Mellogryllus mutus n. sp. Cadena-Castañeda, Tavares & Fernandes, 2022

Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J., Tavares, Gustavo Costa & Fernandes, José Antônio Marin, 2022, Studies on Neotropical crickets: Mellogryllus mutus n. gen. et n. sp., an intriguing new genus and species of cricket of the Miogryllae Group (Orthoptera: Gryllidae Gryllinae: Gryllini: Brachytrupina) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, Zootaxa 5125 (4), pp. 408-420 : 412-417

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5125.4.4
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:934B1973-8992-4AD7-8038-77F304341830
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6452160
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F2164B-2900-FFE1-B0EA-F9D1FDFE6CBC
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Mellogryllus mutus n. sp. Cadena-Castañeda, Tavares & Fernandes
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Mellogryllus mutus n. sp. Cadena-Castañeda, Tavares & Fernandes View in CoL

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:50BA059E-5E46-4D47-8BE5-FE259FDAFC55 http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:517801

Etymology. Named regarding the absence of morphological structures for sound emission.

Type material. Holotype. Male. BRAZIL, Bahia, Ilhéus , 02–04.XI.2021, C. Souza & F. Albuquerque cols., Floresta ombrófila [ombrophilous forest], pitffal. Repository: MPEG.

Paratype. Female. BRAZIL, Bahia, Ilhéus , 29–31.X.2021, C. Souza & F. Albuquerque cols., Floresta ombrófila [ombrophilous forest], pitffal. Repository: MPEG .

Description. In addition to the characters of the genus: Male. Small-sized. Body predominantly dark brown ( Figs. 1A–B View FIGURE 1 ); cephalic capsule with the dorsal surface (from the vertex to the fastigium) and the upper area of frons also dark-brown; area surrounding the ocelli, mandibles, lower margin of genae and frons ocher; ocelli yellow; eyes black ( Figs. 2A–C View FIGURE 2 ); inner side of the mesal portion of fore and mid femora yellowish-brown; hind legs light brown, spurs of hind tibia yellowish, with apex black. Abdominal segments dark brown, with a conspicuous whitish stripe on the posterior border; epiproctus and base of cerci also whitish ( Figs. 1A–B View FIGURE 1 ; 2E–F, J–L View FIGURE 2 ). Tegmina ovoid, scalelike, extremely reduced, reaching only the anterior border of the first tergite, never touching in resting position, without distinctive venation, surface only with small whitish punctuations ( Figs. 2C–D View FIGURE 2 ). Fore coxae well-developed; fore femur and tibia progressively widening toward the apex; first tarsomere markedly dilated from the base to the apex, second and third tarsomeres normally developed, like other field crickets ( Figs. 2E–F View FIGURE 2 ). Tympana absent. Outer surface of the fore tibia and the first tarsal segment bearing conspicuous setae ( Fig. 2F View FIGURE 2 ) and the inner surface with small bristles ( Fig. 2E View FIGURE 2 ). Foretibia with two prominent distal spurs on the inner side ( Fig. 2E View FIGURE 2 ) and one spur on the outer side ( Fig. 2F View FIGURE 2 ). Mid tibia widening toward the apex, armed with two apical spurs on each side; tarsomeres with normal development. Hind tibia with three spurs on outer dorsal margin and four spurs on inner dorsal margin; apex with three spurs on both sides, the middle one is the longest; tarsomeres with seven outers and six inner dorsal spines ( Figs. 2J–L View FIGURE 2 ). Epiproctus covered by many bristles ( Fig. 2H View FIGURE 2 ); cerci almost as long as the hind tibia, covered by abundant medium-sized bristles, alternated by noticeably long ones ( Fig. 1A View FIGURE 1 ). Genitalia ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 ): MLPs with bristles on their surface (more abundant on the inner margin of the lobes), each lobe tapering towards the rounded apex. Ps. P. conical and moderately widened. Ec. f. undivided, thin, with pointed apex, and not exceeding the notch of the MLPs, with a shallow groove along its length. Ec.s. ribbon-shaped, with the inner edge curved and the outer edge wavy. R extending to the anterior margin, twice as long as the MLPs. Arc w-shaped in dorsal view. V ovoid and connected at the base of En. c.

Female. Similar to the male in shape and size, differing by the following characteristics: The color tones are darker than the male but keep the same pattern ( Figs. 4A–B View FIGURE 4 ). Tegmina not reaching the posterior border of the metanotum, widely separated from each other ( Figs. 4A View FIGURE 4 ; 5A View FIGURE 5 ). Tympanum present only on the external face of the foretibia, ovoid and elongated, occupying a third of the tibia outer surface ( Figs. 5B–C View FIGURE 5 ). Left hind tibia with four spurs on each dorsal margin ( Fig. 5I View FIGURE 5 ); right hind tibia with four spurs on the inner dorsal margin, and three spurs on the outer dorsal margin ( Fig. 5H View FIGURE 5 ). Epiproct ovoid, with rounded posterior margin ( Fig. 5E View FIGURE 5 ). Ovipositor almost straight, apex of the valves pointed, with sharp angles ( Fig. 5J View FIGURE 5 ), and triangular in dorsal view ( Fig. 5K View FIGURE 5 ). Subgenital plate trapezoid, apex truncated ( Fig. 5F View FIGURE 5 ).