Lebinthus estrellae Robillard, 2015

Robillard, Tony & Yap, Sheryl, 2015, The Eneopterinae crickets from Leyte Island (Philippines) with description of two new species [Insecta: Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Gryllidae], Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 63, pp. 69-90 : 73-76

Lebinthus estrellae Robillard , new species

( Figs. 1 , 2B , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7A–C , 8 , 9 )

Type material. Holotype (male). Philippines: male (TR29), day, leaf litter ( UPLB-MNH), Leyte, Burauen, Barangay Villa Corazon , forêt secondaire sur pente [secondary forest on slope] (GPS Bar2), 10°57’52.1”N 124°46’39.8”E, 345 m, T. Robillard, March 2013.

Allotype (female): same information as HT (TR47) (UPLB- MNH).

Paratypes (2 males, 15 females): same information as HT: 1 male (TR48) ( UPLB-MNH) ; 1 male, adulte en élevage [adult in captivity], call recording (MNHN-EO-ENSIF3342); 7 females (2 mortes en élevage [dead in captivity], TR40, 41, 43, 53, 56) ( UPLB-MNH) ; 8 females (2 mortes en élevage, TR30, 42, 51, 52, 57, 59) (MNHN-EO-ENSIF3343-3350).

Other material examined. Philippines: 1 male, reared specimen F1, call recording (MNHN-EO-ENSIF3351), same information as HT . 4 juveniles (TR27, 28, 54, 60) ( MNHN), same information as HT .

Type locality. Philippines, Leyte Island, Burauen, Barangay Villa Corazon , secondary forest on slope, 10°57’52,1”N 124°46’39,8”E, 345 m.

Distribution. Only known from type locality: Philippines, inland part of Leyte Island ( Fig. 1 ).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to R. “Estrella” Portillo for her help accessing the type locality and collecting specimens.

Diagnosis. L. estrellae is close to L. sanchezi Bolivar, 1889 found in Luzon Island and belonging to the same species group as L. puyos Robillard, 2013 (in Robillard et al., 2013b), L. truncatipennis Chopard, 1929 , L. villemantae Robillard, 2010 and characterised by rounded false mirror on the harp, dark brown colouration, male genitalia with well-developed lophi. L. estrellae differs from the other species by head colouration (vertical whitish bands below eyes, clypeus black with yellow edge), male genitalia with short rounded lophi, female FWs very short (reaching posterior margin of first tergite).

Description. Size small for the genus. Colouration contrasted, mostly dark brown with white and yellow details ( Figs. 3 , 4 ). Head dorsum ( Fig. 4 ) with 4 wide but faint brown longitudinal bands, each band containing a thin black line; area posterior to eyes yellow. Eyes dark brown, with a pale dorsal longitudinal band, orange brown to pink brown. Fastigium wider than long, setose, dark brown, with a contrasted vivid orange band apically; upper facial part with four black patches forming a square. Scapes light yellow; antennae orange brown. Face and lateral part of head mostly dark brown to black, with a vertical whitish band below eyes; epistomal suture yellowish. Mouthparts black, variably mottled with yellow, clypeus black, its margins yellow; maxillary palpi mostly dark brown. Pronotum: Dorsal disk slightly trapezoidal, straight posteriorly; yellow brown mottled with dark brown, lateral edges always whitish, posterior area with dark brown patterns. Lateral lobes dark brown dorsally, ventral margin yellow with a median brown pattern ( Fig. 4C ). Legs: Fore and median legs whitish, femora with dark brown spots, tibiae with dark rings. Hind femora brown, with strong striated dark brown patterns on outer faces, knees dark brown with a pale inner preapical area; hind tibiae with dark rings. Tarsomeres I/III-1 yellow brown, apices dark brown. Tarsomeres III-1 with 2 spines on dorsal outer edges (n = 5) and 0–1 (m = 1, n=5) on outer faces. Abdomen dark brown with black spots dorsally, yellowish brown ventrally. Cerci yellowish brown, with dark rings near apex.

Male: FWs not reaching abdomen midlength. FW colouration ( Fig. 5A ): Cells dark brown, not translucent; veins mostly dark brown and faint; chords orange brown; apex of longitudinal veins orange brown. M and R orange brown, area in between whitish to yellowish, without transverse veins; Sc dark brown, area between R and Sc dark brown, rest of lateral field progressively lighter toward ventral margin, with dark brown longitudinal veins. FW venation ( Fig. 5A ): 1A widely curved (angle> 120°); stridulatory file with 200 teeth (n = 1), located on the straight transverse part of 1A only. CuP missing. Diagonal vein weak near CuA, then stronger, underlined by a convex fold underlying harp posterior margin. Harp wide, occupying most of dorsal field surface, with a strong transverse harp vein, polyfurcated anteriorly and delimiting a rounded false mirror, i.e., a distinctive area located on harp posterior corner (not homologous to the mirror of other cricket species: cell d1, Robillard & Desutter- Grandcolas, 2004a). CuA curved innerly near apex, its distal part weak, surrounding the median fold, small and located dorsally. Longitudinal veins of dorsal field stronger apically, transverse veins very weak. Mirror (d1) not differentiated. Apical field absent, with no bifurcation of CuA posterior to diagonal vein. Lateral field with 5 strong longitudinal veins including R, Sc and 3 more ventral veins; latero-dorsal angle made by M; Sc without bifurcating veins. Subgenital plate elongate, clog-shaped.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 6 ): Intermediate between male genitalia of L. puyos and L. sanchezi , with short and rounded lophi. Pseudepiphallic sclerite triangular, convex dorsally; posterior apex with short individualised lophi, rounded, slightly setose and separated by a weak indentation; anterior margin almost straight, its lateral margins not raised dorsally. Rami short, prolonging the triangular shape of pseudepiphallus. Pseudepiphallic parameres rounded. Ectophallic arc complete and thick, deeply curved posteriorly. Ectophallic fold with a wide bilobate preapical sclerite. Ectophallic apodemes parallel and very long, exceeding anterior margin of pseudepiphallus. Endophallic sclerite very long, curved dorsally, exceeding anterior margin of pseudepiphallus, its posterior apex with a small median expansion and with short lateral arms; endophallic apodeme made of lateral lamellas but without a median crest.

Female: FWs shorter than in L. sanchezi and L. puyos , reaching posterior margin of first tergite ( Fig. 5B ), far from overlapping; dorsal field light brown with 3–5 strong brown longitudinal veins and a weaker lateral whitish one. Lateral field brown, with 4 strong brown longitudinal veins. Ovipositor slightly shorter than hind femora; apex lanceolate, slightly denticulate on dorsal edge ( Fig. 14A ).

Female genitalia ( Fig. 7A–C ): small, conical, and narrow dorso-ventrally; apex wide, slightly sclerotised and concave dorsally, with a narrow basal C-shaped sclerotisation.

Juvenile: Colouration almost homogeneously brown, with pink brown eyes ( Fig. 8B ). First instar black with whitish head.

Measurements. see Table 1.

Habitat and life history traits. L. estrellae is found in secondary forested areas ( Fig. 8 ). It is found on top of leaves in small bushes and sometimes in the leaf litter.

Behaviour. Calling song ( Fig. 9 ): The calling song of L. estrellae was recorded in the laboratory (23.7°C, MNHN- EO-ENSIF3351). It consists of short trills comprising 87 ± 4 syllables beginning with a few syllables with a longer period than in the rest of the song. Each echeme lasts for 1.6 ± 0.1 s with a period of 20.236 ± 4.62 s. Syllables are short (duration = 7.7 ± 0.8 ms; period = 18.3 ± 13.5 ms) and show a homogeneous amplitude profile suggesting a regular wing closing movement during wing stridulation. The spectrum shows a clear dominant peak at 22.04 ± 0.92 kHz with one peak harmonically related at about 44 kHz.

Mating behaviour: Observations in the laboratory showed multiple matings, as described in another Lebinthus species ( Narvaez & Robillard, 2012), but no tremulation were observed in this species.

Figures

Fig.1. Map of Leyte and distribution of the species mentioned in the study. Map modified after snapshots from www.maphill.com.

Fig. 2. A, Secondary habitat of Lebinthus luae in Maripipi Island (Biliran Islands, Philippines); B, Secondary forested habitat of Lebinthus estrellae, new species (in the leaf litter), Cardiodactylus empagatao Otte (in low trees and banana trees) and Paranisitra leytensis, new species (intermediate vegetation) in Villa Corazon Barangay, Burauen, Leyte.

Fig. 3. Lebinthus estrellae, new species: A, male in dorsal; B, lateral views; C, female in dorsal; D, lateral views. Scale bar: 5 mm.

Fig. 4. Lebinthus estrellae, new species. head in: A, dorsal; B, facial; C, lateral views. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Fig. 5. Lebinthus estrellae, new species: A, dorsal FW venation of male; and B, female. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Fig. 6. Lebinthus estrellae, new species: A, male genitalia in dorsal; B ventral; C, lateral views. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Fig. 7. Female genitalia: Lebinthus estrellae, new species: A, in dorsal; B, ventral; C, lateral views. Cardiodactylus empagatao: D, in ventral; E, lateral views. Cardiodactylus riga: F, in ventral; G, lateral views. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Fig. 8. Lebinthus estrellae, new species: A, female; B, juvenile specimens in leaf litter secondary forest, Barangay Villa Corazon (type locality).

Fig. 9. Calling song of Lebinthus estrellae, new species: A, oscillogram of 5 echemes; B, detail oscillogram; C, sonogram of 1 echeme. D, detail oscillogram of 1 syllable. E, frequency spectrum of 1 syllable.

Fig. 14. Apex of Ovipositor of: A, Lebinthus estrellae; B, Cardiodactylus empagatao; C, Cardiodactylus riga; D, Paranisitra leytensis. Scale bars: 1 mm.