Eupholidoptera kekrops, Alexiou, 2024

Alexiou, Sotiris, 2024, Eupholidoptera kekrops sp. nov. (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae), new bush-cricket from Greece, Journal of Orthoptera Research 33 (1), pp. 67-70 : 67

Eupholidoptera kekrops sp. nov.

Type. -

Holotype: GREECE • ♂; Attiki, Mt. Imittos, Chalidou gorge, yard of chapel of St. Eustathius, under a stone; 37.92737, 23.79734; 443 m; 1 July 2017; S. Alexiou leg; KMNH. Paratype: GREECE • 1♂; Attiki, Vravrona, wasteland; 37.91960, 23.99979;11 June 2013; S. Alexiou leg; KMNH.

Description. -

Male. General appearance: pronotum and elytra as in type species E. chabrieri (Charpentier, 1825). Legs relatively short, hind femur twice as long as pronotum, ventral margins of mid femur unarmed, ventral margins of hind femur with a black spine. Last abdominal tergite (Fig. 1B) blackish-brown, wider than long, in the middle with a wide heart-shaped, lighter-colored wrinkled impression divided in its posterior margin by a short median incision with rounded edges.Cercus (Fig. 1A) clearly surpassing last abdominal tergite, simple, cylindrical, slightly curved inwards; slight protuberance present on inner side of last third, apical part with rounded tip. Subgenital plate (Fig. 1C) slightly longer than wide, divided in half by a median triangular incision, with apical lobes; apical lobes triangular in ventral view, with a median keel, narrowing toward styli, ending in a robust, black-tipped spine, pointing dorso-posteriorly; styli short, approximately 3 times its maximum width, inserted at the side of the apical lobes and slightly surpassing the tip of the spine. Titillator (Fig. 1D) with basal parts extended as usual for the genus; apical parts as long as basal parts, fused over most of their length, incised in apical fifth, almost straight in lateral view.

Coloration: General coloration green. Occiput greenish yellow with black marking anteriorly, frons with a few small black spots, some extended into a short line, head behind black eyes. Pronotum with lower margin of lateral lobes mostly yellow; remaining part of lateral lobe blackish green. Elytra solid black, edges lighter. Abdomen greenish, conspicuously reddish ventrally, red color persists on dry specimens; last abdominal tergite blackish brown. Hind femur green with a few black dots dorsally at base, distal half dorsally black and brown, knees conspicuously black.

Female. Unknown.

Measurements. -

(in mm): pronotum length 7, hind femur length 14, body length 17.

Habitat. -

The holotype was collected under a large marble slab placed for decorative reasons in the yard of a chapel. The chapel is surrounded by maquis vegetation dominated by Quercus coccifera L. The paratype was collected from a wasteland affected by anthropogenic activities and with sparse low prickly shrubs.

Distribution. -

Known only from Greece, East Sterea Ellas (Attiki: eastern slopes of Mt. Imittos and the area of Vravrona).

Etymology. -

The new species is named after Kekrops (Cecrops), Κέκρωψ, the mythical first king of Attiki and founder of the city of Athens.