Studies in Colombian Caelifera and adjacent territories: Ciglianacris, a new genus of Andean Melanoplinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
Author
Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J.
Author
Granda, Juan Manuel Cardona
text
Zootaxa
2017
4286
2
267
276
journal article
32749
10.11646/zootaxa.4286.2.9
d4a6ec98-72eb-4fdc-89fc-032036981e51
1175-5326
828465
AEE4D02F-560A-4179-A867-3EEBCF6B9093
Ciglianacris
n. gen.
http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid:
Orthoptera
.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:478603
Type species.—
Ciglianacris submontana
n. gen.
et
n. sp.
Etymology.
We dedicated this new genus to Dr. María Marta Cigliano, as an acknowledgement to her scientific work and her continued and interesting contributions to the knowledge of the subfamily Melanoplinae.
Diagnosis.
Slender insects, matte and slightly coarse body surface (particularly the pronotum) (
Figs. 1, 2
,
17, 18
). Frons slightly convex in both sexes, eyes prominent but not noticeably surpassing the vertex level (
Figs. 3
,
12
). Metazona a little longer than the prozona, males with the hind margin of pronotum rounded (
Fig. 2
), females with hind margin of pronotum straight (
Fig. 13
); pronotum mid-line present along all the pronotal disc. Both sexes brachypterous (
Figs. 17, 18
). Male: Cerci slender, upwardly curving from mesal portion to tip, reduced furculae (
Fig. 5
). Phallic complex: Cingulum with the endophallic plates expanding (
Fig. 8
), valves of the aedeagus slim and distally divergent (
Fig. 11
), slightly sclerotized distally, sheath of aedeagus dorsally covering the valves of the aedeagus (
Fig. 10
). Body color mostly brownish-gray with olive green extremities (
Fig. 17
); in females, chevron femora filled with black (
Fig. 18
); post-ocular stripe present, extending along the lateral margin of the pronotum until the fourth abdominal tergite.
Relationships.
Ciglianacris
n. gen
.
, closely resembles the other Andean genera
Bogotacris
and
Chibchacris
, from which it differs by not having a completely shiny-smooth body surface. The head of the aforementioned two genera tends to be noticeably more slanted and shiny, with a more pronounced fastigium. This new genus seems to be closer to
Bogotacris
than to
Chibchacris
, as it does not have modified tips of the cerci (a common character in
Chibchacris
). Also, the aedeagus valves of
Ciglianacris
are thin and not very sclerotized, and they are enveloped in a membrane-like fold (or sheath of aedeagus), in contrast with the other two genera, where they are well sclerotized and not covered in any fold whatsoever, or if the sheath of aedeagus is present in these genera not is so developed as the new genus.
FIGURES 1–2.
Ciglianacris submontana
n. sp.
(Male).
Habitus lateral and dorsal respectively.
FIGURES 3–11.
Ciglianacris submontana
n. sp.
(Male). 3.
Frons.
4.
Tegmina.
5–6.
Terminalia in lateral and dorsal view.
7–11.
Genitalia:
7.
Epiphallus.
8–9.
Genitalia without epiphallus in lateral and dorsal view.
10–11.
Details of aedeagus in lateral and dorsal view.
The new genus hereby described, is also similar with the genera from the group Scotussae; because the aedeagus valves have a cylindrical cross-section, with no mid-longitudinal furrow, diverging caudally; the sheath of aedeagus has a mid-longitudinal cleft in its middle lobe, and the lateral lobes developed (
Ronderos 1985
;
Cigliano & Ronderos 1994
;
Dinghi
et al
., 2009
). As for the wing development and general appearance, besides the white dots in the eyes in live specimens,
Ciglianacris
n. gen.
, resembles the genera
Chlorus
Giglio-Tos, 1898
,
Dichromatos
Cigliano, 2007
and
Eurotettix
Bruner, 1906
. This new genus differs from the Scotussae group genera mentioned above in that it lacks a strip that is usually located in the inner margin of the inter-chevron space; comparable genera, such as
Chlorus
, have an acutely angled, inwardly-arched, distally half lamelliform cerci.
Eurotettix
has slender cerci, curved inwards with the tips directed inwards tapering or weakly expanded at the tip and
Dichromatos
cerci taper in their distal end toward the tip, which is pointy-ended, and inwardly curved a mostly right angle; this contrasts with
Ciglianacris
n. gen.
, which has slender, upwardly curved cerci from the mesal portion towards the tip.
In comparing
Ciglianacris
n. gen.
, with some Andean genera and others of the Scotussae group, it is evident that the new genus is closer to the genera of the latter, which is why we suggest its inclusion in the Scotussae group.
Ciglianacris
n. gen.
, which inhabits middle and low elevations in the inter-Andean valleys of the
Eastern
Versant of the
Central Colombian Cordillera
and the
Western
Side of the
Eastern
Cordillera in
Colombia
, would be then the most northerly distributed member of the Scotusssae group, which is better represented in the Paraná basin and in the
Argentinian Pampa region
.
Distribution.
The only species known so far has been found at mid-elevations in the
Boyacá
,
Santander
,
Cundinamarca
and
Tolima
departments (all specimens in the
Eastern
Cordillera except for a female photographed in
Tolima
in the Central Cordillera), between
1400 to 1900
m
.