Anaulacomera (Anaulacomera) szinwelskii, 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 : 1115-1118

Anaulacomera (Anaulacomera) szinwelskii sp. nov.

( Figure 14 )

Diagnosis

The new species can be readily distinguished from its congeners by having a cerci apex quite dilatated and curved, with subgenital plate broad proximally, long, and curved upwards.

Description

Holotype male ( Figure 14 ). Small, greenish ( Figure 14a–b ). Head ( Figure 14c ): fastigium of frons triangular; a small whitish ocellus on middle; not touching fastigium of vertex. Antennal socket a little dilated in its inferior and superior edges. Fastigium of vertex elevated; hourglass shaped; globose at apex; with a sulcus on basal region, not reaching apex; reddish spots on the dorsolateral surface in the proximal region. Thorax: pronotum greenish, lacking punctuations or other colours. Pronotal disc ( Figure 14b–c ) with yellowish stains; anterior margin concave; posterior margin convex; furcal sulci bell-shaped; a medial spectral sulcus on metazona. Lateral lobes ( Figure 14b–c ) with some brownish stains; smaller than pronotal disc, as wide as long; anterior margin straight, but depressed near lateral carinae, posterior margin semilunar, inferior margin straight; humeral sinus presenting an angle of ca. 85°. Tegmina ( Figure 14a–b, 14g ) shorter than hindwings ( Figure 14a–b ); anal and costal margins parallel ( Figure 14g ); Sc small and curved; ScP long; R following ScP in whole extension; RP leaving R just after middle of tegmina; RA branching twice at apex of tegmina; RP branching after middle of its length; M rather long, almost straight, without major bifurcations; A1 light brown, stridulatory area with yellowish stains ( Figure 14d–e ). Mesobasisternum triangular; lateral lobes quite reduced, demilune shaped. Metabasisternum globose, elevated at middle; anterior margin convex; lateral lobes semilunar. Abdomen: Tergite X not projected backwards; depressed on middle of posterior region. Epiproct triangular, somewhat long. Cerci ( Figure 14f ) robust, curved inwards in last third; quite enlarged in curvature, tapering gradually until apex, ending in a brown spine. Subgenital plate ( Figure 14f ) long; curved upwards; base inflated; apex bilobed and dilated, forming stilliform processes; style absent; medial keel only in proximal fourth; lateral field quite small; ventral field globose in lateral view; anterior and posterior margin V-shaped; lateral margin convex; lateral flange small, straight, one divergent from the other, covering middle third of subgenital plate.

Bioacoustics ( Figure 14h–i )

Males produce calling songs only at night, stridulation beginning at a rapid crescendo, and ending at gradual decrescendo, the amplitude during the echemes remains almost with no modifications ( Figure 14h ). Each echeme consists in a series of syllables (52 ± 5 (42–59)); the echemes have a duration of 2.35 ± 0.13 s (2.24– 2.57 s), and each syllable has a mean duration of 20.2 ± 3.7 ms (13.3–27 ms), separated by a mute interval of 21 ± 4.1 ms (12.4–31.6 ms). The calling songs produced by males of this species have energy fully located in the ultrasound ( Figure 14i ) and thus are inaudible to the humans; the peak frequency is 25 ± 3 kHz (23.8–28.2 kHz). The bandwidth is quite narrow, 1.48 ± 0.4 kHz (0.75–2.44 kHz); however, some peaks of amplitude are registered at 21 and 29 kHz ( Figure 14i ).

Type material

Holotype male. ′ Brasil, Pr, Tibagi, Parque\Estadual do Guartelá [Guartelá State Park] \ 24.5660°S, 50.2561°W \24,566,161, 50.152480°O 10–13.ii.2021 Armadilha\luminosa [light trap] M. Fianco, D.N.\Barbosa & P.W. Engelking ̍, deposited at ′Coleção Entomológica Padre Jesus Santiago Moure̍ ( DZUP). Paratypes: two males, same data as holotype, both deposited at DZUP .

Measurements (mm)

Holotype: BL: 14; TegL: 22; HW: 2; PrL: 2.7; PrH: 2.6; FLiii: 15; TLiii: 16; SPL: 3; CL: 2; SFL: 0.8. Paratypes: BL: 13–15.5; TegL: 21–23; HW: 2–2.2; PrL: 2.5–2.8; PrH: 2.4–2.7; FLiii: 14–16.5; TLiii: 15–17; SPL: 2.5–3.2; CL: 1.9–2.4; SFL: 0.9.

Etymology

The specific epithet is a tribute to Dr Neucir Szinwelski (Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Brazil), a young Brazilian orthopterist, who is making significant contributions regarding ecology and taxonomy of orthopterans. Dr Szinwelski advised me in my BSc and master̍s studies, supporting me through hard times and sharing with me uncountable blissful times.

Comparison

Regarding the other species in the gracilis species group of Anaulacomera (Anaulacomera) Stål , the new species is clearly distinguished by the combination of the form of male cerci and subgenital plate, the cercus is curved at the apex and quite dilated, ending in a spine, and the subgenital plate is quite long and curved upwards. This condition does not occur in any other species of the genus.

According to the form of the male cercus, the gracilis species group can be divided into two groups, one composed of species in which the males present the apex of the cercus dilated and another in which the males have the apex of the cercus not dilated. According to this criterion, A. (A.) szinwelskii sp. nov. can be considered similar to A. (A.) Argentina , A. (A.) delineata Brunner von Wattenwyl, A. (A.) invisa Hebard, A. (A.) laticauda Brunner von Wattenwyl, A. (A.) lativertex Brunner von Wattenwyl, A. (A.) longicercata (Brunner von Wattenwyl) , A. (A.) marquezi Cadena-Castañeda, A. (A.) oaxacae Hebard, A. (A.) parisae Cadena-Castañeda, A. (A.) sarmientoi Cadena-Castañeda and A. (A.) unicolour Brunner von Wattenwyl. The remaining 15 species have the cercus not dilated at apex.

Of all the aforementioned species, the new species is most similar to A. (A.) Argentina and A. (A.) longicercata . This is interesting since both species are recorded in the Atlantic Forest, whereas the majority of other species belonging to the group are recorded in the Amazon Forest. Anaulacomera (A.) szinwelskii sp. nov. can be distinguished from A. (A.) Argentina by having a smaller and thicker cercus, and the apex of cercus is more dilated; moreover, the apical curvature of the cercus is more pronounced in the new species. It differs from A. (A.) longicercata by also having a shorter and thicker cercus. From both, the new species differs in the size of the subgenital plate, which is much longer. The body size of A. (A.) szinwelskii sp. nov. is also quite different from those two species, being smaller than A. (A.) Argentina and much smaller than A. (A.) longicercata .

Additionally, the new species differs from A. (A.) longicercata by its tegminal veins: while A. (A.) szinwelskii sp. nov. presents RP with one bifurcation, A. (A.) longicercata has two bifurcations. It differs from A. (A.) Argentina by the presence of only one bifurcation on MA, whereas the latter species has three bifurcations on the apical part of MA; furthermore, the RP vein derives from R after the middle of tegmina in the new species, and before the mid-length of the tegmina in A. (A.) Argentina .

Figures

Figure 14. Anaulacomera (Anaulacomera) szinwelskii sp. nov. (a) Holotype, in vivo; (b) holotype, lateral habitus; (c) head and pronotum, dorsolateral view; (d) male stridulatory area; (e) male stridulatory file; (f) male subgenital plate and cerci, ventral view; (g) male left tegmen (veins: black = ScP; blue = R; red = M; yellow = M+ CuA; green = CuA; arrow indicates A1); (h) sonogram of an echeme; (i) spectrogram of an echeme, in linear intensity scale.