Nepheliphila

Hugel, Sylvain, 2010, New and little known predatory katydids from Mascarene islands (Ensifera: Meconematinae and Hexacentrinae), Zootaxa 2543, pp. 1-30 : 3

Genus Nepheliphila n. g.

Type species. Nepheliphila raptor here designated.

Distribution. Indian Ocean, Mascarene archipelago, Mauritius

Diagnosis. In its general habitus, Nepheliphila resembles the genera Poecilomerus ( Madagascar) , Aerotegmina (Africa) and Hexacentrus (Africa with four species, many Indo-Malayan representatives). As does Nepheliphila , Aerotegmina , Poecilomerus and many Hexacentrus species possess 5 or 6 pairs of predatory spurs (“predatory spines” in Hemp, 2001) on the fore and mid tibiae that serve to clasp and hold prey. Nepheliphila n. g. differs from other genera by the combination of: the pronotum longer than wide (as long as wide in Aerotegmina ), the presence of dorsal anteriorly directed long spine in the fore coxae; the absence of spine in the mid trochanters, the presence of a single dorsal subbasal spur in the mid tibiae; the presence of numerous spinules between the fore and mid femora ventral spines (no spinules in Aerotegmina ), the metasternum unarmed; the male cerci unarmed, the male subgenital plate superficially notched, bearing moderate size styli. In addition, Aerotegmina , Nepheliphila n. g. differ from Hexacentrus and Poecilomerus by the following characteristics of the pronotum: shorter in proportion, granulose, and lacking dark markings on the disk.

Etymology: nephelios: fog, philos, to like.

Description. Head. Fastigium in dorsal view well separated from the vertex by a transverse furrow; conical, laterally compressed, much narrower than scapus; forming a circular laterally flattened protrusion in side view. Eyes circular, prominent. Legs. Auditory foramina of fore tibiae in narrow cleft ( Fig. 3 , 10 ). Fore coxae dorsally with anteriorly directed long spine. Fore and mid coxae ventrally with numerous small spinules. Mid trochanter with no spine. Tibiae armed with ventral spurs, femora armed with ventral spines; fore and mid femora spines separated by numerous spinules. Fore and mid leg genicular lobe non armed; hind genicular lobe with a spine on both sides. Fore and mid tibiae with a pair of ventral apical spurs. Hind tibia dorsally with a pair of apical spurs, ventrally with two pairs of apical spurs. Two dorsal rows of numerous small spines and two ventral rows of spurs. Mid tibiae with one single dorsal subbasal spur. Thorax. Pronotum without lateral carinae, margin rimmed; surface of pronotum with tubercles on the prozona, mesozona and lateral lobes; cuticle shiny. Prosternal process forming 2 thin and blunt spines; mesosternal process shorter, thick with a rounded apex; metasternal process forming a wide bulge. Wings. As brachy/ microptery is frequent on oceanic islands, I prefer not use the wing size to define the present genus.

Male. Subgenital plate distally not lamellar, thick, with softer membrane facing backwards on the notch and around the styli anchoring point (as usual in Hexacentrinae ), with distinct apical notch ( Fig. 5 ). Styli shorter than the subgenital plate width. Cerci very broad at the basis, inflated, with tuberculate surface, each tubercle with a fine hair; toward apex suddenly narrowing and incurved ( Fig. 1, 4 ). Female. Spination of legs and pronotum as in male. Ovipositor in lateral view almost straight with sub parallel margins, progressively narrowing in apex, smooth. Cerci almost straight, only slightly inwardly curved ( Fig. 11 ). Subgenital plate polygonal with lateral margins narrowing posteriorly.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 9. Nepheliphila raptor n. gen. n. sp. male. 1, dorsal habitus of holotype (wings opened). 2, head, frontal view. 3, male fore tibia outer view. 4, male terminalia, dorsal view. 5, male subgenital plate, ventral view. 6, male right forewing, ventral view. 7, male left forewing, ventral view. 8, male stridulatory file. 9, genitalia, dorsal view; note the chitinous plate (arrow). 2 – 8 are scan electron microscope pictures. Bars: 1 mm.

FIGURES 10 – 13. Nepheliphila raptor n. gen. n. sp. female 10, right side view of female holotype. 11, subgenital plate, ventral view. 12, ovipositor, right side view. 13, Nepheliphila sp., female ovipositor from Le Pouce.