Tmethis cisti mozabiticus Krauss, 1902

Massa, Bruno, 2013, Pamphagidae (Orthoptera: Caelifera) of North Africa: key to genera and the annotated check-list of species, Zootaxa 3700 (3), pp. 435-475 : 439

[ Tmethis cisti mozabiticus Krauss, 1902 ]

Material examined. Algeria: Oued Mzab (Ghardaja, Algerian Sahara ) 4. IV.1893, 2 ♂ syntypes; Beni Abbès (Algerian Sahara ) 5–6. IV.51, 5 ♂, 3♀ (MNCN).

Krauss (1902) described this taxon as variety of T. clavelii from Oued Mzab (Ghardaia, Algerian Sahara ), mainly on the base of wing coloration, very different from that of T. cisti and related taxa. Wings appear just bluish inside, with a narrow brown stripe not reaching the fore border ( Fig. 56 ). Tegmina are as long as the abdomen ( Figs. 44–45 ) and hind tibiae and inside of hind femurs are yellow-orange. Pronotum keel is moderately low ( Figs. 38–39 ), and the eyes appear more bulging than in related taxa. It has been considered subspecies of T. pulchripennis by Chopard (1943) and of T. cisti by Uvarov (1943). I found a similar pattern of hind wings colour in the population living on Kerkenna Is. ( Tunisia), which however has blue tibiae and somewhat abbreviated wings. Consequently, this taxon may be considered one of a lot of morphological variations of T. cisti , localised in the inner Algeria.

Figures

FIGURES 54 – 59. Some of the taxa described in the genus Tmethis, view from above to show the pattern of wing colour pattern and the ratio between the length of wings and the body. Figs. 58 a and 58 b show the pattern of pronotum and wings of male and female of T. harterti n. status. Figs. 54 a and 55 a show the apical lobes, large and broadly separated, of epiphallus of T. cisti, while Figs. 59 b and 59 c show the relatively small and narrowly separated lobes of epiphallus of T. pulchripennis (after Uvarov 1943). Figs 54 b and 59 a show the differences in the spurs of hind tibiae, long and slender, with the first tarsal joint long, and its second pulvillus longer than the first or third in T. cisti; shorter and stouter, with first tarsal joint short, its second pulvillus not longer than the first or the third in T. pulchripennis (after Uvarov 1943).

FIGURES 40 – 53. Lateral view of males and females of some taxa described in the genus Tmethis, here revised.

FIGURES 32 – 39. Lateral view of pronotum of some taxa described in the genus Tmethis, here revised.