Pycnodictya herero Karny, 1910

Massa, Bruno, 2020, Remarks on some interesting African Pamphagidae and Acrididae (Insecta Orthoptera: Acridoidea), Zootaxa 4751 (1), pp. 29-54 : 50-52

Pycnodictya herero Karny, 1910 (Figs. 54-66)

Material examined. Angola, Cotumbela near Lobito 12.VIII.1954, Zielinski (1♀) ( MZUH) .

Measurements (in mm). Length of the body: 47.8; length of pronotum: 11.7; height of pronotum: 12.4; length of hind femur: 24.3; height of hind femur: 7.7; length of tegmina: 44.5.

Remarks. The size and general characters of the Angolan specimen (Fig. 54) match quite well with the descrip- tion and the photos of the lectotype of P. herero in OSF online (Fig. 57). Only the hind wings are brighter red. P. herero is a species of a large size, characterized by hind wings red with a wide black band, the posterior area widely hyaline, and the pronotal prozona as high as metazona. It was described from Okahandja ( Namibia) on two females. There is also a record of another female from Tsumeb ( Namibia) by Uvarov (1929), ca. 800 km away from Lobito ( Angola). The present study provides the first record of this species in Angola. Only the female is known ( Uvarov 1929).

Because the African genus Pycnodictya is still poorly studied, some considerations on the affinities of the 15 taxa presently known are reported below. They are: P. carvalhoi Mason, 1979 (type locality: Caala, Angola), P. citripennis Saussure, 1888 (type locality: Sierra Leone), P. dentata Krauss, 1902 (type locality: Saudi Arabia), P. diluta Ramme, 1929 (type locality: Kete Krachi, Ghana), P. flavipes Miller, 1932 (type locality: Pretoria, South Africa), P. g. galinieri (Reiche & Fairmaire, 1839) (type locality: Ethiopia), P. galinieri citrina Mc Kevan, 1961 (type locality: Mogadiscio, Somalia), P. gracilis Uvarov, 1936 (type locality: S. Hejaz, Daka, Saudi Arabia), P. herero Karny, 1910 (type locality: Okahandja, Namibia), P. kelleri (Shultess, 1894) (type locality: Ogaden, Somalia), P. kilosana Miller, 1929 (type locality: Kilosa, Tanzania), P. obscura (Linnaeus, 1758) (type locality: South Africa) [ P. rosacea (Serville, 1838) (type locality: Cape prov., South Africa) is considered its synonym], P. thalassina ( Kirby, 1902) (type locality: Mt. Ruwenzori, Congo), P. thomasseti Uvarov, 1929 (type locality: KwaZulu-Natal, Weenen, South Africa) and P. zinae Uvarov, 1949 (type locality: North Frontier Province, Kenya).

The different species are similar to one another, main characters used for their identification are the color of the hind wings and hind legs, which are easily viewed by eye ( Uvarov 1929, Ingrisch 1999, Haggag 2016). However, there are other characters that may help in the species identification, as the shape of pronotum, the body size, etc.

P. herero (Figs. 54, 55, 57) has hind wings basally red with a wide black band and a wide posterior area widely hyaline; in addition it has the anterior margin of the pronotum dentate. The following other taxa have hind wings red or pink (Figs. 56, 58-62): P. dentata , P. diluta , P. flavipes , P. g. galinieri , P. kilosana , P. obscura , P. thomasseti , P. zinae . The East African P. g. galinieri (Fig. 60) is well-differentiated by its characteristic hind wings with orange red bases, moderately narrow dark band with an anterior projection that is separated from the posterior margin, and the clearly dentate anterior margin of the pronotum. In addition, the hind tibia is blackish violet with a yellowish basal ring and the hind femur is blackish on its inner side ( Haggag 2016). P. dentata (Fig. 58), similar to P. galinieri , can FIGS. 54-62. Pycnodictya . 54) Lateral view of P. herero female from Angola; 55) pattern of wings of P. herero female from Angola; 56) pattern of wings of P. kilosana (photo D. Otte, OSF); 57) pattern of wings of P. herero from Namibia (lectotype) (photo S. Ingrisch, OSF) ; 58) pattern of wings of P. dentata (photo S. Ingrish, OSF) ; 59) pattern of wings of P. obscura (photo D. Otte, OSF) ; 60) pattern of wings of P. g. galinieri (photo S. Ingrisch, OSF) ; 61) pattern of wings of P. flavipes (photo D. Otte, OSF) ; 62) pattern of wings of P. thomasseti (photo D. Otte, OSF) .

FIGS. 63-66. Pycnodictya . 63) Pattern of wings of P. gracilis (photo S. Ingrisch, OSF); 64) pattern of wings of P. diluta (photo S. Ingrisch, OSF); 65) pattern of wings of P. calvarhoi (photo D. Otte, OSF); 66) pattern of wings of P. kelleri .

be separated from it by its larger size, blue hind tibiae (purplish in P. galinieri ) and sinuated posterior lower angle of the pronotal lobes (not sinuated in P. galinieri ); the pattern of black on the hind wings may be variable, but the base is magenta in P. dentata and bright red in P. galinieri ( Popov 1980, Ingrisch 1999, Haggag 2016). Mc Kevan (in Mc Kevan & Knipper 1961) described the aberration citrina of P. galinieri , that Haggag (2016) raised to subspecies level ( P. galinieri citrina ), isolated in Somalia and differentiated from P. g. galinieri by its yellowish wings. P. diluta (Fig. 64) and P. zinae resemble P. galinieri in the purplish hind tibia, but in P. diluta the band on the hind wings is not present, and P. zinae has a crested pronotal median carina ( Uvarov 1949). According to Saussure (1888, translated from Latin) P. citripennis has hind wings bright yellow-reddish, medial stripe wide black, sub-expanded anteriorly, arched posteriorly up to the margin, apex and outer margin hyaline with small grey spots. The geographically closest species are P. carvalhoi (Fig. 65) and P. thalassina . P. carvalhoi , described from Caala ( Angola), ca. 200 km away from Lobito, differs from P. herero because it has bluish wings with a broad black band. According to Kirby (1902), P. thalassina has wings greenish yellow (possibly bright yellow in perfectly fresh specimens) towards the base, followed by a broad curved black band extending to the anal angle and nearly touching the hind margin beyond the curve, apex hyaline; it should be related to P. kelleri (Fig. 66), but the black band in the wing is broader and more regular.