Agryllus Gorochov, 1994

Gorochov, A. V. & He, Zh. - Q., 2017, Review of the cricket genus Agryllus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae, Gryllinae), Far Eastern Entomologist 340 (340), pp. 18-28 : 19-21

Genus Agryllus Gorochov, 1994

Type species: Agryllus excultus Gorochov, 1994 , by original designation.

DIAGNOSIS. Body more or less medium-sized for Gryllinae , with shining (almost not pubescent) head, tegmina and sometimes tergites, and with more distinctly pubescent rest of body. Colouration of most part of head, tergites, tegmina, hind femora, abdominal sternites and apex of abdomen very dark (from dark brown to black) but with small brown to very light markings on head, yellowish transverse band on metanotum, large whitish or light grey area on inner proximal and middle parts of hind femora (this area sometimes absent or reduced),

and light brown apical part of these femora; venter of thorax, fore and middle legs, as well as hind coxae, tibiae and tarsi also light brown (sometimes with slightly darkened areas) (Figs

1–6, 33, 34). Head almost semiglobular, approximately as wide as pronotum, with rather low graphs by Zhang Tao).

and rounded (in profile) rostrum; scape equal to space between antennal cavities or insignificantly wider; eyes rather large; ocelli located in shape of transverse triangle (lateral ocelli round and rather large, almost twice larger than transverse median ocellus); clypeal suture barely and roundly angular; mouthparts normal (unspecialized), with moderately long maxillary palpi (their apical segment approximately as long as height of eye). Pronotum moderately high, with rounded borders between disc and lateral lobes; pronotal disc barely narrowing to head or having parallel lateral edges, with slightly concave anterior and slightly convex posterior edges (disc somewhat longer than wide; Figs 3, 5 , 33 ), and with oblique postero-

ventral edge of lateral lobes ( Fig. 10 , 34 ). Legs typical of Gryllinae ; however, they not very short and moderately slender (quite not digging) but with normally thickened (for jumps)

hind femora; tympana absent; hind tibiae slightly shorter than hind femora ( Figs 1, 2 , 4, 6 , 33,

34), with 4 pairs of moderately short dorsal spines and 2 inner apical spurs distinctly longer than 4 other apical spurs (but a pair of ventral apical spurs and dorsal outer spur short, clearly shorter than other spines and spurs of these tibiae). Tegmina strongly or moderately shortened, in both sexes almost identical, without stridulatory apparatus, with numerous and almost parallel longitudinal veins in dorsal and lateral fields, and without cross-veins (Figs

1–3, 5, 11, 33, 34); hind wings absent. Metanotum and abdominal tergites similar in structure;

anal plate unspecialized, similar in male and female, typical of Gryllinae in shape; male genital plate distinctly larger than anal one, almost cup-like (its width and length more or less equal),

with rather widely rounded distal part; female genital plate distinctly smaller, triangular but with widely truncated (weakly and roundly notched) apical part having posterolateral corners rounded. Male genitalia with rather short epiphallus having wide anterior lobe curved upwards and somewhat backwards as well as a pair of posterior lobes elongate and more or less bifurcated in profile (dorsal projection of these lobes clearly longer than ventral projection and with distinct setae on ventral surface; Figs 7–9, 15–32 , 35–37 ); ectoparameres not long

(clearly not reaching apices of latter lobes), partly membranous, with elongate anterior part,

with short and widened posterior part, and with mesal lobe rather small and located mainly near posterior part of ectoparamere ( Figs 8, 16, 19, 22 , 25, 28, 31 , 36 ); endoparameres thin,

arcuate, with dorsal (medial) parts fused with each other and forming unpaired angular structure directed backwards and sometimes having distinct unpaired apodeme at apex of this angular structure ( Figs 7, 9, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23 ); rachis (guiding rod) more or less short and virga-like but not very thin; sacculus (spermatophore sac) rather small and shallow,

almost completely membranous but with small transverse sclerite in its anterior part; rami rather long and mostly thin ( Figs 7–9, 15–32 , 35–37 ). Ovipositor rather long ( Figs 2 , 6 ), with slightly widened and dorsoventrally flattened short distal part; this part with very small denticles situated laterally on upper valves and with acute apical part ( Figs 13, 14 ).

SPECIES INCLUDED. Agryllus excultus Gorochov, 1994 , A. magnigenitalis sp. n., A.

hemiapterus sp. n., A. siam sp. n., and probably C. euzonus Saussure, 1877 . The latter species, described in the genus Cophogryllus Saussure, 1877 from Java without more exact geographical data, has its general habitus, including a whitish middle area on the hind femur,

as in some other representatives of Agryllus , but tegmina and ovipositor of Saussure’s species are much shorter and may belong to a nymph; Saussure, 1877: pl. XIII, figs 1, 1a).

COMPARISON. This genus is related and more or less similar to Acanthoplistus Saussure,

1877, Mimicogryllus Gorochov, 1994 and Squamigryllus Gorochov, 2001 , but it differs from the first two genera in the absence of tympana and any stridulatory apparatus in the male tegmina as well as shortened tegmina and the absence of hind wings; from Acanthoplistus , it is distinguished also by the absence of any carina between the pronotal lobe and disc; from

Mimicogryllus , by a globular (not flattened) shape of the head, much wider space between the antennal cavities, the pronotum less strongly narrowing to the head, and less thin legs; from

Squamigryllus , by the same character of pronotum as from Acanthoplistus and a clearly narrower space between the antennal cavities; and from all these genera, in the following features of male genitalia: anterior epiphallic lobe is curved upwards-backwards, posterior part of ectoparameres is not semitubular, and mesal lobe of ectoparameres is short (from

Acanthoplistus ); ectoparameres are longer, and rachis is much thinner (from Mimicogryllus );

ectoparameres are distinctly smaller, and rachis is much shorter and lacking a rather large anterior widening (from Squamigryllus ) (for comparison see Gorochov, 2001: figs 218–227).

and female (6). Body without posterior part from above (3, 5); hind femur from side (4); hind femur and distal part of abdomen from side (6).

Figures

Figs 3–6. Agryllus: 3, 4 – A. excultus Gor., male; 5, 6 – A. hemiapterus sp. n., male (5)

Figs 33–37. Agryllus siam sp. n., male: 33, 34, body from above (33) and from side (34);

Figs 7–23. Agryllus (schematically): 7–14 – A. excultus Gor.; 15–17 – A. hemiapterus sp.

Figs 1, 2. Agryllus magnigenitalis sp. n. in living condition: 1 – male; 2 – female. (Photo-

Figs 24–32. Agryllus, male: 24–26 – A. excultus Gor.; 27–29 – A. hemiapterus sp. n.; 30– 32 – A. magnigenitalis sp. n. Genitalia from above (24, 27, 30), from below (25, 28, 31) and from side (26, 29, 32).