Conocephalus (Anisoptera) kwasiphaiensis, Nagar, Rajendra & Swaminathan, R., 2016

Nagar, Rajendra & Swaminathan, R., 2016, Notes on the genus Conocephalus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Conocephalinae; Conocephalini) from India and description of two new species, Zootaxa 4126 (1), pp. 1-43 : 8-13

Conocephalus (Anisoptera) kwasiphaiensis sp. nov.

( Figs. 2 , 10 , 18, 26, 34, 41, 48, 55, 62, 69 & 77; Plate IV & V)

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:477713

Material examined. (06 Specimens, 4♂ &2♀). Holotype: India: Manipur; Bishnpur, Kwasiphai: 14.x.2015, Coll. N. Y. Chanu (Kwasiphai, Bishnpur) 24.6288644’ N Longitude 93.7612856’E Latitude 3000m MSL.

Paratype: India: Manipur, Bishanpur, Kwasiphai: 14.x.2015, Coll. N. Y. Chanu (Kwasiphai, Bishnpur); 19.x.2015, Coll. N. Y. Chanu (Kwasiphai, Bishnpur) (1); 29.x.2015, Coll. N. Y. Chanu (Kwasiphai, Bishnpur) (1).

Habitus. The katydids inhabit and feed on the grasses growing on the bunds within the paddy fields as well as those adjoining the road. Specimens were collected after harvest of paddy.

Description. Male — Fastigium of vertex much narrower than scape (one third small/equal to second segment of antenna), a very thin median longitudinal furrow. Eyes globular, protruding outwards, apex obtuse, dorsal surface obtusely rounded. Disc of pronotum small with a very fine first transverse sulcus, sub interrupted paranota, median carina faintly visible. Anterior margin of pronotum slightly concave, posterior margin obtusely rounded with nearly straight, metazona raised upwards, lateral lobes of pronotum rounded, triangular, with a tumid oval semitransparent area along posterior margin on both sides. Tegmina comparatively small, surpassing apices of post femora, basal half slightly broad, apical half narrower, apices rounded. Vein Cubitus-2 of left tegmen straight. Hind wings smaller than tegmina.

Prosternum bispinose, long, apices obtusely rounded. Mesosternum with a pair long tubercle-like structures and meta-sternal lobes triangularly rounded. Macropterous (long-winged) or brachypterous (short-winged) forms, tegmina and wing transparent; tegmina with some very small red markings along the coastal region; tegmina long, apices reaching the middle of last abdominal segment (hind wings extend beyond the forewings or hind wings are shorter than the forewings). Stridulatory file area of male left tegmen large, nearly elevated on thickened vein, slightly curved with about 21 large and 28 small teeth; main teeth very robust, which are large and spaced in the middle, gradually becoming narrower, anterior and towards the apex. Knee lobes of fore femora with two small external spines, internally obtuse and rounded, mid femora with two external spines and one small internal spine, hind femora on external and internal sides with two long spines with the apex black. Coxal spines elongate. Tympanum on fore tibiae conchate on internal and external sides; six pairs of spines on the ventral side, dorsum smooth, mesotibia without apical spurs. Hind femur without spines on dorsum, with 6–9 extroventral spines and without introinternal spines. Hind tibiae with 30–32 dorso-internal, 27–33 external spines; 5–6 ventro-internal, 7–8 external spines; and with three pairs of apical spurs.

Tenth abdominal tergite broad with a round, deep incision in middle, apical margin slightly triangular and round. Cerci stout, cylindrical, basal area conical, apices slightly narrower and rounded; two-third apical half divided bearing one inner spine, the dorsal process slightly shorter than ventral one, apical area slightly narrower, middle area broad, apex acute; ventral process longer, thinner, spine-shaped, apical area curved forward with apices acute. Apices gradually curved towards apex when viewed dorsally spine-like projection visible, apex acute. Subgenital plate broad, large basal area broader than long, middle carinae visible, centre of posterior margin with a V- shaped incision in middle (forming a triangular notch). Styli small, cylindrical, apices obtuse and hairy. Supra anal plate small, triangular and rounded.

Female. Appearance and coloration resemble male; tenth abdominal tergite bifid in middle with apical margin rounded. Epiproct small, triangular, apex obtuse with a small growth in the middle. Cerci conical at base, narrowing apically, apex obtuse and hairy. Subgenital plate slightly broader than long, rounded, triangular, apex obtuse, apical lobe triangular and rounded. Ovipositor long moderately straight and slightly curved upward, dorsal and ventral margins smooth, dorsal valve longer than ventral, apices rounded.

Colouration. Body brown with irregular light and yellow pattern; with small red dots. Dorsal margin of vertex, head and pronotum with a longitudinal broad light-brown stripe, the outer edges of the stripe darker in some; sometimes infumate with brown pattern. Frons including fastigium frontis and antennal scrobae brown with yellowish tinge; sometimes less dark in middle; mouthparts whitish or yellow; labrum partly white with last segment yellowish having red dots; palpi yellow, apices of last segments pale with small dots; mandible yellow with teeth black; antennae brown with spaced brown annulations, first two segments with brown marks. Hind area of genae whitish yellow with some small red dots; compound eyes light dark; ventral margin and a spot near scapus brown. Lateral view of pronotum, coxal spines and all legs with red dots. Tegmina and wing transparent sometimes with small reddish dots.

Tenth tergite ochre, medium to dark brown with small light dots that partly merge to form larger spots; with fairly distinct dark medial; sternites yellow or mottled with yellow or reddish brown, sometimes with red dots; thoracic sternites can be nearly reddish brown. Legs with various shades of yellow and red marbled with reddish dots of variable size; all femora yellowish with red dots, yellow towards trochanter; tronchanter reddish brown; very base of tibiae brown or dark brown, spines brownish with light brown dark tips. Tympanum inner view transparent; dorsal upper side with black spots. Apical half of the spines of genicular lobes brown, post tibiae light to dark brown.

Depositories. The specimens are deposited in the Reference Chamber of the Insect Museum (Kushwaha Keet Sangrahalaya), Department of Entomology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, INDIA.

Discussion. The new species morphologically appears similar to Conocephalus hainanensis Shi & Wang, 2015 [a Chinese (Oriental) species] with regard to subgenital plate, fastigial vertices and pronotum; but, the cerci and tenth tergite differ; likewise, the new species and Conocephalus redtenbacheri (Bolívar, 1905) look alike but, differ in shape of the tenth tergite, cerci, subgenital plate and tegmina; the species resembles Conocephalus laetus (Redtenbacher, 1891) , but differs in being brachypterous with the tegmina covering third abdominal segment, wing transparent with very small red markings on the coastal region; tenth abdominal tergite broadly prolonged behind in middle, deeply notched along medial margin; hind femur with no spine on dorsum, but with 6–9 extro-ventral spines, no intro-internal spines; cerci bearing one spine with the apices acute; apices slightly and gradually curved; the stridulatory file on left tegmina differs in the number of teeth and size being smaller than that in the other species mentioned above; the new species has similar spines on cerci as those in Conocephalus infumatus (Redtenbacher, 1891) and Conocephalus tumidus Pitkin, 1980 , but the tenth abdominal tergite is entirely different and the hind tibiae possess 6 apical spurs.

PLATE IV. Conocephalus kwasiphaiensis sp. nov. male 1–10: 1. Male lateral view; 2. Female lateral view; 3. Dorsal view of head with pronotum; 4. Lateral view of pronotum; 5. Fastigium verticis; 6. Mirror on right tegmina; 7. Tegmina; 8. Meso and meta sternum; 9. Ventral view of right cerci; 10. Prosternal tubercle.

PLATE V. Conocephalus kwasiphaiensis sp. nov. male 11-15: 11. Dorsal view of right cerci; 12. Lateral view of genitalia; 13. Ventral view of subgenital plate; 14. Dorsal view of tenth abdominal tergite; 15. Ventral view of stridulatory file on left; Female 16-18: 16. Dorsal view of tenth abdominal tergite with cerci; 17. Lateral view of ovipositor; 18. Ventral view of subgenital plate.

Etymology. The name of the new species refers to the type locality. Distribution. India: Manipur; Bishnpur, Kwasiphai.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dorsal view of head in different species of Conocephalus, 9 – 16: 9. C. decaspinosus sp. nov.; 10. C. kwasiphaiensis sp. nov.; 11. C. maculatus; 12. C. concolor peneri; 13. C. longipennis; 14. C. melaenus; 15. C. bambusanus; 16. C. vaginalis.

FIGURE 10. Ventral view of female subgenital plate in Conocephalus species, 68 – 75: 68. C. decaspinosus sp. nov.; 69. C. kwasiphaiensis sp. nov.; 70. C. maculatus; 71. C. concolor peneri; 72. C. longipennis; 73. C. melaenus; 74. C. bambusanus; 75. C. vaginalis.