Tetraconcha smaragdina Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891

Massa, Bruno, 2017, Revision of the tropical African genus Tetraconcha (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) with the description of ten new species, Journal of Orthoptera Research 26 (2), pp. 211-232 : 216-217

Tetraconcha smaragdina Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891 Figs 32-36, 70, 84, 88

Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891. Verh. der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellsch. Wien 41: 115, 116.

Type locality.

-Cameroon (NMW).

Material examined.

-Cameroon, Mus. Lubeck. (♂ holotype); Cameroon, Mundame, Rohde (1♂) (NMW); Cameroon, Lolodorf, L. Conradt (1♂) (MfN); Cameroon (1♂) (MNCN); Central African Republic, N’Doki, shore of Lake 1, UV trap 31.I-2.II.2012, 13-14.II.2012, 15-16.II.2012, 20-23.II.2012, P. Moretto (8♂); Central African Republic, surroundings of Bambio 10.XII.2008, J. Halada (1♂) (BMPC); Central African Republic, Dzanga-N’Doki National Park, Sangha, camp 3, 9.II.2005, P. Annoyer (1♂); Central African Republic, Dzanga-N’Doki National Park, Sangha, camp 2, 24.X.2008, P. Annoyer (1♂); Central African Republic, Dzanga-N’Doki National Park, N’Doki, 10.X.2008 (light trap), P. Annoyer (1♂); Central African Republic, N’Doki, shore of Lake 1, UV trap 29.I.2012, 4.II.2012, 13.II.2012, 14.II.2012, 16.II.2012, 24.II.2012, 25.II.2012, 27.II.2012, P. Annoyer (7♂); Central African Republic, N’Doki, butterfly trap 14.XI.2010, P. Annoyer (1♂); Central African Republic, N’Doki, shore of lake 7, UV trap 1.III.2012, P. Annoyer (1♂); Central African Republic, Dzanga-N’Doki National Park, N’Doki, Lake 3, 25.II.2012 (light trap), P. Annoyer (1♂) (PACT); Cameroon, Mukonje Farm, R. Rohde (1♀); Democratic Republic of Congo, N Mosso Norma, Las Tumba 31.VII.1938 (1♂) (RBINS).

Remarks.

-The type specimen, considered as probably lost ( Cigliano et al. 2017), was actually found again in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna (coll. Brunner von Wattenwyl). The label of the specimen reports "Mus. Lubeck."; because Brunner von Wattenwyl (1891) wrote in the description "Kamerun, Mus. Lubecanum", it is evident that this specimen is the holotype. Its characters fit well to the short description. The examination of characters of the holotype (Figs 33, 36) allowed the comparison with other undescribed species.

Redescription.

-Males. Head and antennae: Fastigium of vertex narrow, sulcate above, separated from fastigium of frons, furrowed. Eyes rounded, well projecting. Antennae longer than body. Legs: Fore coxae armed with a small spine. Fore tibiae furrowed dorsally, distinctly widening above tympanum, conchate on both sides. Fore femora armed on inner ventral side with 7-10 spines, fore tibiae with 6-7 spines + 1 spur on inner side and 3-4 small spines on outer ventral side, 3 spines + 1 spur on outer dorsal side, mid femora armed with 7-8 spines on outer ventral side, mid tibiae with 12-13 spines on outer and inner ventral sides + 1 spur on each side, and 3 spines + 1 spur on inner dorsal side, hind femora armed with 2-5 small spines on the outer [ Brunner von Wattenwyl (1891) recorded 5 spines] and 1-2 on inner ventral sides, hind tibiae with many spines on ventral and dorsal sides + 3 spurs on each side. Thorax: Pronotum narrowing anteriorly, flat above, anterior margin incurved, posterior margin rounded, humeral sinus well developed, lobes of pronotum rounded. Tegmina narrow with rounded apices. Wings longer than tegmina. Stridulatory area of left and right tegmina shown in Figs 32-33, veinlets of left tegmen in Fig. 88; stridulatory file arched and composed of ca. 65-70 dense and evenly spaced teeth plus 3-4 widely spaced teeth in the distal part (Fig. 34). Abdomen: Subgenital plate long and apically narrowed with a narrow concavity protruding beyond cerci, and two longitudinal carinae on the sides; cerci stout at their base and incurved (Figs 35-36).

Female. Bolívar (1906) described the female, but considering the presence and the co-occurrence of more than one species of the ' smaragdina - group’, the description cannot be considered to belong to T. smaragdina for certain. One female collected in Cameroon (Mukonje Farm) and dubiously reported by Griffini (1908) as T. smaragdina , very probably belongs to this species. The ratio length/width of tegmina in the specimen cited by Griffini (1908) is 4.6 (Fig. 84).

Diagnosis.

-Characters of T. smaragdina are: stridulatory area of left and right tegmina and stridulatory file as in Figs 32-33 and 34, subgenital plate of male long and narrow with two parallel longitudinal keels, ending with a narrow concavity, protruding beyond cerci, when viewed from above (Fig. 35).

Measurements.

-Cf. Tables 1 and 2.

Distribution.

- T. smaragdina is present in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic; according to Ragge (1967) very probably its distribution covers all Central Africa from Democratic Republic of Congo to Liberia, but in the present paper the high diversity of the ' smaragdina group’ is shown, and many records from some countries possibly have to be referred to other species.