Pharmacus concinnus, Hegg & Morgan-Richards & Trewick, 2022

Hegg, Danilo, Morgan-Richards, Mary & Trewick, Steven A., 2022, High alpine sorcerers: revision of the cave wētā genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the description of six new species and three new subspecies, European Journal of Taxonomy 808 (1), pp. 1-58 : 43-44

Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2582DF14-FB0D-4F8B-A393-6F731907EB8B

Figs 1–2 , 6 , 8I , 9G , 11D–F , 13D–F , 15D , 17A , 18F

Diagnosis

A mid-sized cave wētā known only from the alpine regions of the Eyre Mountains south of Lake Wakatipu; it is the largest of all Pharmacus species. Body colour is dark, nearly black.

It shares the habitat with Talitropsis chopardi and Macropathus sp. The former has lighter colour, shorter legs and fewer, larger spines on the hind tibiae, and unarmed hind tarsi; the latter has uniform brown colour and much longer legs, which give the insect a very slender appearance.

The species cannot be reliably differentiated from Pharmacus cochleatus comb. nov. without an examination of the terminalia. The two species however are not sympatric.

Etymology

‘ Concīnnus ’ is Latin for ‘pleasing’, ‘elegant’, also ‘symmetrical’, after the Symmetry Peaks in the Eyre Mountains where it was first discovered. Pharmacus concinnus means ‘elegant sorcerer’.

Material examined (see also Supp. file 1: Table S9)

Holotype NEW ZEALAND • ♂, adult; Otago Lakes (OL), Symmetry Peaks, Eyre Mountains ; 45.27797° S, 168.59113° E; 1500 m a.s.l.; 12 May 2018; D. Hegg leg.; on rock tor; night search + insect net; NMNZ AI.052298 (prev. MPN CW3853).

Paratype NEW ZEALAND • 1 ♀, adult; same collection data as for holotype; NMNZ AI.052299 (prev. MPN CW3843) .

Other material

NEW ZEALAND – Otago Lakes (OL) • 1 nymph; same collection data as for holotype; GenBank: OM293707 ; MPN CW4023A • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 4 nymphs; same collection data as for holotype; MPN CW3842 , CW3852 , CW4023B to CW4023E • 1 ♀; Eyre Peak, Eyre Mountains ; 45.33260° S, 168.47225° E; 1500 m a.s.l.; 16 Feb. 2019; D. Hegg leg.; on rock bluffs; night search + insect net; GenBank: OM293722 ; MPN CW4477 • 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 1 nymph; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4367 , CW4476 , CW4478 to CW4483 • 1 ♀; Mt Dick, Eyre Mountains ; 45.26572° S, 168.69083° E; 1550 m a.s.l.; 16 Mar. 2019; D. Hegg leg.; on rock bluffs; night search + insect net; GenBank: OM293721 ; MPN CW4472 • 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 2 nymphs; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4473 to CW4475 , CW4501 to CW4504 , CW4592 , CW4593 • 1 ♀; Billy Creek, Eyre Mountains ; 45.30540° S, 168.45460° E; 1400 m a.s.l.; 23 Feb. 2020; M. Thorsen leg.; on rock bluffs; casual find; GenBank: OM293727 ; MPN CW4874 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4873 .

Description

MEASUREMENTS. See Table 1.

HEAD. As per generic description. Eyes grey or brown. Antennae brown or black.

THORAX. As per generic description.

LEGS. Variegated colour, occasionally dark or almost black; hind tibiae black above. Hind tibiae approximately as long as body, or just under, in both males and females. Fore femora armed with one prolateral spine at the apex in four out of twelve females and one out of ten males examined. Mid femora armed with one retrolateral spine at the apex; prolateral apical spine absent. The first hind tarsus segment is armed with a variable number of linear spines above (up to ten); the second hind tarsus segment is only rarely armed with dorsal linear spines.

ABDOMEN. Tergites glabrous or sparsely tomentose; colour chequered yellow/black in adults ( Fig. 15D ), the black being predominant and giving the insect a dark look. A thin, pale median line along the whole length of the insect is generally present.

MALE TERMINALIA. Subgenital plate deep when seen from the side; shaped like a spoon when seen from above, broader at the vertex and less constricted at the neck compared to the subgenital plate of Pharmacus cochleatus comb. nov. Paraprocts large and swollen, bristled on the inside, glabrous on the outside ( Fig. 11D–F ).

FEMALE TERMINALIA. Subgenital plate bilobed, the incision between the two lobes sutured ( Fig. 13D ), a trait not found in any other Pharmacus species. Ovipositor long and straight, just under three quarters of body length; lower valve with 6 to 8 teeth below at the apex ( Fig. 13E–F ).

Figures

Fig. 1. A. Genetic relationships of cave wētā support monophyly of the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. Gene tree from mtDNA sequences (~1500 bp of COI) using Maximum Likelihood with 1000 bootstraps and Macropathus filifer Walker, 1869 to root the tree. B. Map of South Island of New Zealand, showing locations of Pharmacus specimens used in phylogenetic analyses (Figs 1A, 2). Colours correspond to different species. Two letter codes indicate the New Zealand entomological regions (Crosby et al. 1998). These codes are reported in the Material examined section for each species.

Fig. 2. Gene tree for the eight morphologically identified species of Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893 using Maximum Likelihood analysis of ~850 bp of mtDNA (COI) from 60 specimens ofPharmacus.

Fig. 6. Known distribution of cave wētā in the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893 in the south of the South Island, New Zealand.

Fig. 8. Dorsal views of adult ♂ cave wētā in the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. Notice loss of natural pigmentation of pale body parts due to preservation in ethanol. A–B. Pharmacus montanus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893 A. Mt Annette, Sealy Range, Mt Cook (MPN CW3302). B. Lake Anna, Mt Franklin, Arthur’s Pass (MPN CW3989). C. Pharmacus senex sp. nov., Old Woman Range, Central Otago (MPN CW4387). D. Pharmacus cochleatus cochleatus (Karny, 1935) comb. nov., Topheavy, Mt Brewster, Haast Pass (MPN CW3324). E. Pharmacus cochleatus rawhiti subsp. nov., Mt Tūwhakarōria, Hector Mountains (NMNZ AI.052290). F. Pharmacus cristatus sp. nov., Skippers Range, South Westland (MPN CW4562). G. Pharmacus vallestris sp. nov., Matukituki River West Branch (MPN CW3700). H. Pharmacus notabilis sp. nov., Remarkables ski-field access road (NMNZ AI.052296). I. Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov., Eyre Peak, Eyre Mountains (MPN CW4482). J. Pharmacus perfidus sp. nov., Spence Peak, Takitimu Mountains (MPN CW4494). Scale bar = 10 mm.

Fig. 9. Left hind tibia of adult ♂ cave wētā in the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893, dorsal view. A. Pharmacus montanus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893, Lake Anna, Mt Franklin, Arthur’s Pass (MPN CW3989). B. Pharmacus cochleatus cochleatus (Karny, 1935) comb. nov., Gertrude Saddle, Darran Mountains (MPN CW3413). C. Pharmacus cochleatus rawhiti subsp. nov., Mt Tūwhakarōria, Hector Mountains (MPN CW4431). D. Pharmacus cristatus sp. nov., Skippers Range, South Westland (NMNZ AI.052292). E. Pharmacus notabilis sp. nov., Remarkables ski-field access road (NMNZ AI.052296). F. Pharmacus senex sp. nov., Obelisk, Old Man Range (NMNZ AI.052294). G. Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov., Eyre Peak, Eyre Mountains (MPN CW4480). H. Pharmacus perfidus sp. nov., Spence Peak, Takitimu Mountains (NMNZ AI.052300). I. Pharmacus vallestris sp. nov., Matukituki River West Branch (MPN CW3700). Scale bar = 5 mm.

Fig. 11. Adult male terminalia of cave wētā in the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. Left column: dorsal view; central column: ventral view (subgenital plate); right column: lateral view. A–C. Pharmacus senex sp. nov., The Obelisk, Old Man Range (NMNZ AI.052294). D–F. Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov., Symmetry Peaks, Eyre Mountains (NMNZ AI.052298). G–I. Pharmacus perfidus sp. nov., Spence Peak, Takitimu Mountains (NMNZ AI.052300). J–L. Pharmacus vallestris sp. nov., Matukituki River West Branch (NMNZ AI.052302). Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 13. Adult female terminalia of cave wētā in the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. Left column: subgenital plate; central and right columns: ovipositor. A–C. Pharmacus senex sp. nov., Old Woman Range (NMNZ AI.052295). D–F. Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov., Symmetry Peaks, Eyre Mountains (NMNZ AI.052299). G–I. Pharmacus perfidus sp. nov., Spence Peak, Takitimu Mountains (NMNZ AI.052301). J–L. Pharmacus vallestris sp. nov., Matukituki River West Branch (NMNZ AI.052303). Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 15. Live Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893 in their natural environments. A–B. Pharmacus senex sp. nov. A. Adult ♂, Dunstan, Dunstan Mountains, 1670 m a.s.l. B. Adult ♂ and ♀. The Obelisk, Old Man Range, 1680 m a.s.l. C. Pharmacus notabilis sp. nov. Adult ♂, Remarkables Ski-field Access Road, Wakatipu, 1200 m a.s.l. D. Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov. Adult ♂, Symmetry Peaks, Eyre Mountains, 1500 m a.s.l. E. Pharmacus perfidus sp. nov. Adult ♀ and ♂, Spence Peak, Takitimu Mountains, 1450 m a.s.l. F. Pharmacus vallestris sp. nov. Adult ♀, French Ridge, Matukituki River West Branch, 1700 m a.s.l. (MPN CW5145).

Fig. 17. Habitat of Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. A. Mount Dick, Eyre Mountains. a. Rock bluffs at 1550 m a.s.l., collection locality of Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov. (MPN CW4472–4475, CW4501–4504, CW4592, CW4593). B. Dunstan, Dunstan Mountains. b. Rock tors at 1670 m a.s.l. collection locality of P. senex sp. nov. (MPN CW4381–4385, CW4402–4405, CW4506–4509). C. Spence Peak, Takitimu Mountains. c. North ridge, 1450 m a.s.l., collection locality of P. perfidus sp. nov. (NMNZ AI.052300, AI.052301; MPN CW4487, CW4489, CW4490, CW4494–4496, CW4498, CW4499, CW4553–4555). D. Skippers Range High Point, South Westland. d–e. Scree and rock bluffs around lake, 1600 m a.s.l., collection locality of P. cochleatus nauclerus subsp. nov. (NMNZ AI.052289, MPN CW4363) and of P. cristatus sp. nov. (NMNZ AI.052292, AI.052293; MPN CW4365, CW4376, CW4484, CW4485, CW4562).

Fig. 18. Map of South Island, New Zealand, showing the known distribution of cave wētā in the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. A–B. Solid shapes indicate material collected as part of this study; empty circles indicate additional locations of material examined by Richards (1972). B. Shapes represent different subspecies: dark blue circle = Pharmacus cochleatus cochleatus; light blue circle = Pharmacus cochleatus nauclerus subsp. nov.; diamond = Pharmacus cochleatus fiordensis subsp. nov.; triangle = Pharmacus cochleatus rawhiti subsp. nov.