Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2015, Phalangopsidae crickets from Tropical Africa (Orthoptera, Grylloidea), with descriptions of new taxa and an identification key for African genera, Zootaxa 3948 (3), pp. 451-496 : 482-486

Genus Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. gen.

( Figs 12–14 )

Type species. Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.

Other species included. Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.

Etymology. Genus named after the large amount of large setae occurring on the fastigium of the observed specimens, making a kind of crest.

Distribution. Known from Tanzania only.

Diagnosis. Small species covered with many, strong setae, ressembling Nemobiinae crickets. Size small for Phalangopsidae , legs short ( Fig. 12 A–C). Head rounded dorsally, fastigium not separated from the vertex and wider than the scape ( Fig. 12 D, E); ocelli well developed, the lateral ones more widely separated from each other than the median ocellus from one lateral ocellus ( Fig. 12 D). Eyes small, only slightly protruding, widely separate from each other ( Fig. 12 D, F). Maxillary palpi short ( Figs 12 C, 13A, J). TI without tympanum ( Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.), or with one inner and one outer tympana ( Upupagryllus alatus Desutter- Grandcolas, n. sp.); two long, ventral apical spurs. FIII thick, without a filiform apical part ( Fig. 12 A, C). TIII with four pairs of short, subapical spurs; serrulation absent between subapical spurs, absent or scarce above them; three inner and three outer apical spurs. Basitarsomeres III with only one row of dorsal spines. Males with reduced or well-developed FWs; in the latter case, FWs wide and short, with a complete stridulatory apparatus ( Fig. 13 K). Male genitalia ( Fig. 14 ) characterized by the great development of a pair of acute, distal lobes directly connected to the rami; upper part of pseudepiphallus transverse; rami with a subdistal transverse crest; pseudepiphallic parameres, ectophallic fold and ectophallic dorsal valves reduced. Females apterous ( Fig. 12 B). Ovipositor flattened laterally, without ornementation ( Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.), or very small transverse crests ( Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.). Female genitalia with a small, more or less cylindrical copulatory papilla, almost entirely sclerotized ( Fig. 13 C–I, N–P).

Description.

Size small, body shape stout with short legs ( Fig. 12 A). Head and pronotum with many long and strong setae; legs with few, very long ones, body densely covered with small setae. Head small and vertical, the face oblique ( Fig. 12 E). Fastigium rounded, not separated from the vertex, wider than the scape ( Fig. 12 D, E). Ocelli well developed, set in a wide triangle, the distance between the median and one lateral ocelli somewhat smaller than the distance between the two lateral ocelli ( Fig. 12 F). Eyes only slightly protruding ( Fig. 12 D). Scapes longer than wide. Maxillary palpi short; joint 5 little, but regularly widened toward apex, apex obliquely truncate ( Fig. 13 A, J). Pronotum transverse, rounded ( Fig. 12 D); lateral lobes quite short, clearly inflated anteriorly. TI with two long, ventral, apical spurs; tympana lacking ( Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.), or present on each side ( Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.); in the latter species, tympana small and obliterate, and TI not inflated. TII with three apical spurs, the outer dorsal spur lacking. TIII with three inner, and three outer apical spurs; inner spur: dorsal spur the longest, more than half basitarsomere III in length; outer spurs: shorter, the median the longest. TIII with four pairs of subapical spurs, not very long; inner spurs much longer than outer spurs, increasing in size toward TIII apex; outer spurs shorter, the first or the second the longest (see infra). TIII not serrulated between subapical spurs; few or no spines above subapical spurs. Basitarsomeres with only one row of dorsal spines, on outer side. Cerci not particularly elongate.

Coloration. Fig. 12 . Light yellowish brown variegated with brown; setae on head and body dark brown. Tergites darker.

Male. Metanotum and tergites without glandular structures ( Fig. 12 A). FWs either well-developed and with a stridulatory apparatus ( Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp., Fig. 13 K), or very short and without acoustic structure ( Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.) (see infra, species description for FW characteristics); HWs vestigial or lacking, respectively. Supra anal plate without denticles. Subgenital plate short and high, V-truncate distally.

Male genitalia. Fig. 14 . Upper part of pseudepiphallic sclerite transverse; lower part with two long, distal, almost triangular acute processes; rami short, with a transverse apical or subapical apodeme. Pseudepiphallic parameres compact, projected dorsally as foliaceous sclerites ( Upupagryllus subalatus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.) or not ( Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.). Endophallic sclerite narrow and more or less elongate. Endophallic apodeme variable.

Female. Apterous. Subgenital plate transverse, distal margin more or less bisinuate. Ovipositor flattened laterally, without strong apical ornementation; apex elongate: apex of dorsal valve short and greatly widened basally, apex of ventral valve longer and more narrow; no notch ( Fig. 13 M).

Female genitalia. Copulatory papilla small and more or less cylindrical ( Fig. 13 C–I, N–P), with ( U. alatus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.) or without ( U. subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp.) a pair of membranous distal lobes ( Fig. 13 N–P).

Phylogenetic relationships. Morphologically Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. gen. resembles Phaloriinae , especially by TIII spines and spurs, and by the shape of the head. The shape of the fastigium, male FWs and/or stridulum, and male and female genitalia constitute as many apomorphies to define the new genus as a monophyletic entity.

Habitat. Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas , n. gen. forages in the leaf litter of tropical forest.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., male holotype (A, D – H) and female allotype (B, C, I, J): habitus in dorsal (A, B) and lateral (C) views; head in dorsal (D), lateral (E) and frontal (F) views; supra anal (G, I) and subgenital (H, J) plates. Scales for habitus 1 mm.

FIGURE 13. Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen., A – I, U. subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., A, maxillary palpus; B, apex of female ovipositor; C – I, female copulatory papilla, dorsal (C, F), ventral (D, G), lateral (E, H, I), in female fn 5, 23. v. 1995 (C – E), female fn 13, 17. v. 1995 (F – H) and female fn 19, 19. v. 1995 (I). J – P, U. alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.: J, maxillary palpus; K, L, dorsal and lateral field of male holotype right FW; M, female subgenital plate; N – P, female copulatory papilla, dorsal (N), ventral (O) and lateral (P) views. Scale bars 1 mm.

FIGURE 14. Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen., Male genitalia: A – C, U. subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.; D – F, U. alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp. in dorsal (A, D), ventral (B, E) and lateral (C, F) views. Abbreviations: see page 4.