Odontura trilineata ( Haan, 1843 )

Massa, Bruno, 2022, A review of the Odontura (Orthoptera, Phaneropterinae) from Italy, Malta, Algeria and Tunisia, Zootaxa 5168 (5), pp. 561-577 : 562

Odontura trilineata ( Haan, 1843)

Haan, 1843. In: Temminck (ed.), Verhandelingen over de Natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlansche Overzeesche Bezittingen 19/20: 185; type locality: Tripoli, Libya; depository: NBC, Leiden (♀) .

Description by de Haan (1843): ‘ vagina brevi, recurvata, denticulata; tibiis anticis quadriseriatim spinulosis, foramine ovato; vertice supra plerumque bilineato; antennis flavis; prothorace subangulato, flavo, angulis lateralibus albis; linea intus fusco-marginata in caput producta; abdomine flavo, fasciis tribus nigris continuis picto; pedibus flavis ’ (translated from Latin: ovipositor short, curved, toothed; fore tibiae with four rows of spines, tympanum open; dorsal vertex usually with two lines; yellow antennae, pronotum sub-angulated, yellow, lateral corners white; median line with brown margins and extending to the head; yellow abdomen, with three black continuous stripes; yellowish legs).

O. trilineata is the easternmost Mediterranean representative of the genus and the least known. Indeed, this species, described from Tripoli ( Libya), was not encountered again after de Haan described it ( Fontana & Buzzetti 2004; Massa 2009). For this reason, the opportunity to examine any specimens of this species did not present itself. However, the distinctive three continuous black stripes on the abdomen are not present in any of the other species of Odontura . It is thus evident that O. trilineata differs appreciably from other species of Mediterranean Odontura , rendering its identification relatively straightforward.