Niquirana Hebard, 1928

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2014, New taxa and data for Neotropical Phalangopsidae (Orthoptera, Grylloidea), Zootaxa 3866 (3), pp. 398-420 : 410

Genus Niquirana Hebard, 1928

( Fig. 5 A–C)

Niquirana Hebard, 1928a: 29 .

Type species. Niquirana polita Hebard, 1928 (Type specimen examined, ANSP).

Included species. Luzara phyxelis Otte, 2006 , Niquirana chiapasi Gorochov, 2007 , Niquirana veracruzi Gorochov, 2007 .

Distribution. Central America ( Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico).

Remark. The male genitalia of the type species of the genus are figured here for the first time ( Fig. 5 A–C).

Emended diagnosis. Genus close to Luzara (see above), from which it can be readity recognized by its white palpi, male FWs without venation and with a distinct coloration, and male genitalia. Size medium; brown with dark brown legs, shining; with large corneous FWs in males, distinctly yellow along distal margin and devoid of venation; completely hairless. Head dorsum, fastigium, scapes and ocelli as in Luzara . Palpi short; joint 3 and 4 subequal; joint 5 longer, its shape as in Luzara . Pronotum as in Luzara , but the anterior angle of LL less raised. Tibial apical and subapical spurs, TIII and basitarsomere III serrulation as in Luzara . TI: a small tympanum on inner side only. Cerci longer than in Luzara . Coloration. Head and pronotum as in Luzara , but the distal margin of pronotum DD yellow, the last two joints of maxillary palpi white, the scapes brown, the antennae not annulate. TI and TII black brown, not annulated. Tegmina and legs III light brown, the distal margin of FWs yellow. Male. No glandular structure, as in Luzara . FWs covering more than half abdomen; right FW corneous, venation not impressed, except for a faint depression for the functional stridulatory file; on left FW, stridulum complete. Lateral field deeper than in Luzara , with 4 to 6 widely separate longitudinal parallel veins. Supra anal and subgenital plates as in Luzara . Male genitalia. Not glandular. Pseudepiphallic sclerite transverse, with two lateral arms distinctly more elongate than in Luzara and bifid apically ( Fig. 5 A, C); pseudepiphallic parameres located on the apex of each pseudepiphallic arm ( Fig. 5 B); ectophallic apodemes having a shape more or less similar as the cup-shape observed in Luzara ; ectophallic arc very wide ( Fig. 5 A), more or less at the level of the pseudepiphallic sclerite; ectophallic fold longer than in Luzara , located between the pseudepiphallic arms ( Fig. 5 A); no endophallic cavity; endophallic sclerite very long, joining the apical ventral sclerotization of ectophallic fold ( Fig. 5 B); endophallic apodeme high and wide, with both lateral lamellae and a median crest ( Fig. 5 A, C). Female. Not available in Hebard (1928a), not described in Otte (2006).

Habitat. Straminicolous species.

Acoustic communication. As in Luzara (see above).

Phylogenetic relationships. Niquirana and Luzara are closely related according to their morphology and male genitalia, a hypothesis supported by molecular phylogeny (Chintauan-Marquier et al. submit.). Niquirana is an additional member of the B-group of Luzarinae (see above).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Niquirana polita Hebard, 1928 (A – C) and Amusodes Hebard, 1928 (D – F). Male genitalia of holotypes, dorsal (A), ventral (B, E), lateral (C, F). D, Amusodes sp, male FW, dorsal. Abbreviations, see page **. Scales 1 mm.