Xya galla ( Saussure, 1895 )

Heads, Sam W. & Hollier, John, 2016, The type specimen and generic placement of Tridactylus galla Saussure, 1895 (Orthoptera: Caelifera: Tridactylidae), Zootaxa 4193 (1), pp. 195-196 : 195

Xya galla ( Saussure, 1895) comb. nov.

Fig. 1

Tridactylus galla Saussure, 1895: 92 — Fenizia, 1896: 66 — Lucas, 1898: 98 — Kirby, 1906: 8 — Günther, 1995: 226 — Hollier and Heads, 2012: 155 .

Material. Holotype ( Figure 1 a): Female, Arussi Galla , A. Ganale Gudda, III V.[18]93., V. Bottego. Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “ Giacomo Doria ” (Genova, Italy) . This locality corresponds roughly to an area approximately 10 km NNW of the town of Dolo, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, not far from the border with Somalia. All labels are shown in Figure 1 b.

Remarks. The holotype is readily assigned to Xya based on the rudimentary, tubercle-like metatarsus, the dentate dorsal margins of the metatibia, and the presence of a median ‘seam’ on the 9th abdominal sternite ( Günther, 1990). Günther (1995, p. 226) briefly alluded to the fact that the species actually belonged to Xya , and though he added a determination label indicating such to the specimen in 1987 ( Fig. 1 b), he never formally transferred it. Thus, the combination Xya galla has never appeared in the literature until now. While its assignment to Xya is beyond question, the validity of X. galla as a species remains uncertain. Since the delimitation of Xya species is based primarily on the morphology of male terminalia and genitalia, it is impossible to confidently separate X. galla from other members of the genus at present because the only known specimen of X. galla is female. Therefore, we recommend that the name be reserved solely for the type specimen until a detailed revision of the genus, incorporating female characters, is undertaken.