Scelimena novaeguineae ( Bolívar, 1887 )

Muhammad, Amira Aqilah, Tan, Ming Kai, Abdullah, Nurul Ashikin, Azirun, Mohammad Sofian, Bhaskar, Dhaneesh & Skejo, Josip, 2018, An annotated catalogue of the pygmy grasshoppers of the tribe Scelimenini Bolívar, 1887 (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) with two new Scelimena species from the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, Zootaxa 4485 (1), pp. 1-70 : 48-49

Scelimena novaeguineae ( Bolívar, 1887)

Gavialidium novaeguineae: Bolívar 1898 , Blackith 1992, París 1994.

Eugavialidium novaeguineae: Kirby 1910 .

Scelimena novaeguineae: Günther 1938a, 1955 , Steinmann 1970, Tumbrinck 2018.

Type material examined. 6♂♂ and 2♀♀ SYNTYPES N. Guinea SE: Haveri VII.–XI.[18]93. Leg. Loria , 1♀ SYNTYPE N. Guinea: Ramoi II.1875. Leg. Beccari ( MNCN) , 3♂♂ and 3♀♀ SYNTYPES N. Guinea SE: Haveri VII.–XI.[18]93. Leg. Loria ( ISNB) . París (1994) reported 43 more syntypes to be deposited in Genoa. Those syntypes were not examined by us. Photographs of the examined syntypes are available in OSF ( ICNB) or will be soon available (those from MNCN) .

Type locality: New Guinea : Papua New Guinea: Central Province : Haveri (close to Port Moresby) .

Notes. Morphology and variability of the species is discussed in Tumbrinck (2018). The species was transferred back to the genus Scelimena (Tumbrinck, 2018) . It does not share morphological similarities with Gavialidium species from India and Sri Lanka, but to Scelimena species from the islands of SE Asia—e.g., Scelimena producta species group. Together with S. eremita , this species is related to S. floresana . Characters that imply placement within Scelimena (sensu Tumbrinck, 2018) are: vertex lacking fastigial horns (as opposed to presence in Gavialidium ), pronotum without net-like elevations (as opposed to Gavialidium in which pronotal projections are wrinkled, and pronotum is rich in net like elevations), strong FL2 and ML (as opposed to weak and tuberculated), and simple VL (as opposed to bi- or trilobate), and finally dilated hind tibiae and tarsi (not widened in Gavialidium ). The species is widespread in New Guinea, not localized as its congener from the island. Tumbrinck (2018) discussed taxonomic placement of this species, and having our unpublished manuscript, agreed that it should be placed within Scelimena (thus in his paper Scelimena novaeguineae was reported as new combination).