Apteroscirtus planidorsatus Hemp

Hemp, Claudia, 2013, Annotated list of Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera) from the East Usambara Mountains Tanzania and new Tettigoniidae species from East Africa, Zootaxa 3737 (4), pp. 301-350 : 330-332

Apteroscirtus planidorsatus Hemp n. sp. ( Fig. 20 B, D, Fig. 21 B, Fig. 22 B)

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:180012

Holotype male. Tanzania, Uluguru Mountains, Bunduki forest reserve, 21. October 1964, coll. N. Jago, depository: BMNH.

Paratypes. 1 female, same data as holotype, Depository BMNH.

Description. General body shape and colour.— Elongated but stout body, brown with lateral dark to black fasciae along whole body. Head and antennae.—Antenna 5.5 cm long, thus about 2.5 times as long as length of body. Fastigium verticis narrow, about 1.2 mm wide at anterior margin with short median furrow ( Fig. 20 B), meeting fastigium of frons in horizontal short line, forming sulcus. Prosternum bispinose, spines comparatively short. Thorax.— Pronotum gradually widening posteriorly, at height of first sulcus hardly constricted. Sulci dividing prozona and metazona deep, both running almost to lower border of pronotal lobes. Surface of pronotum coarsely dotted. Legs.— Legs with pattern of brown and black, long and slender, bases of hind femora not as stout as in A. cristatus n. sp. Hind femora surpassing apex of body about half of their length, hind tibiae slightly longer than femora. Tympana of fore tibiae oval and open on both sides. Fore femora with 1 or 2 stout spines at posterior end of inner side of femur, mid femora unarmed but with long inner and shorter outer spur at lunules. Hind femora with ventral double row of 6–8 stout spines. Fore and mid tibiae with double row of few slender spines ventrally, hind tibiae with four rows of numerous spines along whole length, spines of dorsal rows more dense and larger. Abdomen.— Abdominal tergites almost smooth, small knobs medially on posterior margin. Cerci stout and of light colour, slightly curved inwards ( Fig. 20 D). Subgenital plate typical for Apteroscirtus , elongate and acute forked at its posterior end ( Fig. 20 D). Styli harldy discernible, rounded dots at tips of subgenital plate.

Female.—Larger than male. No signs of tegmina, completely apterous. Ovipositor stout and slightly up-curved at posterior part ( Fig. 21 B). Subgenital plate broad, posterior margin more pointed than in A. cristatus n. sp. ( Fig. 22 B).

Diagnosis. A. planidorsatus n. sp. differs from A. cristatus n. sp. in several morphological characters. The pronotum is differently shaped. In A. cristatus n. sp. the pronotum is constricted at the first sulcus, while it is hardly so in A. planidorsatus n. sp. The spination of the legs is different. A. cristatus n. sp. has unarmed femora while in A. planidorsatus n. sp. several spines are found ventrally on fore and hind femora. The hind femora are much stouter at the base in A. cristatus n. sp. and surpass the body considerably while the hind femora in A. planidorsatus n. sp. are not as stout at their base and they surpass the body only by about half of their total length. The most conspicuous character differentiating both species is seen in the abdominal tergites, which are strongly keeled in A. cristatus n. sp. while the adominal tergites of A. planidorsatus n. sp. are almost smooth and only traces of knobs can be detected on some of the tergites. The styli are tiny appendages in A. cristatus n. sp. but almost reduced in A. planidorsatus n. sp. The female of A. planidorsatus n. sp. has longer hind legs than females of A. cristatus n. sp. and the bases are less stout. The subgenital plate is not as broad at its posterior margin in A. planidorsatus n. sp. as in A. cristatus n. sp.

Measurements, male (mm) (N = 1). Body length 17. Length of pronotum 4. Length of hind femur 22.

Measurements, female (mm) (N = 1). Body length 19. Length of pronotum 7.2. Length of hind femur 30. Ovipositor length 17.

Etymology. —lat. planus = even, because there are no keels on the abdominal tergites, and lat. – dorsum, since it applies to the abdominal dorsum.

Distribution: Tanzania, Uluguru Mountains.

Habitat: Lowland to submontane forest.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Morphological details of male Apteroscirtus species. A, B. Fastigium verticis, A. cristatus n. sp. (A) and A. planidorsatus n. sp. (B). C, D. Male abdominal apex, A. cristatus (C) and A. planidorsatus (D).

FIGURE 21. Ovipositors of Apteroscirtus species. A. A. cristatus n. sp. B. A. planidorsatus n. sp.

FIGURE 22. Subgenital plates of female Apteroscirtus species. A. A. cristatus n. sp. B. A. planidorsatus n. sp.