Paraselina Storozhenko, 2019

Storozhenko, S. Yu., 2019, New taxa of pygmy grasshoppers from Australia with notes on classification of the subfamily Batrachideinae (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae), Zoosystematica Rossica (Zoosyst. Rossica) 28 (1), pp. 94-107 : 96-98

Genus Paraselina Storozhenko , gen. nov.

Type species Vingselina multifora Rehn, 1952 .

Description. Body medium-sized for Australian Batrachideinae . Antennae filiform. Antennal grooves situated distinctly below lower margins of eyes ( Fig. 6 ). Compound eyes not elevated above pronotum in lateral view. Frontal ridge, in lateral view, broadly rounded with distinct concavity near lateral ocelli ( Fig. 4 ); in frontal view this ridge broad; lateral carinae of frontal ridge almost parallel ( Fig. 6 ) or diverging downwards. Pronotum short; anterior margin of pronotum, in dorsal view, narrowly triangular and far produced over head or at least reaching frontal line of eyes; apex of posterior process of pronotum excised ( Fig. 5 ). Median carina of pronotum in profile almost arch-like before shoulders and distinctly excised behind shoulders ( Figs. 4, 7, 8 ), in cross-section triangular. Hind margin of lateral lobes of pronotum with vestigial lower sinus; tegminal sinus absent; lower edge of infrascapular area barely sinuate ( Fig. 4, 7, 8 ); lower part of lateral lobe of pronotum, in dorsal view, forming rounded lobule ( Fig. 5 ). Tegmina and hind wings absent. Lower carinae of fore and mid femora sinuate or almost straight; dorsal side of fore femora distinctly sulcate. Upper carina of hind femora serrated, without lappets. First tarsal segment of hind legs distinctly longer than 3rd segment. Female subgenital plate with deep median furrow bordered with ridges. Valves of ovipositor very narrow, dentate.

Differential diagnosis. The new genus is most similar to Vingselina but differs from the latter in the characters given in the key below. Paraselina gen. nov. is similar to Selivinga gen. nov. in strongly elevated median carina of pronotum and distinctly excised apex of the posterior process of pronotum, but differs from the latter in the position of antennal grooves (in Selivinga gen. nov., the antennal grooves situated between the lower margins of the eyes). Paraselina gen. nov. is easy recognizable from Anaselina gen. nov. in the shape of median carina of the pronotum (in Anaselina gen. nov., the median carina is low). Paraselina gen. nov. is also similar to the genera Gestroana Berg, 1898 and Tetradinodula Zha, 2017 (subfamily Cladonotinae ) in the median carina distinctly elevated in the anterior part and strongly depressed in the posterior part of pronotum, as well as in the lower position of antennal grooves. There are 16 species of Gestroana in Papua New Guinea ( Berg, 1898; Tumbrinck, 2014; Tan et al., 2016); all of them have a few strong lappets situated on the upper carina of the hind femur, while in Paraselina gen. nov., the hind femur without lappets. The monotypic genus Tetradinodula from South China ( Zha et al., 2017) differs from Paraselina gen. nov. in the deep lower sinus of the lateral lobes of the pronotum (in the new genus, the lateral lobes of pronotum with vestigial lower sinus).

Composition. The genus consists of three species.

Etymology. This name is originated from Latinized Greek prefix “para-” and the genus Vingselina . Gender feminine.

Key to species of Paraselina gen. nov.

1(2) Median carina of pronotum in profile behind shoulders with three large tubercles ( Fig. 7 )................................... P. trituberculata

2(1) Median carina of pronotum without large tubercles ( Figs. 4, 8 ).

3(4) Median carina of pronotum between shoulders angular in profile; lower side of infrascapular area almost straight ( Fig. 8 ). Larger: length of hind femur 7.0 mm....................... P. brunneri

4(3) Median carina of pronotum between shoulders rounded in profile; lower side of infrascapular area moderately sinuate ( Fig. 4 ). Smaller: length of hind femur 4.7–5.7 mm .................. P. multifora

Figures

Figs 1–8. Batrachideinae, female: 1–3, Vingselina crassa; 4–6, Paraselina multifora; 7, P. trituberculata; 8, P. brunneri. Head and pronotum, lateral (1, 4) and dorsal (2, 5) views; pronotum, lateral view (7, 8); head and dorsal part of pronotum, frontal view (3, 6). [1–3, after photos of Tumbrinck (Cigliano et al., 2018); 4–6, after photos of Rehn (1952); 7, 8, after Sjöstedt (1932)].