Itara (Noctitara) nocturna Gorochov, 1988

He, Zhixin & Ma, Libin, 2021, Crickets of the subfamily Itarinae Shiraki, 1930 (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) from China with description of a new species and distribution and critical notes on other species, Zootaxa 4942 (3), pp. 382-408 : 398

Itara (Noctitara) nocturna Gorochov, 1988

Itara nocturna Gorochov, 1988: 20

Itara (Noctitara) nocturna Gorochov, 1997: 64

Holotype. Type locality: Vietnam: Sonla Province , Song Ma. Deposited at Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (not examined).

Materials examined. China: 4 males, Yunnan, Mengla County, Longmen Village , 17-v-2009, Libin Ma coll. ; 8 males, Yunnan, Cangyuan County, Banlao Village , 5-vi-2013, Libin Ma coll. ; female, Yunnan, Mengla County, Longmen Village , 17-v-2009, Libin Ma coll. ; 3 females, Yunnan, Mengla County, Longmen Village , 17-v-2009, Libin Ma coll ..

Description. Male. Body size large for the genus. Head large. Occiput strongly convex and glabrous and vertex smooth. Median ocellus oval and smaller than lateral ocelli, lateral ocelli rounded. Genae smooth and slightly convex. Labrum widened and convex apically. Terminal maxillary palpus truncated, almost equal to length of 3rd palpus, somewhat longer than terminal labial palpus. Pronotal disc flattened and trapezoid; anterior margin slightly concave, posterior margin slightly convex. Dorsal field of forewing broad. Apical field developed and longer than mirror; armed with 7 branches. Harp area bearing 4 veins ( Fig. 10A ). Visible parts of hind wings slightly longer than hind tarsus. External tympanum of fore tibia large and ovoid. Dorsal spurs of hind tibia numbered 4:4 (inner: outer). Hind tarsus armed with short dorsal spines and numbered 9:8 (inner: outer).

Metanotal gland armed with transverse and sinuate convexity anteriorly, V-shaped convexity (large and shallow) medially ( Fig. 10C ). Anal plate rather short and half of basal sides ridged ( Fig. 10D ).

Male genitalia ( Figs. 10 E–10G). Guiding rod proximally forked and merged apically ( Fig. 10E ); dorsal lobe of basal epiphallus shaped as obtuse angle, lateral process slightly expanded ( Fig. 10E ). Epiphallus armed with a row of denticles medially ( Fig. 10F ). In lateral view, epiphallic apex shaped as boot and rather blunt, and distal margin arc-like ( Fig. 10F ). Ectoparamere rod-like, armed with one pair or two pairs of ventral inner processes ( Fig. 10G ).

Female. Similar to male ( Fig. 10B ). Ovipositor longer than hind tibia; its apex rather acute and episternites blunt ( Figs. 13H , 14H ).

Coloration. Head colored dark. Ocelli colored light. Pronotum entirely colored dark and ornamented with dark brown patterns. Forewing mostly colored brown and ornamented with dark brown apically. A small part of femur colored brown.

Measurements. Male (n=12). BL 21.12±1.58, HW 3.48±0.34, PL 2.50±0.53, PW 4.97±0.64, FWL 16.39±0.6, HWL 5.43±0.48, DVL 3.87±0.08, ML 3.69±0.53, HFL 9.47±0.98, HTL 7.13±0.51, HML 4.47±0.32. Female (n=3). BL 19.12±1.21, HW 3.22±0.36, PL 2.02±0.28, PW 4.14±0.51, FWL 15.29±1.06, HFL 9.72±0.74, HTL 6.73±0.66, HML 4.88±0.40, OL 9.85±1.47.

Remarks. This species is firstly recorded from China. It is similar to I. (N.) sonabilis and I. (N.) pacholatkoi in size and coloration, but male genitalia of this species is characterized by the short distal median process of epiphallus, distinctly smaller upper acute apical projection of this process, very small projection of lateral edges of ectoparameres and rather long distal part of ectoparameres.

Figures

FIGURE 10. I. (N.) nocturna. A. Habitus photograph of male. B. Habitus photograph of female. C. Metanotal gland. D. Anal plate. E–G. Male genitalia. E. Dorsal view. F. Lateral view. G. Ventral view. Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIGURE 13. The right half of ovipositor apex. A. I. (I.) communis. B. I. (I.) vietnamensis. C. I. (I.) minor. D. I. (I.) acri sp. n. E. I. (I.) aperta. F. I. (I.) dicrana. G. I. (I.) basidentata. H. I. (N.) nocturna.

FIGURE 14. The left half of ovipositor apex. A. I. (I.) communis. B. I. (I.) vietnamensis. C. I. (I.) minor. D. I. (I.) acri sp. n. E. I. (I.) aperta. F. I. (I.) dicrana. G. I. (I.) basidentata. H. I. (N.) nocturna.