Tachycines (Gymnaeta) nulliscleritus, Zhu & Chen & Shi, 2020

Zhu, Qidi, Chen, Huiming & Shi, Fuming, 2020, Remarks on the genus Tachycines Adelung, 1902 (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae Aemodogryllinae) with description of eight new species from caves in southern China, Zootaxa 4809 (1), pp. 71-94 : 80-82

6. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) nulliscleritus sp. nov.

( Figs. 7 , 16 M–N, 18 A; Map 1)

Description. Male. Body medium-sized. Fastigium verticis short, conical, apices obtusely rounded. Eyes oval, protruding forwards; lateral ocelli nearly circular, situated on lateral margins of basal fastigium verticis.Apical segment of maxillary palpus distinctly longer than subapical one, apex inflated, globular.

Pronotum long, anterior margin of disc roughly straight, posterior margin rounded; lateral lobe longer than high, ventral margin arc-shaped. Mesonotum and metanotum slightly short, posterior margin of mesonotum rounded, that of metanotum straight.

Fore coxa with 1 small spine; fore femur unarmed on ventral surface, internal genicular lobe unarmed, external genicular lobe with 1 long spine; fore tibia with 1 inner spine and 2 outer spines on ventral surface, apex with 1 outer spine on dorsal surface and 1 pair of spines on ventral surface, between the paired ventral spines with 1 small spine. Middle femur unarmed on ventral surface, internal and external genicular lobes with 1 long spine respectively; middle tibia with 1 inner spine and 1 outer spine on ventral surface, apex with 1 pair of dorsal spines and 1 pair of ventral spines, between the paired ventral spines with 1 small spine. Hind femur unarmed on ventral surface, internal and external genicular lobes unarmed; hind tibia with 26 inner spines and 20 outer spines on dorsal surface, subapex with 1 pair of dorsal spines, apex with 1 pair of dorsal spines and 2 pairs of ventral spines, intero-dorsal spine obviously shorter than hind basitarsus, which with 1 dorsal spine, ventral surface without bristles.

Posterior margin of every abdominal tergite rounded, abdominal sterna with distinctly conical tubercles. Epiproct ligulate, apex rounded; paraproct simple, nearly triangular. Cerci slender, conical, apices acute. Dorsal sclerite of genitalia nearly quadrangular, basal part slightly broad, truncate, apical part narrow, with 1 concavity; apical part of dorso-median lobe divided into 2 lobes, without sclerite; dorso-lateral lobe and ventro-lateral lobe nearly equal to dorso-median lobe, ventro-lateral lobe with bristles; ventro-median lobe short. Subgenital plate quadrangular, transverse and broad, medium part with obviously conical tubercle, posterior margin truncate.

Female. Appearance is similar to male. Ovipositor nearly equal to half of hind femur, curved upwards, dorsal margin smooth, apical areas of ventral margin denticulate. Subgenital plate triangular, apex subacute.

Coloration. Body light brown. Eyes black, ocelli yellow. Basal half of hind femur with pinnate stripes.

Material examined. Holotype: male, Jinji Cave, Nanjiaping, Huangyan Village , Huaihua City, Hunan, 2 May, 2009, coll. Huiming Chen. Paratype: 1 female, same collection data as for holotype .

Measurements (mm). Body: ♂ 15.4, ♀ 15.2; pronotum: ♂ 4.0, ♀ 4.2; fore femur: ♂ 10.5, ♀ 10.8; hind femur: ♂ 19.2, ♀ 19.8; hind tibia: ♂ 22.0, ♀ 22.0; hind basitarsus: ♂ 4.0, ♀ 4.0; ovipositor: 11.0.

Distribution. China (Hunan).

Etymology. The name of the new species is derived from dorso-median lobe of male genitalia without sclerite, Latin null- means none, with Latin sclerit- means sclerite.

Discussion. The new species resembles Tachycines (Gymnaeta) semicrenata ( Gorochov, Rampini & Di Russo, 2006) , but it differs from the latter by: dorsal sclerite of male genitalia nearly quadrangular, basal part slightly broad, truncate, apical part narrow, with 1 concavity; apical part of dorso-median lobe divided into 2 lobes, without sclerite.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) nulliscleritus sp. nov., male: A–C. head and pronotum: A. frontal view, B. lateral view, C. dorsal view; D–F. apex of abdomen: D. lateral view, E. dorsal view, F. subgenital plate in ventral view; I. hind basitarsus in lateral view; female: G. subgenital plate in ventral view; H. ovipositor in lateral view.

FIGURE 16. Male genitalia. A, D, G, I, K, M, O: dorsal view; B, E, H, J, L, N, P: ventral view; C: lateral view; F: apical view: A–C. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) liboensis sp. nov.; D–F. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) umbellus sp. nov.; G–H. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) bifolius sp. nov.; I–J. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) tuberus sp. nov.; K–L. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) paradoxus sp. nov.; M–N. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) nulliscleritus sp. nov.; O–P. Tachycines (Gymnaeta) taenus sp. nov.