Amytta taitensis, 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 : 312-313

Amytta taitensis n. sp. Hemp

( Fig. 13 )

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:496659

Holotype male, Kenya, Taita Hills, Wundanyi 1480 m, grassland July 2005. Depository MfN . Paratype. 1 female, same data as holotype. Depository MfN .

Further paratype material: 2 males, 1 female, same data as holotype. Collection C. Hemp.

Description. Male. General body shape and colour: Flightless, small, uniformly light yellowish-green. Behind eyes two lateral yellow lines, which continue along the pronotum, fading at posterior half. Tegmina abbreviated, uniformly green. Head and antennae: Fastigium of vertex smooth conical, conus between eyes about half the size of first antennal segment with blunt apex. Antennae thin, longer than body length and whitish. Eyes circular, prominent. Cuticle of pronotum shiny with few short scattered hairs. Elytra shortened, 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 outer and 4 inner spines, apical with a minute pair of spurs.

Abdomen: Last abdominal tergite broad, medially broadly incurved with central gap or incision ( Fig. 13 A). Cercus with symmetrical basal blade-like projections forming hollow space. Apex of cerci curved inwardly and running out into two acute tips ( Fig. 13 B). Subgenital plate elongate with long laterally compressed styli ( Fig. 13 D).

Female. As male. Ovipositor of female slender and smooth, only slightly up-curved. Subgenital plate as in Fig. 13 C.

Measurements

males (n =3)

Body length 9.5–10.1 Median length of pronotum 3.8–4.1

Length of hind femur 6.8–7.3

Visible median length of tegmina 1.5–1.8

females (n = 2)

Body length 9.1–10.5 Median length of pronotum 3.7–3.9

Length of hind femur 7.8–8.1

Visible median length of tegmina 1.5–1.7

Length of ovipositor 8.1–8.2 Habitat. Herb layer in submontane forest.

Distribution. Kenya, Taita Hills.

Diagnosis. A. taitensis n. sp. has abbreviated tegmina and males a last abdominal tergite with an u-shaped incision similar to A. abbreviata , A. hanangensis n. sp. and A. meruensis n. sp. Differentiated from these species by the bidentate male cerci. Females of most Amytta species with abbreviated tegmina are best identified in association with males.

Etymology. Named after the Taita Hills of southern Kenya.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Morphological details of Amytta taitensis n. sp. A, B, D. Abdominal apex of male in dorsal (A), lateral (B) and ventral view (D) C. Subgenital plate of female. Scale bars 1 mm.