Pseudopsyra taksini Tan, Dawwrueng & Artchawakom

Tan, Ming Kai, Dawwrueng, Pattarawich & Artchawakom, Taksin, 2017, A new species and locality record for Pseudopsyra katydid (Orthoptera: Phaneropterinae), Zootaxa 4231 (4), pp. 595-600 : 596-599

Pseudopsyra taksini Tan, Dawwrueng & Artchawakom , new species

( Figs. 2 , 3 )

Material examined. Holotype (male, SERS.16.50): Thailand, Nakhon Ratchasima, Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, beyond Upper Dam , dry evergreen forest, on foliage of tree, N14.49413, E101.91698, elevation 506m, 16 August 2016, coll. M. K. Tan, H. Yeo & S. T. Toh ( ZRC).

Paratypes: Same as type locality. 1 male ( SERS.16.88), beyond Upper Dam, dry evergreen forest, on foliage of tree, N14.49131, E101.91274, elevation 558m, 17 August 2016, coll. M. K. Tan, H. Yeo & S. T. Toh ( ZRC) ; 2 males, open area with light trap, dry evergreen forest, attracted to light trap, 24 December 2014, coll. P. Dawwrueng & T. Dowwiangkan (THNHM).

Diagnosis. The male of this new species differs from that of all known species by: stridulatory file of left tegmen with more than 90 densely arranged and evenly spaced teeth; tenth abdominal tergite with apical lateral lobes narrowly separated, triangularly emarginated between the two apical lobes; very slender cercus with apex terminating into a minute, straight needle-like apex; subgenital plate with basal part extremely broad relative to the elongated shaft and apical margin roundly excised.

Comparison with congeners. The male of this new species differs from that of P. hainani and P. yunnani from Hainan Island and Yunnan respectively (Southern China) by stridulatory file of left tegmen with more than 90 densely arranged and evenly spaced teeth (instead of 80 and around 50 in P. hainani and P. yunnana ); tenth abdominal tergite with distinct lateral lobes along apical margin (instead of apex tapering into a truncated or rounded apical margin) and apical margin of subgenital plate roundly excised (instead of triangular excised). It also differs from P. hainani by cercus longer and more slender (instead of stout).

The male of this new species differs from that of P. bispina from Fraser’s Hill (Peninsular Malaysia) by fewer teeth on stridulatory file of left tegmen; tenth abdominal tergite not reaching ventrad of cerci and with lateral lobes more narrowly separated; longer and more slender cerci; cercus with conical ventro-internal projection at basal half (instead of at apical half); and subgenital plate with lateral margins of shaft parallel (instead of slightly curved), distal excision more narrow and lateral apical lobes longer.

The male of this new species differs from that of P. mirabilis from Penang Island (Peninsular Malaysia) by tenth abdominal tergite with distinct lateral lobes along apical margin (instead of rectangulate emarginate and lateral margins weakly diverging); apical margin of subgenital plate roundly excised (instead of triangular excised).

Description. Habitus typical for this genus ( Fig. 2 ). Head small, with length about 0.4 times of pronotum length. Fastigium narrower than antennal scapus, distinctly ridged in the middle, stout and not surpassing antennal scapus. Eye prominently protruding. Frons smooth. Pronotum smooth, 1.4–1.6 times longer than wide. Dorsal plate of pronotum with anterior margin broadly concave, with posterior margin broadly rounded ( Fig. 3 A); with a V-shaped sulcus slightly after the middle followed by transverse sulcus at the distal quarter; lateral keel more distinct on distal quarter of dorsal plate; lateral lobe about as long as tall, ventral and posterior margins obtusely rounded; angle between lateral keel and lateral lobe nearly 90° ( Fig. 3 B). Prosternum unarmed. Mesosternum with small and right-angled triangular lobes, with apex of lobes broadly rounded; metasternal lobes larger than mesosternal lobes, broader than long, rounded. Tegmen and hind wing fully developed. Tegmen with raised reticulation within cells, appears glossy; narrow basally, widens gently medially and with apex narrowly rounded. Hind wing surpassing tegmen. Anterior coxa with a distinct long spine, slightly curved, with acute apex pointing ventrally. Anterior femur with 7 inner ventral spines. Anterior tibia with external and internal tympana, internal tympanum swollen and conchate, external tympanum open and oval; with 4 inner and 5 outer ventral spines. Middle femur with 6–8 outer ventral spines. Posterior femur with 5–7 inner and 6 outer ventral spines on the apical half; posterior knee with bispinose lobe.

Male. Tegminal venation as shown in Fig. 2 ; costal vein distinct, Rs originate in the middle, Rs bifurcate before middle into two forks of unequal lengths (stem of Rs about as long as the longer shorter of Rs, but shorter than the longer fork of Rs). Mirror of left tegmen circa 1.0–1.3 times wider than long ( Fig. 3 C). Stridulatory file of left tegmen slim and elongated, about 2.0– 2.2 mm long, nearly straight, only curved at the basal and apical ends; with 92–93 densely arranged and evenly spaced teeth and 7 obsolescent small teeth in the basal area ( Fig. 3 D).

Abdominal apex as shown in Figs. 3 E–I. Tenth abdominal tergite elaborated, forms a large shield-shaped plate; setose, especially in the medial area; curved ventrally and posteriorly; wider than long when viewed dorsally and dorsoposteriorly, transverse in the basal half, acuminate in the apical half; apical margin producing two lobes in the middle, lobe longer than broad at base, pointing ventrally, apex obtuse; triangularly between the two apical lobes ( Figs. 3 E–G). Epiproct concealed under the prolongation of tenth abdominal tergite. Cercus large, cylindrical and elongated; basal half gently tapering and directed ventrally; apical half curved strongly, directed dorsally; dorsal margin of apical half flattened and knife-edged (= lamellate), then terminates into a minute, straight needle-like apex; with conical ventrointernal projection in the basal half, produced perpendicularly from the cercus, swollen basally then tapering gently into a subacute apex ( Figs. 3 G, 3H). Subgenital plate narrow and elongated with long styli; basal margin broadly and feebly emarginate, basal area strongly tapering into narrow shaft with lateral margin parallel; apical part weakly diverging with apex narrowly and roundly excised; lateral apical lobes ( Fig. 3 I). Stylus long and narrow, about 0.45 times as long as subgenital plate; substraight, inserted at apex of lateral projections; with apex rounded ( Fig. 3 I).

Female. Unknown.

Colouration (live). Shiny green in general ( Fig. 2 ). Head, including scapus green; antenna brown, mouth parts pale yellow green, maxillary palps pale green to yellow green. Pronotum green, posterior margin of dorsal plate bordered with dark brown stripe (most distinct and broadest at the posterior angle of the lateral keel). Tegmen green. Hind wing mostly hyaline, with projecting area green, not hyaline. Tergite pale yellow green to green laterally, with dorsum yellow green basally to orange red distally. Sternite pale green laterally, pale yellow ventrally. Male tenth abdominal apex yellow laterally, then orange to red in the middle; male cercus with basal half pale green, apical half and internal projection orange; apices (and flattened dorsal margin of cercus dark; male subgenital plate mostly pale green, with distal part and styli pale yellow. Femora green, knees brown; anterior tibia brown, middle and posterior tibiae mostly green; spines on legs mostly brown.

Measurements. See Table 1 .

Etymology. The species is named after the retired director of Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, Taksin Artchawakom.

Life history. This species inhabits dry evergreen forest at elevation of around 500m. In comparison, P. bispina inhabits lower montane cloud forest at elevation above 1200m ( Tan & Kamaruddin, 2013); P. mirabilis may have inhabited coastal and/or lowland dipterocarp forest of Penang Island ; the species from southern China may have inhabited subtropical forest and monsoon rainforest.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Pseudopsyra taksini sp. nov. male living habitus in profile view.

FIGURE 3. Pseudopsyra taksini sp. nov. male: head and pronotum in dorsal (A) and profile (B) views, mirror of left tegmen (C), stridulatory file of left tegmen (D), tenth abdominal tergite in dorso-posterior (E), posterior (F) and dorsal (G) views, abdominal apex in profile view (H) and subgenital plate in ventral view (I). Scale bars: 1 mm.