Tmethis cisti tunensis Saussure (1888)

Massa, Bruno, 2013, Pamphagidae (Orthoptera: Caelifera) of North Africa: key to genera and the annotated check-list of species, Zootaxa 3700 (3), pp. 435-475 : 439

[ Tmethis cisti tunensis Saussure (1888) ]

Saussure (1888) described it as a variety of T. clavelii from coastal dunes and grasslands. Characters are red tibiae and tegmina somewhat abbreviated (mainly in the female). Chopard (1943) considered it to be identical to the type of T. pulchripennis var. algerica Saussure, 1888 (that really was a T. cisti ). Uvarov (1943) wrote that he found these characteristics in specimens from outskirts of Tunis and Gafsa. It may be observed that in Tunisia tibiae colour cannot be used as taxonomic character and in the same locality (e.g., Gafsa) they may be red or blue. Specimens examined by me (see material listed below T. cisti ) came from many localities of Tunisia, included coastal dunes and grasslands; in consideration of the wide variability of the taxon, I think that also tunensis is a junior synonym of T. cisti .