Brachytrupes megacephalus ( Lefebvre, 1827 )

Simeu-Noutchom, Alain, Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, Nyobe, Philene Corinne Aude Um & Kekeunou, Sevilor, 2023, Taxonomy review of the genus Brachytrupes (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) with the description of a new species and key to the species, Zootaxa 5336 (3), pp. 373-388 : 380

Species Brachytrupes megacephalus ( Lefebvre, 1827) ( Table 2 , Fig. 3 )

Gryllus megacephalus Lefebvre, 1827: p. 10

Type material: Unspecified primary type, Southern Europe , Italy, Sicily

Description ( Saussure 1877). Body yellow or tawny, shortly pubescent; immense head, very broad and short, flattened anteriorly, near the antennae on both carinula sides; with a shield transversely carinate above, divided by a furrow below, and transversely rugose; pronotum very short, dilated anteriorly, with yellow lateral lobes; tegmina extending beyond the abdomen, 1st chord of tegmina show from its extremity a few venules to the enveloping vein; the enveloping cell is large and reticulate, mirror more sharply angled anteriorly and its dividing vein less arched, with 2–3 main oblique veins, 1–2 weak veins, caudal wings; the 1st joint of the tarsals twice as long as the second, the third equal, the apex not emarginate beneath; femurs, tibiae, and metatarsus at the same time equal or longer; hind tibiae 4:4 or 4:5 spinous; 1st hind tarsus joint thin, compressed, serrated above.

Female: Ovipositor very short, almost rudimentary; its upper branches are styliform, with narrow bicarnate valves and dilated points.

Distribution: Italy: Sicily, Sardinia; Malta, Northern Africa: Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Niger.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Brachytrupes megacephalus (a) Male habitus (http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org), (b) frontal view (http://orthoptera. speciesfile.org), (c) external view of phallic complex, (d) internal view of phallic complex (Sp: Spermatophore; GR: Guiding Rod; Ep: Epiphallus) (Lakhdari et al. 2015).