Dellia brauni, Yong, 2018

Yong, Sheyla, 2018, Revision of the genus Dellia Stål, 1878 (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Part 1. Two redescriptions and seven new species from Cuba, Ecologica Montenegrina 16, pp. 58-107 : 78-81

Dellia brauni new species

Figs. 10 , 16–24 , 25d , 26c . Table I

Type. Cuba : Cienfuegos Province: Cumanayagua Municipality: Guamuhaya Mountain Range: Pico San Juan (21°59'20.6"N - 80°08'51.0"W, 1,140 m a.s.l.); diurnal search (00:12 hrs) on the vegetation; 12/ August/2015; T. M. Rodríguez-Cabrera, R. Marrero; one adult male holotype ( SY, dry pinned) .

Diagnosis (based on a single male). Size medium for the genus (19 mm). 1) Coloration predominantly blue dorsally and yellow ventrally, with two solid lateral stripes (upper dark blue, lower white), dorsum with a yellow median longitudinal line, epimera I–II each with a vivid red spot with bright white lower margin, tergites without lateral spots, sternites olive-yellow, hind femur olive-yellow, with transversal ridges and upper margin vivid green, hind knees almost entirely black, only with lower half of outer surface brownish, tarsomeres pale blue. 2) Tegmina very short and digitiform, hardly reaching posterior margin of metanotum. 3) Supra-anal plate medium-sized, subpentagonal, wider than long and sparsely setose; anterior margin convex and medially narrowly lobed, lateral margins almost straight and parallel, posterior margin narrowly paraboloid; median sulcus present only in basal half, moderately deep and wide, flanked by a pair of raised, coarse, medially divergent ridges. 4) Furcula short, subtriangular with the apex curved outward.

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym honoring Holger Braun (Museo de La Plata, Argentina), a high-expertise orthopterologist, prolific researcher and one of the authors of the Orthoptera Species File.

Description (adult male holotype). Size medium for the genus (total length 19.4 mm). Coloration. Head basically vivid light blue with a subtle greenish shade, except as follows: genae with small whitish spots below the eyes and a thick, irregular, longitudinal dark olive-blue stripe just behind each eye, maxillary palps with basal half green and distal half white; antennae black with bright white tips, scapus vivid light blue with a subtle greenish shade; eyes vivid blue, with a dark central spot and six thin, parallel, conspicuously darker vertical stripes. Pronotum conspicuously tricolor as continued from head pattern: entire dorsal surface vivid light blue with a subtle greenish shade, lateral surfaces dark olive-blue with a thick, medially interrupted, bright white stripe on each side, lateral margins moderately infuscate. Metanotum of same coloration and pattern as pronotum. Epimera I and II each with a large vivid red spot with bright white lower margin; a large, bright white spot just below each tegmen. Tegmina strikingly bicolor: upper third bright white, lower two-thirds black. Fore and mid legs same-colored, conspicuously bicolor: coxa, trochanter and femur vivid light olive-green, tibia and tarsomeres immaculate greyish-blue; hind legs with coxa, trochanter and femur vivid olive-yellow, transversal ridges and upper margin vivid green, hind knees almost entirely black, only with lower half of outer surface brownish, tibia vivid blue with extreme base greenish, spines bluish with blackish tips, tarsomeres immaculate pale blue. Abdomen resembling thorax in color pattern: tergites with dorsal surface vivid light blue with a subtle greenish shade, upper half of lateral surfaces dark olive-blue, lower half of lateral surfaces vivid olive-yellow, lateral margins immaculate, posterior margin of each tergite annulated with a thin dark blue stripe; sternites vivid olive-yellow, immaculate. See figure 10 and table I.

Head (figs. 16–18). Moderately large, wider than long (ratio = 1.3). Tegument shiny, but sparsely and coarsely punctate, essentially glabrous. Vertex moderately convex in lateral view, subtriangular in dorsal view; fastigium prominent, broad in dorsal view, semicircular in lateral view and strongly compressed in frontal view. Eyes very large, suboval and prominent; ocelli minute. Costa frontalis very well marked and relatively narrower, with lateral branches almost parallel and shallowly sinuose, i.e., upper portion U inverted-shaped and lower portion narrower and V-shaped. Genae essentially straight in frontal view. Frons coarsely punctate. Antennae standard for Acrididae in size and shape, with 18/18 flagellomeres; scapus subcylindrical, wider than long (ratio = 1.1), oval in cross-section, mostly glabrous; pedicel clearly more than half the length of scapus.

Thorax (figs. 19–20). Tegument shiny, but densely and coarsely punctate, and with scattered short and thin setae. Pronotum subrectangular in dorsal view, longer than wide (ratio = 1.1); anterior margin and posterior margin shallowly convex and medially incised, lateral margins S-shaped; median keel very strong, lateral keels coarsely crenulate and deeply incised by the three transverse grooves. Metanotum wider than long (ratio = 2.2) and shorter than abdominal segment I (ratio = 0.6), subtrapezoidal in dorsal view with tegument strongly punctate and shiny. Tegmina short (almost reaching posterior margin of metanotum), straight, narrow and oval-elongate, i.e., costal and anal margins slightly convex, tip angulose.

Legs (fig. 10). Covered all over by thin setae. Profemur slender, cylindrical and unarmed; protibia exactly as long as profemur (ratio = 1.0), very slender and straight, ventral surface with 5:4 / 4:5 subapical spines and two small apical spurs. Mid legs very similar to forelegs, but mesotibia with 3:7 / 7:3 subapical spines. Metafemur robust, larger than metatibia (ratio = 1.1), oval in cross-section; metatibia with 6:8 / 8:6 subapical spines and five inward-curved apical spurs: two small-sized laterodorsals, two medium-sized laterals, and one large ventral.

Abdomen. Large and slender (conspicuously narrower than pronotum), subcylindrical and evenly tapering posteriorly. Tegument shiny and smooth, scattered with small setae and abdominal segments with median carina very well marked. Tympanic organ large, rounded, and located laterally on segment I. Furcula normally sclerotized, short, curved outwards and with rounded tip. Supra-anal plate (fig. 21) medium-sized, subpentagonal, wider than long (ratio = 1.1) and sparsely setose; anterior margin convex and medially narrowly lobed, lateral margins almost straight and parallel, posterior margin narrowly paraboloid; median sulcus present only in basal half, moderately deep and wide, flanked by a pair of raised, coarse, medially divergent ridges. Cerci short, conical and densely covered by thin setae, surpassing the posterior margin of the Supra-anal plate but not surpassing apex of abdomen. Subgenital plate (fig. 23) suboval, longer than wide (ratio = 1.1) and sparsely setose; anterior margin shallowly concave, lateral and posterior margins convex. See figures 10, 21–23 and table I.

Female: Unknown.

Comparisons. This species is most closely related to D. megalapida n. sp., D. roseomaculata and D. zephyra n. sp., sharing a similar combination of color pattern (dorsum and venter of a different but rather uniform color, both separated by two solid stripes, i.e., upper dark and lower white, plus epimera I and II each with a large vivid red spot) and shape of the male Supra-anal plate (basal portion subrectangular, apical portion subtriangular). But D. brauni n. sp. can be easily distinguished by the following characters: 1. Coloration of body dorsal surface. D. brauni n. sp.: intense blue. D. megalapida n. sp.: pale blue. D. roseomaculata : grayish blue. D. zephyra n. sp.: light orange-brown.

2. Coloration of hind femur. D. brauni n. sp.: vivid olive-yellow, transversal ridges and upper margin vivid green, hind knees almost entirely black, only with lower half of outer surface brownish. D. megalapida n. sp.: vivid yellowish-green with outer surface vivid green, transversal ridges immaculate, hind knees with upper margin vivid light red and lower margin with a small blackish spot. D. roseomaculata : reddish with outer surface dark olive-bluish, transversal ridges immaculate, hind knees reddish-brown. D. zephyra n. sp.: vivid green, slightly darker on transversal ridges and upper and lower margins, hind knees entirely black.

3. Coloration of ventral surface of the body. D. brauni n. sp.: vivid olive-yellow, immaculate. D. megalapida n. sp.: vivid yellowish-green, immaculate. D. roseomaculata : pale green, irregularly spotted with brown. D. zephyra n. sp.: vivid olive-green, irregularly spotted with yellow.

Distribution (fig. 24). This species is known only from the type locality.

Ecological notes. The single available specimen of D. brauni n. sp. was captured at noon, on a twig of a low bush, in a grassy clearing within the montane rainforest (figs. 25d, 26c). Repeated and intensive day and night searches at the same site and surrounding forest were unsuccessful.

Pico San Juan is the highest peak of the Guamuhaya Massif and by extension also of the central region of Cuba (fig. 24). The primary vegetation is still well preserved, consisting of montane rainforest and cloud forest ( Capote & Berazaín, 1984). The climate is temperate by day and in summer months, but cold at night and in winter.

Figures

Fig. 10. Adult male holotype of Dellia brauni n. sp., full-body views: a) dorsal; b) lateral; c) ventral. Scale bar in millimeters.

Fig. 16. Dorsal close-up of head and anterior margin of pronotum of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 17. Lateral close-up of head and anterior margin of pronotum of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 18. Frontal close-up of head of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 19. Dorsal close-up of thorax and abdominal segment I of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 20. Lateral close-up of thorax and abdominal segment I of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 21. Dorsal close-up of abdominal apex of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 22. Lateral close-up of abdominal apex of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 23. Ventral close-up of abdominal apex of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 24. Geographical distribution of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision. Note three nearby localities for D. atrostriata n. sp. and precise occurrence still wanting for D. insulana. The upper left inset (frame equals to 150 x 75 km) depicts the single precise locality known for D. multicolor stat. resurr. (red symbol), superimposed to all sites visited by Saussure in 1855 (yellow symbols), from left to right: Havana, Guanabacoa, Santa María del Rosario, Matanzas and Limonar.

Fig. 25. Live habitus of: a) Dellia albida n. sp., adult male holotype, in captivity; b–c) Dellia atrostriata n. sp., adult male from El Cojo, in nature; d) Dellia brauni n. sp., adult male holotype, in nature; e–f) Dellia multicolor stat. resurr., adult male topotype, in nature; g–i) Dellia megalapida n. sp., adult male holotype (g), adult male and adult female paratypes while mating (h), subadult female paratype (i), all in nature; j–k) Dellia melici n. sp., adult female holotype, in nature; l) Dellia zephyra n. sp., adult female holotype, in nature. Photos courtesy Rayner Núñez (b, c), Rubén Marrero (d), and Tomás M. Rodríguez (j, k, l).

Fig. 26. Habitat at the exact collecting site of: a) Dellia albida n. sp; b) Dellia atrostriata n. sp.; c) Dellia brauni n. sp.; d) Dellia megalapida n. sp., with the author and her collaborator Rolando Teruel while photographing some of the type specimens; e) Dellia melici n. sp.; f) Dellia multicolor stat. resurr.; g) Dellia siboney n. sp.; h) Dellia zephyra n. sp., note the vegetated pits (micro-dolines or large skylights) all along Las Perlas cave, the holotype was found in the dark passage connecting two of these pits. Photos courtesy Rolando Teruel (b, f, h), Tomás M. Rodríguez (c, e), and Luis A. Casanella (d).