Itara (Itara) acri He & Ma, 2021

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 : 396

Itara (Itara) acri He & Ma , sp.n.

Type materials. Holotype. China: Male, Yunnan, Jinghong , 11-vii-2018, Zhong Peng coll. Paratypes. Male, Xizang, Motuo County, Beibeng Village , 13-vii-2018, Zhaohui Pan coll.; 7 males , Xizang, Motuo County, Beibeng Village , 1-vi-2019, Libin Ma coll.; 2 females , Yunnan, Jinghong , 11-vii-2018, Zhong Peng coll.; 6 females , Xizang, Motuo County, Beibeng Village , 13-vii-2018, Zhaohui Pan coll.; 3 females , Xizang, Motuo County, Beibeng Village , 1-vi-2019, Libin Ma coll ..

Etymology. The specific epithet “acri” refers to the basal part of etcoparamere with a pair of spinous processes.

Description. Male. Body size small for the genus. Head small. Occiput strongly convex and glabrous and vertex smooth. Median ocellus oval and with similar size of lateral ocelli. Antennal scape squared shield-like and almost equal to half width of rostrum. Genae smooth and slightly convex. Labrum widened and convex apically. Terminal maxillary palpus truncated, almost equal to length of 3rd palpus, little longer than terminal labial palpus. Pronotal disc flattened and trapezoid, armed with anterior margin slightly concave and posterior margin slightly convex. Harp area bearing 5 veins ( Fig. 8C ). Dorsal field of forewing broad. Apical field developed and longer than mirror, and armed with 8 branches. Visible parts of hind wings almost equal to length of hind tarsus. External tympanum large and ovoid shaped. Dorsal spurs of hind tibia numbered 3:3 (inner: outer). Hind tarsus armed with short dorsal spines and numbered 9:8 (inner: outer).

Metanotal gland armed with transverse and small convexity anteriorly, U-shaped convexity (large and shallow) medially ( Fig. 8C ). Anal plate tongue-shaped, half of basal sides ridged and apex rounded ( Fig. 8D ).

Male genitalia ( Figs. 8 E–8G). Guiding rod forked proximally and merging posteriorly ( Fig. 8G ). Dorsal lobe of basal epiphallus almost a right-angle shape, lateral and median process even in thickness ( Fig. 8E ). Lateral edges of epiphallus constricted distally, with obtuse apex ( Fig. 8E ); in lateral view, apex inward curved ( Fig. 8F ). Inner ectoparamere armed with a pair of processes ( Fig. 8G ).

Female. Similar to male but forewing narrower and uniformly colored light brown ( Fig. 8B ). Ovipositor longer than hind tibia; its apex rather acute and episternites blunt ( Fig. 12 ).

Coloration. Head colored brown. Ocelli and face colored light. Pronotum mostly colored dark brown and ornamented with blade-shaped patterns yellowish brown. Dorsum of femur apex, all tibia and tarsus and hind wingss colored dark brown. And remainder of body colored yellowish brown.

Measurements. Male (n=9). BL 18.15±0.62, HW 2.92±0.14, PL 1.86±0.08, PW 3.72±0.28, FWL 14.70±0.48, HWL 5.61±0.76, DVL 3.80±0.07, ML 3.65±0.21, HFL 7.04±0.22, HTL 6.12±0.18, HML 4.29±0.15. Female (n=11). BL 18.47±1.72, HW 3.19±0.32, PL 2.06±0.32, PW 4.17±0.65, FWL 14.82±1.51, HFL 9.52±0.98, HTL 7.13±0.74, HML 5.10±0.51, OL 10.68±1.51.

Remarks. This species is very similar to I. (I.) aperta and I. (I.) vietnamensis in both features of body and genitalia, but it has distinct epiphallus and ectoparamere. The new species possesses a longer and constricted distally epiphallus, with inward curved apex; basal part of each ectoparamere possesses a spinous process; lateral lobes of ectoparamere are smaller and subterminal.

Figures

FIGURE 8. I. (I.) acri sp. n. 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 12. Ovipositor apex of I. (I.) acri sp. n. A, C. Individual possessing. B, D. Individual possessing.A, B. Right half. C, D. Left half. White arrows showed this area or structure is intraspecific stabilization. Blue arrows showed this area or structure is intraspecific difference. Blue oval shows that the edge of ovipositor was notched, this condition may occur in those crickets who have oviposited.