Cratomelus Blanchard, 1851

Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J., Castañeda, Didier, Garay, Andrea & Rincón, William Fernando, 2022, Studies on chevron crickets: Morphological redescription of Chilean red cricket Cratomelus armatus Blanchard, 1851 (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae), Zootaxa 5169 (2), pp. 136-146 : 138-140

Cratomelus Blanchard, 1851

Redescription. Body mid-size (25–35 mm.), body surface generally smooth and shiny, color reddish ( Figs. 1 and 4 ). Head as broad as pronotum ( Fig. 1D ), rounded and smooth; almost as wide as high in frontal view ( Fig. 1C ). Vertex rounded. Eyes ovoid, not protruding. Ocelli circular and small. The eyes and antennal pits are located in the middle of the face ( Fig. 1C ). Fastigium moderately narrow, almost as wide as the scape, lateral edges sulcated. Mandibles of the male without sexual specialization. Maxillary palpi longer, first and second subequal in size and rectangular; third cylindrical almost two times longer as the first and second together; fourth as long as the third, five little longer than the fourth with the apex with a small prolongation ( Fig. 1A ). Thorax. Pronotal disc longer than wide; posterior margin rounded and little broader than the anterior margin ( Fig. 1D ); lateral lobules rectangular, wider than high and with a rounded lateral edge, ventral margin almost straight ( Figs. 1A and 4A ). Meso and metanotum unmodified and without glandular pits. Prosternum armed with a pair of closely spaced triangular spines; mesosternum quadrangular with rounded lateral lobes and a notch in the middle of the lobes; metasternum hexagonal, 3.5 times wider than long, with a small notch on the posterior margin. Wings shortened, with distinctly S-shaped CuP and the widened area between MP+CuA2 ( Figs. 2F , 4A ); hind wings in both sexes transformed into stridulatory apparatus (tegmino alar stridulation) ( Figs. 2G , 5B ). Legs. Coxae laterally flattened, with a distal spine on the dorsal margin. Fore and mid femora with few small spines on ventral margin ( Fig. 2 A-B, hind femur slightly serrulate ventrally and dorsally and without rows on inner side; outer side with well-developed chevrons relief ( Fig. 2C ). Fore tibia without tympana ( Fig. 2A ); fore and mid tibiae with movable spurs on ventral margins, apex, and two or one dorsally spurs ( Figs. 2A–B ). Hind tibiae with strong and not movable dorsal spines, the apex spurs movable and conspicuous ( Figs. 2D–E ). Abdomen cylindrical, penultimate tergite of male varying, prolonged or not; medial parts of ultimate tergite not separated from its lateral parts, with hooks ( Fig. 2I ). Paraprocts wide, curved, and flattened ( Fig. 2L ). Male subgenital plates with articulated styles ( Fig. 2K ). Male genitalia. Small, almost entirely membranous, ti moderately sclerotized, lw.vl. with microstructures ( Fig. 3 ). Female. Similar to male ( Fig. 4 ). Subgenital plate triangular ( Fig. 5D ), ovipositor mid-sized, tapering towards apex, and moderately curved ( Fig. 5E ).

Taxa included. Cratomelus armatus Blanchard, 1851 (type species), C. integer Ander, 1933 and C. meritus Gorochov, 1999 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Cratomelus armatus male habitus. A. Lateral and B. Dorsal view. C. Frons. D. Head and thorax in dorsal view.

FIGURE 2. Cratomelus armatus male. A. Fore and B. Middle legs. C. hind femur. D and E. Hind tibia in lateral and dorsal view. F. Tegmina. G. Hind wing. H–K. Terminalia in dorsal, axial, lateral and ventral view respectively. L. paraproct and cerci. (The red arrows in figures F and G, show the wing veins modification. The white arrow in figure I, show the hook of the last tergite)

FIGURE 3. Cratomelus armatus male genitalia. A. Dorsal. B. Ventral. C. Axial and D. Inside views respectively.

FIGURE 4. Cratomelus armatus female habitus. A. Lateral and B. Dorsal views respectively.

FIGURE 5. Cratomelus armatus female. A. Tegmina. B. Hind wing. C. Terminalia axial view. D. Subgenital plate. E. Terminalia lateral view. (The white arrows in figures A and B, show the wing veins modification).