Lamellitettigodes sagittatus ( Bolívar, 1887 )

Lu, Yong-Zhong & Zha, Ling-Sheng, 2020, A new species of the genus Lamellitettigodes (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) from PR China, with taxonomic notes on the genus, Zootaxa 4851 (2), pp. 338-348 : 342-345

Lamellitettigodes sagittatus ( Bolívar, 1887)

Figs. 3-4

(= Paratettix sagittatus Bolívar, 1887 ; Xistra sagittata ( Bolívar, 1887) ; Euparatettix sagittatus ( Bolívar, 1887))

= Euparatettix pulvillus Hancock, 1910

= Tetrix polypictus Hancock, 1913 (= Acrydium polypictum ( Hancock, 1913))

= Euparatettix tuberifemora Deng, Zheng & Wei, 2009 , syn. nov.

Material examined. 4 males and 1 female, PR China: Hainan Province /Island, Baoting County, Diaoluoshan National Forest Park, 18°40′00.14′′N, 109°36′42.70′′E, 600 m, 18 September 2018, coll. Yongzhong Lu and Lingsheng Zha. 1 male, PR China: Yunnan Province, Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture, Menglun , about 700 m, 13 November 2018, coll. Lingsheng Zha.

Redescription. Female.

General appearance. Body very thin, slender, size moderate, surface relatively smooth but covered with numerous fine granules. Body grayish brown to dark brown, generally maculated with many yellowish brown spots; antennae brown, color of terminal segments darker, and color of junctions of two adjacent segments light; pronotum behind shoulders has a pair of large, black and conspicuous spots; hind wings dark brown; all femora have three dim rings each, fore and mid tibiae have three yellowish brown rings each, hind tibia has two long and yellowish brown rings.

Head. Vertex distinctly higher than anterior margin of pronotum, gradually and slightly narrowing forwards, and as wide as one eye; anterior margin straight and finely serrated, reaches the level of anterior margin of eyes, and as high as vertex; lateral carinae conspicuous, horn-like upwards but slightly lower than the top of eyes, in dorsal view and in frontal view are both L-shaped; medial carina clear, erect and straight, nearly extends to occiput, much lower than lateral carinae; fossulae deep and elongate, nearly extends to the end of medial carina (or posterior 2/3 of inner margins of eyes). In lateral view face oblique; medial carina together with frontal costa nearly right angled which is clearly visible before eyes; fascial carinae concave slightly above superior ocelli and broadly arcuate forwards between antennal grooves, margin of fascial carinae slightly finely serrated. In frontal view, bifurcation of frontal costa located at upper one-third of between anterior margin of vertex and upper margin of superior ocelli; superior ocelli large, distance between anterior margin of vertex and upper margin of superior ocelli equal to the length of one upper ocellus; longitudinal furrow deep and very narrow, long triangular, between grooves only 0.6 time as wide as the diameter of scapus. Antenna filiform and very thin, 16-segmented, inserted between the lower margin of eyes, the 9 th segment longest and about 10 times as long as wide, terminal two segments very short (15- segmented and the 8 th segment longest in males). Eyes globose and strongly elevated, much higher than, but not above the anterior margin of pronotum; superior ocelli placed at the middle of the inner margins of eyes.

Pronotum. Pronotum elongate, upper surface nearly at the same level. Anterior margin truncated and slightly elevated, between shoulders slightly uplifted and behind shoulders a little concave. Prozonal carinae distinct, erect and parallel, extending to anterior sulcus; extralateral carinae distinct, erect and auricular, extending to anterior sulcus as well; median carina conspicuous, erect and entire, the anterior half a little lamellate; humero-apical carina and lateral carina slightly erect and with finely serrated margins. In lateral view, upper margin before the end of tegmina slightly undulated, the posterior part nearly straight. Humeral angles obtusely angled; hind process elongate and wedged, nearly reaches the apices of hind tibiae, apex nearly truncated. Posterior angle of the lateral lobe of pronotum extending obliquely, backwards and downwards, anterior margin finely serrated, apex sharply rounded and a little folded outward; ventral sinus and tegminal sinus conspicuous, both nearly right angled.

Wings. Visible part of tegmen oval, nearly as wide as mid femur, apex broadly rounded; hind wing developed, surpasses hind pronotal process 1.25 mm.

Legs. Dorsal and ventral margins of fore and mid femora finely serrated and weakly undulated; mid femur somewhat compressed, basal part slightly narrower than terminal part; hind femur 3.1 times as long as wide, dorsal and ventral margins finely serrated in anterior parts while more roughly serrated in posterior parts, ventral margin entire, dorsal margin before antegenicular tooth has a low, long and obtuse tooth, median external area has two conspicuous teeth which are short and tapered, antegenicular tooth and genicular tooth a little sharp. Hind tibia has finely serrated inner margins, terminal part slightly wider than basal part, outer/inner side has 7-8 spines (5-8 in males); the first segment of hind tarsus slightly longer than the third (1.2 times), the third pulvillus longest while the first shortest, all apices sharp.

Abdomen. Ovipositor: upper valva wide and short, 2.2 times as long as wide, widest in the middle; outer margins of upper and lower valvae armed with small, obtuse and saw-like teeth, but the basal half of upper valva smooth. Subgenital plate: its width clearly longer its length, medial carina clear and entire, posterior margin in the middle gradually extending backwards which forms an acutely triangular protrusion.

Male. Slightly thinner and smaller than female. Mid femur nearly as wide as that of female, but basal part slightly wider and thicker than terminal part. Subgenital plate short cone-shape, apex obliquely truncated and bifurcate. Other characters same as female.

Measurements (in mm). Length of body: male 6.8-7.1, female 9.5; length of pronotum: male 10-10.5, female 12; length of hind femur: male 4.6-4.9, female 5.5; length of antenna: male 4.2-4.5, female 5.

Distribution. Widely distributed in Southeast Asia, including southern PR China (Yunnan and Hainan), Vietnam, Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and adjacent islands (Enggano and Mentawai), Java, Borneo, the Philippines, Moluccas islands, New Guinea (with adjacent islands Aru and Waigeo) and Timor ( Tumbrinck, 2019; this study).

Notes. We re-describe L. sagittatus for two reasons: 1), previous descriptions are either not quite clear or lack of photographs; 2), as a widely distributed species it should be widely distributed in southern PR China, but in PR China it had probably been identified or described as several other species, so we want to emphasize the main characters once again.

Lamellitettigodes sagittatus is similar to L. contractus , but the placement and size of superior ocelli, and the placement of bifurcation of frontal costa are both distinctly different between the two species ( Tumbrinck, 2019; also see the key). L. sagittatus is also similar to L. karwinkeli which was reported from Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture (Yunnan, PR China) as well, but the latter (description based on a female only) has: larger body size (pronotum 15 mm long), distinctly undulated anterior part of the median carina of pronotum, broadly rounded apices of the lateral lobes, slender and not compressed mid femur, as well as the first segment of hind tarsus slightly shorter than the third ( Tumbrinck, 2019).

L. sagittatus from Yunnan has minor morphological variations, including: anterior margin of pronotum is a little arcuate forwards, and prozonal carinae are slightly contracted backwards, but these variations are both indistinct and we regard them interspecific. According to Tumbrinck (2019), specimens of L. sagittatus have variable coloration and slightly variable sizes, specimens from New Guinea have in frontal view slightly lower lateral carinae of vertex, other characters are all the same. Zheng et al. (2011) reported L. sagittatus to be distributed in Taiwan, PR China (we have however not examined the original record), but its hind wings only reaches the middle of hind tibiae, so this record cannot be confirmed.

Deng et al. (2009) described Eu. tuberifemora based on many specimens also from Diaoluoshan National Forest Park (Baoting and Qiongzhong Counties, Hainan, PR China); its description and drawings exactly match the characters of L. sagittatus . Evidences from morphology and geography are both supportive of the two species to be conspecific, so we herein synonymize Eu. tuberifemora Deng, Zheng & Wei, 2009 syn. nov. with L. sagittatus .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Lamellitettigodes sagittatus. a) lateral view of female body; b) dorsal view of female body; c) frontal view of female face; d) lateral view of female ovipositor; e) ventral view of female subgenital plate; f) lateral view of male subgenital plate. Scale bars a, b 2 mm; c–f 1 mm. Pictures a–c were stacked using Photoshop CS6.

FIGURE 4. Lamellitettigodes sagittatus, male. a) lateral view of body; b) dorsal view of body. Scale bars 2 mm. Pictures were stacked using Photoshop CS6.