Arantia (Euarantia) tibiaspinosa, Hemp & Massa, 2017

Hemp, Claudia & Massa, Bruno, 2017, Review of the African genera Arantia Stål and Goetia Karsch (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae), Zootaxa 4362 (4), pp. 451-498 : 485-486

Arantia (Euarantia) tibiaspinosa n. sp. ( Figs. 43–44 , 45a , 66 , 100 )

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:500646

Material examined and depository. IVORY COAST. Taï National Park, Res. Station 20.III.2017 (light trap), B. Massa (1♂ holotype) ( BMCP) ; same data (2♂ paratypes) ( BMCP, CHB) . Taï National Park , Res. Station 4.IV.2017 (light trap), P. Moretto (5♂ paratypes) ( BMCP) . 5-10.VII.2015 (light trap), M. Aristophanous, P. Moretto, E. Ruzzier (4♂ paratypes) (NHM).

Measurements. Males (N=3). Body length: 30.2–32.5; pronotum length: 8.1–8.6; pronotum height: 9.1–10.0; hind femur: 27.5–28.6; hind tibia: 33.4–34.9; tegmina length: 48.6–54.2; tegmina width: 14.0–15.0; tegmina length/width: 3.4–3.6; width tegmina/length pronotum: 1.7–1.8.

Diagnosis. A. tibiaspinosa n. sp. is very similar in its colour pattern to A. excelsior and especially to A. scurra . All three species also share similar male genitalia, the apices of the cerci being club-shaped. With A. excelsior it shares the conspicuous white patches on the metazona of the pronotum and with A. scurra an almost identical colour pattern of tegmina and legs (compare Figs 39–40 with 41–42 and 43–44). The tegmina of both species have brown dots and patches where tegmina meet in the middle when folded and have dark brown stripes on the hind legs. The joints of the fore and mid legs are dark brown in both species. A. tibiaspinosa n. sp. may easily be distinguished by the enlarged and densely set spines of the basal hind tibiae, a character unique so far for Arantia .

Description. Male ( Fig. 45a ). General habitus and colour pattern. Large to medium sized species with broad wings. Posterior part of pronotum dark brown with two small white patches. Hind legs with pattern of dark stripes, also joints of fore and mid legs of same dark brown colour. Along midline where tegmina meet irregular black to brown set patches. On anterior margin of tegmina with ivory spots on dark ground. Head and antennae. Eyes ovalroundish, very dark. Antennae long and thin, brown. Fastigium of vertex forming a ridge with sulcus; fastigium of frons conical; both fastigia separated by deep gap. Fastigium of vertex and fastigium of frons green while face dark brown. Thorax and legs. Anterior margin of pronotum almost straight. Posterior part of pronotum strongly deflexed in metazona ( Figs 43–44 ). Metazona of pronotum dark brown with small well defined white patches or white patches larger and diffuse. Tegmina broad with truncate margin. At costal area conspicuous pattern of ivory patches set in broad dark brown fascia. Stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen long, almost straight with teeth largest in middle part, with 55–60 teeth ( Fig. 66 ); teeth in the middle larger and more widely spaced than at both ends. Fore coxa without spine. Tympana of fore tibiae open on inner side, conchate on outer side, whole area slightly inflated and marked dark brown in this area. Fore femora on inner side with 5 inner ventral spines and 2–4 outer dorsal, mid femora with 2–3 inner ventral spines, hind femora with 6–9 black inner and outer ventral spines. Fore tibiae with 5 inner dorsal spines; 2 pair of spurs. Mid tibiae with ventral row of 7–8 irregular set pairs of spines, 1– 2 on both dorsal sides and 2 pairs of spurs. Hind tibiae tetragonal with 4 rows of numerous spines; with 3–5 enlarged, densely set spines basally and more than 25 spines on upper margins ( Fig. 45b ); dorsal 1 pair of spurs, ventral 2 pairs. Abdomen. Cerci long and slender with club with small apical spine, sinuous at apical part and decussate ( Fig. 100 ). Club small, dark. Subgenital plate longer than wide and without styli.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. Named for the conspicuous enlarged tibial spines.

Habitat and locality information. Canopy inhabitant of Taï National Park ( Ivory Coast). This Park is located approximately 100 km from the Ivorian coast on the border with Liberia between the Cavally and Sassandra rivers. It covers an area of 3,300 km 2 with a 200 km 2 buffer zone. The park consists of 4,540 km 2 of tropical evergreen forest, it is one of the last remaining portions of the vast primary Upper Guinean rainforest that once stretched across present-day Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone to Guinea-Bissau. It is the largest island of probably most pristine forest remaining in West Africa. It holds many endemic species of fauna and flora. The Taï Forest Reserve was created in 1926 and promoted to National Park status in 1972. It was recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and added to the list of Natural World Heritage Sites in 1982.

Distribution. West Africa, Ivory Coast. At present only known from the type locality.

Figures

FIGURES 39–44. Dorsal view of the pronotum and stridulatory area of tegmina (left) and lateral view of head, pronotum and base of tegmina (right) of Arantia (Euarantia) excelsior (39, 40), A. (Euarantia) scurra (41, 42) and A. (Euarantia) tibiaspinosa n. sp. (43, 44).

FIGURES 45–50. Habitus of Arantia (Euarantia) tibiaspinosa n. sp. (45a), inset expanded spiny base at joint with femur of hind tibia (45b), A. (Euarantia) griffinii n. sp. (46), Arantia (Goetia) gestri (holotype) (= A. dimidiata) (47), A. (Goetia) dimidiata (syntype) (48), A. (Goetia) galbana (49) and A.(Goetia) purpurea (holotype) (50).

FIGURES63–71.Stridulatory files of Arantia retinervis (63), Arantia excelsior (64), Arantia scurra(65), Arantia tibiaspinosa n. sp.(66), Arantia griffinii n. sp. (67), Arantia bispinosa n. sp.(68), Arantia galbana (69), Arantia dimidiata (70) and Arantia purpurea (71).

FIGURES 96–105. Cerci of Arantia excelsior (96, 97), Arantia tigrina (= A. excelsior) (98), Arantia scurra (99), Arantia tibiaspinosa n. sp. (100), Arantia griffinii n. sp. (101), Arantia dimidiata (102), Arantia gestri (= A. dimidiata) (103), Arantia galbana (104)and Arantia purpurea (105).