Itara (Itara) vietnamensis Gorochov, 1985

Meena, Ashok Kumar, Swaminathan, Rajamani, Nagar, Rajendra, Chhangani, Gaurang & Kumar, Kuldeep, 2021, Record of the subgenus, Gryllitara Chopard, 1931 (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Itarinae) and description of a new species from India, Zootaxa 5072 (5), pp. 493-500 : 496

Itara (Itara) vietnamensis Gorochov, 1985 [Plate: II]

Itara (Itara) vietnamensis Gorochov, 1985 . In Medvedev, The fauna and ecology of insects of Vietnam, 17; Ma and Zhang, 2015. Canadian Ent. 147(5): 537; He and Ma, 2021. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 386.

Material examined. 50 specimens (21♂ & 29♀): India from different locations (East, West Khasi Hills, Nongarh , Umiam NEH, Jowai , RRTC Ri Bhoi , Bhoirymbong , Dawki , and Mawpun ) of Meghalaya state in June 2013, Coll. R. Nagar, Jhabar Mal, R. Swaminathan and T. Swaminathan .

Remarks (Male and female). All the key characters for the identification of Indian specimens of I. (I.) vietnamensis are more or less similar to those reported by earlier workers, but we have observed minor variations in some of the following morphological characters: in some specimens a pair of longitudinal stripes extending from lateral ocelli to occiput of head is feebly visible. Male tegmen with 4–5 oblique veins; apical field having 5–7 branched veins, width of tegmina and length of apical field more or less equal. According to Gorochov (1997), there is a greater variability in colour (from dark to light); such types of variations were also observed in our specimens. In this paper some photographs of the examined specimens have been provided.

Measurements (mm) Male: Body length 15–17; head length 2–2.25, width 2.75–3.5; pronotum length 2.0, width 3.25–3.5; tegmina 15–16.5; hind femur 8–9.5; hind tibia 7–7.5. Female: Body length 14–15; head length 2–2.25, width 3–3.5; pronotum length 2–2.15, width 3.15–3.5; tegmina 14–17; hind femur 8.5–10; hind tibia 6–7 and ovipositor 9–13.

Distribution. Asia-Tropical, Vietnam, Thailand, China.