kristian, Pavlovic, Marko, Kitonic, † Davorka, Miko, Rafanomezanjanahary Jean Christian & Franjevic, Damjan, 2020, The story of the Malagasy devils (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae): Holocerus lucifer in the north and H. devriesei sp. nov. in the south?, ZooKeys 957, pp. 1-15 : 1

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.957.52565

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EE16305B-FCE2-42AA-AA01-8CF694E13137

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/33B198D6-079E-5E64-82E6-464B852D4AD2

treatment provided by

ZooKeys by Pensoft (2020-08-10 20:34:28, last updated 2024-11-28 19:37:21)

scientific name

Holocerus lucifer (Serville, 1838)
status

 

Holocerus lucifer (Serville, 1838) View in CoL Figs 1 View Figure 1 , 2 Common name: Northern Devil’s pygmy grasshopper View Figure 2

Tetrix Lucifer Serville, 1838: Serville (1838: 758; description of the species based on a single ♀ holotype (MNHN) from Paris, see Fig. 1A-D View Figure 1 ); Augé (1898: 296; drawing of the HT from MNHN Paris = first depiction of this genus member, Fig. 1D View Figure 1 );

Holocerus Lucifer : Bolívar (1887: 186, 231, 232; mentioned, tentatively assigned to the genus Holocerus ); Kirby (1910: 28; listed in catalogue);

Holocerus taurus Rehn, 1929 syn. nov.: Rehn (1929: 494-497; detailed description of the species based on seven specimens, ♂ HT, 1 ♀ PT and 3 ♂♂ PTs from unknown locality, and 2 ♀♀ PTs from Maroantsetra, depicted) (Fig. 1E-G View Figure 1 ); Günther (1939: 91; mentioned, new records); Günther (1959: 11; included in key, depicted); Günther (1970: 79-92; discussed); Günther (1974: 966, 967; new records, depiction); Yin et al. (1996: 876; listed in catalogue); Otte (1997: 45; listed in catalogue); Cigliano et al. (2020; listed in catalogue).

Type material.

(1 HT of T. lucifer (Figure 1A-D View Figure 1 ), 1 HT (Figure 1E-G View Figure 1 ) + 6 PTs of H. taurus ). ♀ HT of Tetrix lucifer , Madagascar (MNHN); ♂ HT of Holocerus taurus , Madagascar, 1♀ PT from Madagascar, 3♂♂ PTs from Madagascar, 2♀♀ PTs from Maroantsetra II.1919 (ANSP).

Additional examined material.

There are a few records of the species since its description - by Rehn (1929) under the name H. taurus ; a photographic record from Flickr; a photographic record from Twitter; and several specimens from a museum collection in MNCN, Madrid. For detailed data on all records, see Table 1 View Table 1 .

Annotated specific diagnosis.

Holocerus lucifer is similar to H. devriesei sp. nov., which is the only other species of the genus Holocerus . Holocerus lucifer is easily distinguished from H. devriesei sp. nov. with the following set of characteristics: (i) Holocerus lucifer has slenderer femora of fore and mid legs than that of H. devriesei sp. nov.; (ii) dorsal spines are slenderer, more elongate and decurved in H. lucifer than those in H. devriesei sp. nov., and in profile they are, as described by Rehn, 'distinctly falcate, scimitar like’; (iii) middle prozonal spine (promedial projection) is blunter and lower in H. lucifer than that in H. devriesei sp. nov., and (iv) H. lucifer generally has more pale colored parts than H. devriesei sp. nov.

Measurements.

Body length, pronotum length, pronotum width, and hind femora length are shown (Table 2 View Table 2 ).

Variability.

(Figure 2 View Figure 2 ). Variability is evident in (1) coloration, as there are darker and paler specimens, (2) size, as there are larger and smaller specimens, and (3) the shape of the dorsal spines (elevated internal lateral carinae of the pronotum), as there are specimens in which the spines are more decurved and specimens with almost straight projections.

Distribution and habitat.

The species is known from the rainforests of Madagascar, from Marojejy and Maroantsetra in the north to the rainforests of Zahamena in the south. A specimen with the label ‘Tamatave’ could have been collected in the rainforests in the vicinity of the city of Toamasina, but also anywhere in the wide Toamasina region. The species inhabits primary and secondary rainforests and is probably a good flier, taking into account the observations of its sibling species’ ecology. As only one photo of a living individual of this species has been taken to date, hardly anything can be concluded about the species’ natural history. Despite being described for already 180 years, this species is less known and understood than H. devriesei sp. nov.

Auge, C, 1898. Nouveau Larousse illustre: Dictionnaire Universel Encyclopedique. Larousse, Paris

Bolivar, I, 1887. Essai sur les Acridiens de la tribu des Tettigidae. Annales de la Societe Entomologique de Belgique 31: 175 - 313

Cigliano, MM, Braun, H, Eades, DC, Otte, D, 2020. Orthoptera Species File. Version 5.0/5.0. (Accessed March 20th 2020). [Available at] http://Orthoptera.SpeciesFile.org

Guenther, K, 1939. Revision der Acrydiinae (Orthoptera), III. Sectio Amorphopi (Metrodorae Bol. 1887, aut.). Abhandlungen und Berichte aus den Staatlichen Museen fuer Tierkunde und Voelkerkunde in Dresden (Ser. A: Zool.) (N.F.) 20 (1): 16 - 335

Guenther, K, 1959. [1958] Die Tetrigidae (Orthopt., Caelifera) von Madagaskar mit einer Eroerterung ihrer zoogeographischen Beziehungen und ihrer phylogenetischen Verwandtschaften. Abhandlungen und Berichte aus den Staatlichen Museen fuer Tierkunde und Voelkerkunde in Dresden (Ser. A: Zool.) (N.F.) 24: 3 - 56

Guenther, K, 1970. Die Teirwelt Madagaskars und die Zoogeographische Frage nach dem Gondwana-Land. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 10: 79 - 92

Guenther, K, 1974. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Tetrigoidea (Orth. Caelifera) von Madagaskar und von Mauritius. Bulletin du Museum national d'Histoire naturelle Paris (Zoologie 3e serie) 236 (Zoologie 160): 937-1031.

Kirby, WF, 1910. A Synonymic Catalogue of Orthoptera (OrthopteraSaltatoria, Locustidae vel Acridiidae). The Trustees of the British Museum, London

Otte, D, 1997. Tetrigoidea and Tridactyloidea (Orthoptera: Caelifera) and Addenda to OSF Vols. 1-5. Orthoptera Species File 6: 1 - 261

Rehn, JAG, 1929. [1930] New and little known Madagascar grouse-locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae, Acrydiinae). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 81: 477 - 519

Serville, GA, 1838. [1839] Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Orthopteres. Librairie Encyclopedique de Roret, Paris

Yin, XC, Shi, J, Yin, Z, 1996. Synonymic Catalogue of Grasshoppers and their Allies of the World (Orthoptera: Caelifera). China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing

Gallery Image

Figure 1. A-F Holocerus lucifer. Female holotype of Holocerus lucifer (original combination Tetrix lucifer) from MNHN Paris (A-D) and male holotype of Holocerus taurus syn. nov. from ANSP Philadelphia (E-G) A habitus in lateral view B labels C habitus in dorsal view, (photos A-D J. Skejo & MNHN Paris) D the first depiction of Holocerus lucifer (Auge 1898) E-G holotype of Holocerus taurus (from here on syn. nov. of H. lucifer) E habitus in dorsal view F habitus in lateral view G labels (photos E-G Jason D. Weintraub / ANSP Entomology). Scale bar: 1 cm.

Gallery Image

Figure 2. Variability of Holocerus lucifer. A living specimen in Marojejy NP (photo R. Becky) B-E variability of pronotal projection morphology (B holotype of Holocerus lucifer C Maroantsentra, Antongil Bay D holotype of H. taurus E Tamatave).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Orthoptera

Family

Tetrigidae

SubFamily

Metrodorinae

Genus

Holocerus