Paraxantia nujiangensis Wu & Liu, 2023

Wu, Chao & Liu, Chun-Xiang, 2023, The genus Paraxantia Liu & Kang (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae Vosiini) in Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains, revealing high diversity of species, Zootaxa 5306 (3), pp. 367-376 : 370-373

Paraxantia nujiangensis Wu & Liu sp. nov. Ǿ江ṂAEǴÃ

Figs. 1D ; 3C, F ; 4C, F, I ; 5E ; 6D, F, H ; 7 .

Type Material. Holotype. 1♁, China: Yunnan Province, Nujiang of the Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Gongshan , Shuang’wa’di; 1800m; 2015.VI. 05–07; Chao Wu leg. ( IZCAS) . Paratypes. 5♁, ditto ( IZCAS); 1♁, China: Yunnan Province, Baoshan , Bai’hua’ling; 1600m; 2021.V. 10; Jia-Zhi Zhang leg. ( IZCAS); 1♁, China: Yunnan Province, Nujiang of the Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Gongshan , Gazu ; 27.743°N 98.606°E, 1700m; 15.VII.2022; Qin-Peng Liu leg. ( IZCAS) .

Description. Male.

Head and pronotum. Normal, very similar to P. angustipennis sp. nov., but more robust. Pronotal disc with a small middle notch on posterior margin, lateral carinae relatively weakly denticulate. ( Fig. 3C )

Legs. Fore femur as long as pronotum, slightly widened in apical half, external margin with 6 sparsely arranged spines; fore tibia slightly flat, with 4–5 sparsely arranged small spines; fore tibia with tympanum conchate on both sides, opening of the tympanum very narrow, slit, slight swelling at tympana area ( Fig. 5E ). Middle femur normal, external margin with about 10 spines. Middle tibia long, thin, with about 3–4 sparsely arranged small spines on external margin. Hind legs elongate, slender; hind femur widened in basal half and gradually narrowed towards apex; external ventral margin with about 25 external spines and 4 internal spines on apical half. Hind tibia slender, not swollen; dorsally bearing 22–26 similar-sized, sloping, close-packed external and 25–27 internal spines.

Wings. Tegmen leaf-like, long, about six times longer than pronotum. Tegmen opaque, with numerous faint cross veinlets ( Fig. 1D ); widened before middle and tapering towards rounded apex, anterior margin arc-shaped. Costal field widened in basal half and gradually narrowed towards apex. Stridulatory file of left tegmen slender, elongated, cambered; about 4.8–5.1 mm long, with about 120 densely arranged teeth ( Fig. 3F ). Hind wing projecting beyond tegmen, wide, colorless, transparent except for tip with greenish pale veins.

Abdomen. Similar to P. angustipennis sp. nov.. Cerci robust, hairy, furcated at apex; dorsal furca conical, extending and sloping inwards and upwards, with slightly pointed apex; apical one flat, spoon-shaped; ventral one horizontally extending inwards, abruptly tapering apicad into a long sharp spine ( Fig. 4C ).

External genitalia. Membranous structure of phallic induration with 3 hardened lobes, densely covered with tiny spines; phallic lobes robust, "L"-shaped, with truncated apex ( Fig. 4F ). Titillator sclerotized, with two elongated branches; angle among the two branches comparatively small; the lateral keel on branches with small spines ( Fig. 4I ).

Coloration. Generally fresh green when alive, with some purplish brown spots on lateral surface of meso- and metathorax. Compound eyes yellow. Pronotum with pale yellow stripe along lateral keel, extending to posterior margin of compound eyes. Tegmen green, opaque; veins green. Hind wings hyaline, with green exposed part. Base of fore legs and spines on hind femur yellow. ( Fig. 6D )

Female. Unknown.

Measurements (mm). length of pronotum: ♁ 11.2–11.9; length of tegmen: ♁ 64.5–66.0; width of tegmen: ♁ 22.4–24.5; length of anterior femur: ♁ 10.1–10.8; length of middle femur: ♁ 14.2–15.1; length of posterior femur: ♁ 27.6–28.3.

Etymology. The new species is named after the type locality “Nujiang” (the name of the Salween River in China) and the Latin adjectival suffix “-ensis”, meaning “belonging to”.

Discussion. The new species is very similar to Paraxantia daweishanensis Liu, 2014 , but differs in the stridulatory file and the titillator of the male external genitalia. The stridulatory file of left tegmen carries about 70 teeth in P. daweishanensis , but with about 120 teeth in P. nujiangensis sp. nov. ( Fig. 3F ). The two branches of titillator are long, angles between which are large in P. daweishanensis ( Fig. 4J ), but they are much longer, angles between which are narrower in P. nujiangensis sp. nov. ( Fig. 4I ).

Distribution. China: WN-Yunnan, Nujiang river basin.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Paraxantia spp. in Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains, body in lateral view. A–B: P. angustipennis sp. nov. (Holotype and Paratype); C: P. tibetensis; D: P. nujiangensis sp. nov. (Holotype). A, C, D: males; B: female.

FIGURE 3. Head and pronotum, male stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen of Paraxantia spp.. A–C: head and pronotum, dorsal and lateral view; D–F: male stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen. A, D: P. tibetensis; B, E: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; C, F: P. nujiangensis sp. nov..

FIGURE 4. Male right side of the cerci and external genitalia of Paraxantia spp.. A–C: cercus; D–F: male external genitalia; G– J: titillator. A, D, G: P. tibetensis; B, E, H: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; C, F, I: P. nujiangensis sp. nov.; J: P. daweishanensis.

FIGURE 5. Male fore tibiae and female ovipositor of Paraxantia spp.. A–E: fore tibia; F, G: ovipositor; A: P. rubripes; B: P. kaquewa; C: P. tibetensis; D, F, G: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; E: P. nujiangensis sp. nov..

FIGURE 6. Paraxantia spp. in natural habitat and ecological habitat. A: P. tibetensis, male; B: P. rubripes, male; C: P. angustipennis sp. nov., male; D: P. nujiangensis sp. nov., male; E: P. angustipennis, Dulongjiang River, Xiong'dang, Yunnan; F: P. nujiangensis, Nujiang River, Gongshan, Yunnan; G: P. tibetensis, P. rubripes and P. angustipennis, Medog, Tibet; H: P. nujiangensis, Baihualing, Baoshan, Yunnan. (A, B: photograph © Yue- Zheng Tu, published with permission)

FIGURE 7. Distribution map of the Paraxantia spp. in Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains. ■: P. tibetensis; ●: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; ◆: P. nujiangensis sp. nov.; ▲: P. rubripes; ★: P. kaquewa.