Epitettix Hancock, 1907

Deng, Wei-An, 2020, Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Cladonotinae (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) from China with description of three new species, Zootaxa 4789 (2), pp. 403-440 : 415-416

Genus Epitettix Hancock, 1907

http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1100693

Epitettix Hancock, 1907: 216 ; Günther, 1938, 23:346; Günther, 1974: 987; Shishodia, 1991: 13; Blackith, 1992: 49; Storozhenko & Dawwrueng, 2014: 326 ; Tumbrinck, 2014: 351, 359; Zheng & Lin. 2016: 2.

Type species: Epitettix punctatus Hancock, 1907 , by original designation.

Description and differential diagnosis. Hancock (1907) described the generic diagnosis of the genus Epitettix , whereas Shishodia (1991) provided a detailed redescription of the genus. Epitettix spp. share the following charac-

teristics: body smooth but densely punctate; vertex much wider than one of the eyes, fastigium of vertex in dorsal view distinctly surpassing the anterior margin of eyes as an evenly broad, distinctly blunt, triangular, or rounded process; pronotum not extended up to the apex of hind femora, humeral angles not distinctly visible, posterior margins of lateral lobes of pronotum only with ventral sinus; tegmina and hind wings absent.

Epitettix is closely related to Pseudepitettix Zheng 1995a . Storozhenko & Dawwrueng (2014) and Zheng & Lin (2016) thought that the difference between the two genera was defined by the width of the frontal ridge near the base of antennae: in Epitettix the width of this ridge only 1.5–1.8 times more than the width of first antennal segment, whereas in Pseudepitettix , width of the frontal ridge 2.3–2.5 times more than the width of first antennal segment. However, the width of frontal ridge is often varied and cannot be distinguished between the two different genera. Based on classified status and generic diagnosis of Epitettix and by comparing the characteristics of the two genera and associated species, I consider the difference between the two genera should be defined by the fastigium of the vertex and whether the pronotum has humeral angles or not: in Epitettix , fastigium of the vertex in dorsal view distinctly surpasses the anterior margin of the eyes as an evenly broad, distinctly blunt, triangular, or rounded process; humeral angles of pronotum not distinctly visible (I support the generic diagnosis described by Hancock, 1907, that is: body somewhat smooth but densely punctate. Vertex broad, much wider than one of the eyes, front margin convex; humeral angles almost wanting); in Pseudepitettix , fastigium of vertex in dorsal view not surpassing or lightly surpassing the anterior margin of eyes, anterior margin of fastigium of vertex nearly straight; humeral angles of pronotum distinctly visible.

Composition and distribution. Altogether, thirteen species are now assigned to the genus Epitettix (including the following two new combinations: E. guangxiensis ( Zheng & Jiang, 1994) , comb. nov. and E. yunnanensis ( Zheng, 1995a) , comb. nov. These species are distributed over Madagascar, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, New Guinea, China, and Thailand. Two species of the genus Epitettix are found in China.