Amytta merumontana, Hemp, Claudia & Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, 2017

Hemp, Claudia & Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, 2017, Revision of the genus Amytta (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Meconematinae) and new species from East Africa, Zootaxa 4263 (2), pp. 295-317 : 306-307

Amytta merumontana n. sp. Hemp

( Figs. 2 C, D, 3 C, D, 7 D, 8 G)

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:496656

Holotype male, Tanzania, Mt Meru, shaken from understory trees of montane forest, 2085 m, November 2013. Depository MfN.

Paratype. 1 female; shaken from understory trees of montane forest, 1700 m, November 2013. Depository MfN.

Further paratype material: All Tanzania, Mt Meru: 12 males, 17 females, 1 female nymph, shaken from understory trees of montane forest, 1700 m, November 2013, December 2015 and July 2016 . 2 females, canopy montane forest 2085 m, November 2013. Collection C. Hemp.

Description. Male. General body shape and colour: Flightless, small, uniformly light yellowish green. In life specimens laterally pair of vivid yellow lines starting on head behind eyes, continuing along pronotum, fading in preserved specimens. Eyes brown-reddish. Tegmina meeting median, along the vanal area with brownish lines. Head and antennae: Fastigium of vertex smooth conical, conus between eyes about half the size of first antennal segment. Antennae green in alive specimens, fading to tawny-whitish in preserved ones; longer than body length. Eyes circular, prominent, of brown-red colour. Cuticle of pronotum shiny, short scattered hairs along pronotal margins. Elytra shortend, tectiform with reduced venation. Stridulatory area hidden under pronotum. Alae reduced to slender lobes covered by elytra. Thorax and legs: Fore and mid tibiae with open tympanum, with 4–5 outer and mostly 4 inner spines, apical with a minute pair of spurs. Abdomen: Last tergite broad with deeply inwardly rounded posterior margin ( Fig. 2 C, D). Cerci differentiated into two lobes, outer one shovel-like expanded, inner one twisted into three-dimensional structured apex ( Fig. 2 C, D). Subgenital plate almost as long as broad with two flattened, lobe-like styli.

Female. General body shape, size and colour as male. Ovipositor slender and smooth, only slightly up-curved. Subgenital plate at base very broad ( Fig. 8 G).

Measurements

males (n = 4)

Body length 13–14.7 Median length of pronotum 4.2–4.5

Length of hind femur 7.6–8.3

Visible median length of elytra 2.6–3.6

females (n = 4)

Body length 11.0–12.6 Median length of pronotum 3.5–4.0

Length of hind femur 8.7–9.2

Visible median length of elytra 3.2–3.5

Length of ovipositor 8.2–9.1 Habitat. Tree and bush layer in montane forest collected between 1700–2100 m.

Distribution. Tanzania, Mt Meru.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from most other Amytta species by the male cerci that are differentiated into two branches of which the outer one is expanded and laterally flattened and the inner one elongated and twisted with a three-dimensionally shaped apex. A. ukamica also has male cerci that are parted into two branches but this species is fully alate. A. kilimandjarica ( Fig. 2 A, B) is very similar to A. merumontana n. sp. ( Fig. 2 C, D). However, the triangular projection of the outer cercal branch in A. merumontana n. sp. is more slender than in A. kilimandjarica and the inner twisted branch differently shaped. While in A. merumontana n. sp. the tips of the inner branch are elongated and a projection to the opposite direction is expressed as a blunt knob this part is longer and conus-like in A. kilimandjarica (see Fig. 2 B). Females of A. kilimandjarica and A. merumontana n. sp. can distinguished by comparing the subgenital plate which is broad with a straight posterior margin in A. merumontana n. sp. while in A. kilimandjarica two lateral processes are present and the posterior margin is evenly rounded ( Fig. 8 F).

Etymology. From Mt Meru and the montane zone since this new species is endemic to the montane zone of Mt Meru in Tanzania.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Detail images of abdominal apices of male Amytta species. A, B. A. kilimandjarica Hemp C, D. A. merumontana n. sp.

FIGURE 8. Subgenital plates of female Amytta species. A. A. digitata n. sp. B. A. pellucida C. A. olindo D. A. meruensis n. sp. E. A. hanangensis n. sp. F. A. kilimandjarica G. A. merumontana n. sp. H. A. kilomeni n. sp. I. A. judithae n. sp.