Xenicola nunoi, Fianco, 2023

Fianco, Marcos, 2023, Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Guartelá State Park, State of Paraná, Southern Brazil: diversity, bioacoustics and description of five new species, Journal of Natural History 57 (1), pp. 1080-1137 : 1109-1112

Xenicola nunoi sp. nov.

( Figure 11 and 12b–d )

Diagnosis

The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the combination of the following characters: antennae yellowish but brownish on each side of proximal third and entirely brown on distal third; a yellow band on each side of the body throughout the head, pronotum, and abdomen; male cercus almost straight, tapering gradually, distally curved inwards, apex tapering abruptly; male subgenital plate and posterior projection longer than wide.

Description

Holotype male ( Figure 11a, 11c–e, 11g –h , 12d ). Overall aspect: large-sized, body cylindrical, antennae quite long, legs long and slender ( Figure 11a ). Head ( Figure 11c–d ): fastigium of frons at most a third of scape width. Median sulcus of fastigium of vertex absent. Antennae mostly yellowish but brownish on lateral part of proximal third and on apex. Scape and pedicel cylindrical, reddish on medial region. General colour brownish crimson; a medial whitish stripe on vertex and occiput; apex of fastigium of frons crimson with a small white ocellus ( Figure 11c ); a yellowish band on each side from behind the eyes towards the pronotum ( Figure 11c–d ). Thorax: Pronotum: pronotal disc brownish with scattered reddish spots. Lateral lobes considerably wider than high, posterior margin at 45° in relation to inferior margin; a prominent yellowish band on lateral carinae, surrounded by brownish crimson colour, from anterior to posterior edge, continuous to head band. Wings: tegmina human-heart shaped, not reaching half of third tergite ( Figure 11e ); A1 light brown; stridulatory area light brown; costal area entirely yellow; area between M and C black with purplish yellow crossveins. Legs: genicular lobes of all femora with two spines. Legs I and III brown, tibiae with darker apex; femur II reddish; femur of all legs with irregular crimson spots; femur III bearing scattered black spots on lateral edge; all legs lighter in medial margin. Abdomen: tergites brown with darker granulations; a lateral band yellowish in a continuum between dorsal and lateral edges. Tergite X ( Figure 11g ) with rather concave posterior margin; with a deep depression in the posterior half, its length about one-third of cerci. Cerci almost straight, tapering gradually; distal portion curved inwards, tapering abruptly; pointed at apex ( Figure 11g ). Subgenital plate ( Figure 11h ) resembling a batman mask upside down; median keel across half of its length, proximally absent; styliform processes longer than wide; style absent; lateral flange enlarged, covering one fourth of subgenital plate length, only in distal region; anterior margin V-shaped; posterior margin somewhat straight; lateral field oblique, enlarged; lateral margin well defined, slightly convex; ventral field deplaned; light brown with scattered crimson spots.

Female ( Figure 11b, 11f, 11b–c ). Larger than male ( Figure 11b ). Unlike male, green ( Figures 11b , 12b–c ). Wings much shorter than pronotum, rounded ( Figure 11f ). Subgenital plate triangular, but apex rounded and slightly curved ( Figure 11h ). Ovipositor curved at base, then straight; apex pointed; serrulation of the distal third more conspicuous in ventral valves.

Type material

Holotype male. ′ Brasil, PR, Tibagi, Parque \ Estadual do Guartelá [Guartelá State Park] \ 24.5660°S, 50.2561°W 21–24.x.2020, Coleta ativa\noturna [nocturnal active collection] M. Fianco & M.\ Preis ̍, deposited at ′ Coleção Entomológica Padre Jesus Santiago Moure̍ ( DZUP) . Paratypes: Two females, same data, except ′ 09–12.xii.2020̍ and ′M. Fianco &\N. Szinwelski̍; both deposited at DZUP.

Measurements (mm)

Holotype: BL: 21; TegL: 3.7; HW: 2.9; PrL: 3.7; PrH: 1.8; FLiii: 20; TLiii: 22; SPL: 2.1; CL: 2. Paratypes (females): BL: 22–26; TegL: 2.1–2.4; HW: 3; PrL: 4–4.2; PrH: 1.9; FLiii: 21–22; TLiii: 23–23.5; SPL: 1; OL: 1.2–1.4.

Etymology

The specific epithet honours Dr Luiz R.R. Faria (Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, Brazil), whose nickname is ′Nuno̍. Nuno advised me during my master̍s studies, and became a great friend, giving me much scientific and life advice.

Comparison

Xenicola nunoi sp. nov. is similar to X. brauni Fianco, Engelking and Faria , X. superba (Brunner von Wattenwyl) and X. taroba Fianco, Faria and Braun. From the first, the new species differs by having antennae light yellow instead of with white and brown rings, pronotum lacking any black mark, only one coloured band on abdomen, and male cerci that abruptly decreases towards the apex; from the second, X. superba , this new species differs by lacking ′rings̍ on antennae and black marks on pronotum, by ovipositor 2.5× longer than pronotum instead of 2× longer, and by the absence of serrulation on lateral carinae; Xenicola taroba seems to be the most similar species, and X. nunoi sp. nov. differs by having only one coloured stripe on pronotum and abdomen, instead of three, and by the male subgenital plate being longer than wider.

From X. dohrni (Brunner von Wattenwyl) and X. xukrixi Fianco, Faria and Braun , the new species differs by the absence of any black mark on pronotum; the size of its body, being much larger than these two species; whitish band on pronotum being narrow instead of broad; only one stripe on pronotum and abdomen, instead of two and three, respectively; and size of ovipositor, less than 3× longer than pronotum. However, X. nunoi sp. nov. shares with X. dohrni the form of the male cercus, that abruptly decreases towards the apex and is long and almost straight. These two characteristics also differentiate the new species from X. xukrixi ; however, Xenicola nunoi sp. nov. shares with X. xukrixi the male subgenital plate being longer than wide. This characteristic differentiates the new species from X. dohrni .

Comments

Although the colour of the male and females is not the same, I cannot infer that this is a specific pattern. As only one male and two females were collected, the colour variation may be different – that is, some males could be green and females could be brown. A variation of colouration occurs in X. superba ( Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891) with males and females having different colours; both sexes can be yellow or green (M. Fianco, pers. obs.; see the photos I provide in the Orthoptera Species File). This is the first species of Xenicola Uvarov, 1940 collected in the Cerrado biome. Even though my colleagues and I sampled katydids in the Atlantic Forest areas, the specimens were found only in the Cerrado areas, so the genus previously considered restricted to the Atlantic Forest now is also known for the Cerrado, but we cannot confirm that X. nunoi sp. nov. is a species restricted to this biome due to the low number of sampled individuals. A female was found feeding on flowers of Banisteriopsis and Heteropterys (Malpighiaceae) ( Figure 12b ), two genera commonly present in Cerrado formations, with adaptations to live in dry environments.

Figures

Figure 11. Xenicola nunoi sp. nov. (a) Male holotype, habitus; (b) female paratype, habitus; (c) head and pronotum dorsal view; (d) head and pronotum, lateral view; (e) male tegmina and antennae, dorsa view; (f) female tegmen; (g) male cerci and tergites IX–X; (h) male subgenital plate and cercus, ventral view; (i) female subgenital plate.

Figure 12. Species of Odonturini collected in Guartelá State Park. (a) Anisophya hemanuelae sp. nov., male (left) and female (right); (b, c) females of Xenicola nunoi sp. nov., found at night feeding on flowers and leaves of Malpighiaceae; (d) male holotype of X. nunoi sp. nov.; (e) X. xukrixi, female.