Gymnogryllus odonopetalus Xie & Zheng, 2003

Wang, Ning, Huang, Huateng & Ma, Li-Bin, 2022, The intraspecific variation of morphology and coloration of field crickets: a taxonomic revision of Chinese Gymnogryllus Saussure, 1877 and Phonarellus Gorochov, 1983 (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllini), ZooKeys 1129, pp. 85-107 : 85

Gymnogryllus odonopetalus Xie & Zheng, 2003

Figs 1E-F , 3 , 4 , 5

Gymnogryllus odonopetalus Xie & Zheng, 2003: 496, 498.

Gymnogryllus yunnanensis Ma & Zhang, 2011: 31-40, syn. nov.

Gymnogryllus longus Ma & Zhang, 2011: 31-40, syn. nov.

Gymnogryllus tumidulus Ma & Zhang, 2011: 31-40, syn. nov.

Gymnogryllus striatus Ma & Zhang, 2011: 31-40, syn. nov.

Holotype.

Type locality: Menglun, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. Deposited at Museum of Flora and Fauna of Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China (SNNU).

Specimens examined.

China: 1 male (holotype), Yunnan, Xishuangbanna, Menglun , Sept. 8, 1999, Xie, Lingde coll. (SNNU) ; 2 males and 1 female, Yunnan, Honghe, Wengdang , Jun. 11, 2009, Ma, Libin coll. (SNNU) ; 1 female, Yunnan, Mengla, Shangyong, Longmen , May 13, 2013, Ma, Libin coll. (SNNU) ; 1 male, Yunnan, Mengla (or Wangtianshu ), Oct. 2, 2014, Zhang, Tao coll. (SNNU) ; 3 males, Yunnan, Jinghong , Jul. 11, 2018, Peng, Zhong coll. (SNNU) ; 2 males, Yunnan, Pu’er, Jinggu , Aug. 17, 2021, He, Zhixin coll. (SNNU) ; 7 males, Yunnan, Pu’er, Simaoqu , Aug. 18, 2021, He, Zhixin coll. (SNNU) ; 15 males, Yunnan, Mengla, Menglun , Aug. 25, 2021, He, Zhixin coll. (SNNU) ; 3 females, Yunnan, Mengla, Menglun , Aug. 25, 2021, He, Zhixin coll. (SNNU) .

Distribution.

(Fig. 2 ). China (Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong).

Measurements (mm).

Male (N = 30): BL 27.73-29.42; HW 6.42-6.84; PL 4.86-5.32; FWL 18.62-21.32; HLL 16.27-17.12; HTL 9.43-10.14; EW 1.56-1.79; PW 7.62-7.98; HWL 6.04-6.84; DVL 4.62-4.96; ML 3.72-3.98; CL 8.15-8.54; FTL 5.42-5.76; MTL 6.29-6.45.

Description.

Male (Figs 1E , 3A ). Head longer than wide, as wide as fore margin of pronotum. Vertex smooth and broad. Occiput slightly inclined. Frontal rostrum as wide as one eye and flattened. Scape of antennae flat, shield-like, and as wide as half of frontal rostrum. With three small ocelli, arranged in a straight line, median ocellus semilunar. Eyes about 1/4 length of head. Epistomal suture straight and close to eyes. Labrum slightly convex and rhombus shaped. Last segment of maxillary palpi slightly narrower than the third. Labial palpi the middle segment longer than the others.

Pronotum disc rectanglur, anterior margin concave, posterior margin sinuated; a longitudinal groove in middle of pronotum, about 2/3 the length of the pronotum. Fore margin of pronotum rough and densely pubescent. Tegmen reaching tip of abdomen; with three oblique veins, outmost nearly vertical and straight, two internal inclined and longer than outmost; and them converging diagonal vein. Diagonal vein curved and anteriorly forked. Chord veins three, the internal two extremely curved, connected at bottom. Between diagonal vein and the most internal chord vein armed with two transverse veins. Mirror large, inclined rectangular. Apical field triangular, about 2/5 the length of tegmina, variable among individuals, armed with rectangular cells.

Fore tibiae with inner and outer tympanum, inner tympanum small and ovoid, outer longer-oval. Hind femora brown with light stripes. Distal of hind tibiae with five dorsal spurs on both sides; apical spurs six, the inner apical spurs three (the dorsal one longest, the ventral one shortest and 1/4 length of the longest one, the middle one about 2/3 length of the longest), and the outer apical spurs three (equal length of the dorsal one and the ventral one, about 2/3 length of the middle one). Subgenital plate hook-like. Cercus straight and short; with long hair sparse and short hair dense.

Genitalia (Figs 4 , 5 ). Male genitalia robust, epiphallus arch-shaped in front view; inner side of medial lobe armed with a pair of teeth. Median notch between paired apical teeth and length of teeth varyable between individuals. End of middle lobes of epiphallus bent upward, for less than 90°, varyable between individuals. Notch of epiphallus anterior variable, with bottom angular or broad and arc-shaped. Outer edge of end of ectoparamere armed with irregular numbers of teeth.

Coloration (Fig. 3 ). Head, pronotum and much of the hind femur blackish brown. Occiput uniformly blackish brown. 1/3 part of cheek bottom brown. Frons black, ventral quarter of lateral lobe with a light stripe. Hind femur black.

Female (Figs 1F , 3B ). Slightly smaller than male, with tegmina dark brown. Ovipositor as long as pronotum.

Remarks.

Ma and Zhang (2011) proposed four species, G. yunnanensis , G. striatus , G. longus , and G. tumidulus , based on the angle between the apical epiphallic teeth, the posterior edge of the medial lobe of epiphallus, and the apical field of the forewing. We examined our specimens and determined that these characters present intraspecific variation. In particular, the angle between the apical teeth of epiphallus shows tremendous variation between specimens (Fig. 4A-F ). Besides, the epiphalli of these four species are armed with two pairs of teeth inside, which is consistent with the holotype of G. odonopetalus deposited in SNNU (in fact, we found that one pair of teeth is formed by the ectoparamere curved at the tip on the type specimen of G. odonopetalus ). Therefore, we regard G. yunnanensis , G. striatus , G. longus , and G. tumidulus as junior synonyms of G. odonopetalus .

Hence, the species G. odonopetalus has some charecters showing intraspecific variation even within specimens collected from the same place and time. In lateral view, the angle between the apical teeth and the posterior edge of the medial lobe of epiphallus is variable among individuals (red arrows in Fig. 4 ); the protuberances in the middle of the ectoparamere vary in size (blue circles indicate the protuberance of mid-ectoparamere in Fig. 4 ). In dorsal view, the end of the epiphallus is variable (shown by green circles in Fig. 4G-L ); the anterior notch of epiphallus is morphologically also diverse. In caudal view, shape and space between apical teeth of epiphallus are variable (drawing of epiphallus in Fig. 5D-F, J-L ); the length of the apical area of the ectoparamere varies among individuals.

Figures

Figure 1. Living photos of some Phonarellus and Gymnogryllus species A, B male of P. minor (with varing proportion of black areas on hind legs) C female of P. minor D male of P. ritsemae E male of G. odonopetalus F female of G. odonopetalus (Photos A-D were provided by Zhang, Tao, and E, F were photographed by He, Zhixin).

Figure 2. Distributions of Phonarellus and Gymnogryllus in China (Note: the locality of P. zebripes cited from Liu and He (2022), and the remaining location information is based on the data of examined materials).

Figure 3. Bodies of G. odonopetalus A male B female. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 4. Intraspecific variation of genitalia in G. odonopetalus A-F genitalia from six individuals in lateral view (Note: the red arrows point to the posterior of epiphallus, highlighting variations among individuals; the blue circles indicate the protuberance of mid-ectoparamere) G-L genitalia of the same six individuals in dorsal view (Note: the green circles indicate the median lobe of the epiphallus posterior).

Figure 5. Intraspecific variation of genitalia in G. odonopetalus A-C and G-I photos of genitalia from six individuals in caudal view D-F and J-L drawings of genitalia from the same six individuals in caudal view.