Velarifictorus flavifrons Chopard, 1966

Zheng, Yan-Na, Cai, Xin-Ru & Ma, Li-Bin, 2022, Taxonomy of Landrevus species group of Velarifictorus Randell, 1964 (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllinae) with one new species and morphological diversity of Velarifictorus flavifrons Chopard, 1966, ZooKeys 1084, pp. 101-117 : 101

Velarifictorus flavifrons Chopard, 1966

: 黄额斗蟋 Figures 8C, F , 9C, F , 10C, F , 11 , 12 , 13C, F , 14E, F

Velarifictorus flavifrons Chopard, 1966: 607; Chopard 1967: 124

Velarifictorus (Velarifictorus) flavifrons , Shishodia et al., 2010: 212; Kim and Hong 2014: 61; Zhang et al. 2017: 26; Chen et al. 2018: 502

Scapsipedus arorai Tandon & Shishodia, 1972: 281; synonymized by Vasanth 1993: 38

Scapsipedus bhadurii Bhowmik, 1967: 127; synonymized by Vasanth 1982: 123

Velarifictorus dehradunensis Tandon & Shishodia, 1974: 299; synonymized by Bhowmik 1985: 30

Velarifictorus jaintianus Biswas & Ghosh, 1975: 221; synonymized by Bhowmik 1985: 37

Scapsipedus lohitensis Tandon & Shishodia, 1972: 281; synonymized by Vasanth 1982: 123

Scapsipedus sikkimensis Bhowmik, 1967: 126; synonymized by Gorochov 2001:321

Velarifictorus yunnanensis Liu & Yin, 1993: 90, 93; synonymized by Gorochov 2001: 321

Examined material.

5 males and 2 females, Yunnan , Gongshan, 21°69.4'N, 101°57.3'E, Ⅵ-14-2019, Libin Ma leg. ; 10 males and 2 females, Xizang , Motuo, Beibeng, 29°24.5'N, 95°17.6'E, Ⅴ-31-2019, Libin Ma leg. ; 5 males, Guangxi , Jingxi, Longbang, 22°87.3'N, 106°32.8'E, Ⅴ-1-2019, Libin and Tao Zhang leg. Specimens in grass and leaf litter.

Measurements.

Male (n = 15): BL 16.7 ± 0.53, HL 3.23 ± 0.23, HW 5.13 ± 0.23, PL 3.13 ± 0.76, PW 4.98 ± 0.03, FWL 8.98 ± 0.64, MTL 5.18 ± 0.22, HFL 9.23 ± 0.26; Female (n = 4): BL 17.98 ± 0.24, HL 3.87 ± 0.54, HW 5.31 ± 0.76, PL 4.43 ± 0.03, PW 6.34 ± 0.35, FWL 4.43 ± 0.15, HFL 13.45 ± 0.76, OL 13.63 ± 0.18.

Description.

Male: vertex broad and flattened, slightly inclined. Occiput slightly convex, almost in equal length with pronotum. Frontal rostrum convex, inclined dorsally and ventrally, and nearly twice wider than antennal scape. Antennal scape shield-like. Median ocellus transversely ovoid, lateral ocelli ovoid. Eyes ovoid, about 1/3 length of head. Postclypeus shaped as narrow band, lower margin convex; anteclypeus trapezoidal. Labrum rhomboid, apical margin slightly rounded. End section of maxillary palpi slightly longer than the third; end section of labial palpi depressed and widened, almost equal to the total length of all other sections.

Pronotum broad and flattened. Median groove of pronotal disc distinct and ornamented with symmetrical blade-pattern on both sides. Posterior margin straight and middle of anterior margin concave inside, and both margins almost equal in width.

Oblique veins three. Diagonal vein proximally bifurcate, each branch connected to CuA vein. Chord veins three. Mirror shield-like, posterior margin slightly rounded, and dividing vein curved. The apical field almost as wide as mirror and armed with regular cells.

Inner tympanum relatively small or absent, and outer tympanum elongate-oval. Hind tibiae armed with dorsal spurs (numbered 5:6) almost equal in length; apical spurs external three (dorsal one about 3/2 length of dorsal spurs; ventral and middle nearly equal in length and almost equal to dorsal spurs) and inner two (equal in length and about 2/3 length of the dorsal).

Genitalia.

Lateral lobes of epiphallus sheet-like, apically rounded, and pilose. Middle lobe of epiphallus about 1/2 length of epiphallic lateral lobes, ventrally possessing projections and about 1/3 length of epiphallic lateral lobes. Ectoparamere proximally rod-like and distally sheet-like. Ectoparamere curved dorsally (degree of curvature variable). Apex of ectoparamere bifurcate, outer branch rather long (slightly longer than epiphallic lateral lobes) and apically rounded, and the inner relatively short (only a small protrusion and varied in size and shape: round or acute, or asymmetry with one round while another acute) (Fig. 12E-H ).

Coloration.

Body brown. Occiput dark brown, vertex armed with six yellowish-brown strips. Anteclypeus dark brown, postclypeus light brown. With a broad yellowish-brown band between ocelli. End section of maxillary palpi dark brown and remainder sections light yellow.

Female. Resembles the male. Tegmen reaches apical abdominal tergite (Fig. 11B ) and dorsally armed with irregular longitudinal veins and laterally with five Sc branches (innermost of which branches medially and apically) (Fig. 13F ). Ovipositor brown, smooth, arrow-shaped, and slightly longer than posterior femur. The dorsal ovipositor valve apically truncated, whereas the ventral valve with apex slightly acute (Fig. 14E, F ).

Remarks.

Gorochov (2001) considered V. yunnanensis to be a junior synonym of V. flavifrons . We checked the original descriptions and found that the figures of these species differ. To confirm the relationship of these species, we studied material collected from Yunnan Province (seven individuals), which should either bear the name of V. flavifrons or V. yunnanensis . Most of these specimens were collected at the same time and in the same location. We conclude that morphological variation of is present in the male genitalial complex (Fig. 12 ), as follows: (1) ectoparamere dorsally curved and variable in its curvature; (2) ectoparamere bifurcate and inner branch variable in size (clearly or weakly observable); (3) inner branch of ectoparamere morphologically variable (round or acute, or asymmetry with one acute and the other rounded). Thus, our observations confirm the synonymy of V. flavifrons and V. yunnanensis as proposed by Gorochov (2001).

Figures

Figure 8. Front view of heads of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 9. Dorsal view of heads and pronotum of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 10. Lateral view of heads of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 11. Bodies of Velarifictorus flavifrons A male B female. Scale bars: 10 mm.

Figure 12. Genitalia of Velarifictorus flavifrons A dorsal view B, C lateral view (ectoparamerea are movable and may touch or be separated from middle epiphallic lobe in some material) D ventral view E-H caudal view E inner branch observable and apically acute F inner branch small and asymmetry (observed five samples), as evident here, the left apically rounded and the right somewhat acute G inner branch relatively weak H inner branch similarly placed as in F but different in details.

Figure 13. Right tegmina of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 14. Ovipositor of Velarifictorus A, B V. zhengi sp. nov. C, D V. landrevus E, F V. flavifrons A, C, E inside of ovipositor B, D, F outside of ovipositor.