A new species of king cricket Glaphyrosoma Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae: Glaphyrosomatini) from Costa Rica with behavioral observations
Author
Richardson, Steven
Author
Trimm, Travis
Author
Paredes, Randell
Author
Koehl, Jonathan
Author
Song, Hojun
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-09-16
4671
1
93
104
journal article
25453
10.11646/zootaxa.4671.1.7
0efcada5-1b2c-45cf-bb56-73f4909b5c74
1175-5326
3450268
BEC614E3-13ED-482A-845E-211C242B7D10
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
Richardson, Trimm, Paderes, Koehl
, & Song, sp. nov.
Figs 1–11
urn:lsid:
Orthoptera
.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:506875
Diagnosis.
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
is dorsally colored in solid dark brown (
Figs. 1
,
3
,
10
), and is similar in overall coloration to
G. gracile
,
G. anderi
,
G. beretka
,
G. bulbosum
,
G. pushenkovi
,
G. franciscoasturiasi
,
G. hectorcentenoi
,
and
G. magnaproctalis
. However, it can be separated from all other members of the genus by having quadrangular male paraproctal process with a spine protruding medially facing upwards (
Figs. 7B, 7C
,
9A, 9D
). This species is morphologically most similar to
G. magnaproctalis
according to the key presented by Cadena- Castañeda & Monzón-Sierra (2017), but differs in the position of the spine on male paraproctal process and the appearance of the male subgenital plate as well as the length of styli. The spine arises medially in
G. stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
instead of being located at the top of the paraproctal process. The subgenital plate also shows more curvature between the styli forming a deep “V” shaped notch half the length of the subgenital plate (
Fig. 7D
,
9B
) and differs from the subgenital plate of
G. magnaproctalis
in which there is almost no notch in between the styli.
Coloration.
Dorsal portion of head dark brown, nearing black; gena and frons dark brown; clypeus light yellow. Median ocellus and two upper ocelli pinkish cream white (when alive) with light beige rings (
Fig. 1
). Antennae dark brown. Labrum white (when alive); mandibles light brown at base and dark brown at the tip; maxillary palpi and labial palpi creamy white. Entire dorsal region from thorax to abdomen dark brown with no delineated coloration patterns. Lateral margin of thoracic and abdominal tergites lighter brown. Sternum yellow/brown. Fore femora and mid femora yellowish brown distally, and darker brown apically. Hind femora lighter brown distally, gradually becoming darker apically and dorsally, with apical end (knee) abruptly becoming creamy white (
Fig. 1
). All tibiae distally dark brown, apically creamy white. All tarsi creamy white.
FIGURE 1.
Habitus of live specimens of
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
taken in the field. (A) dorso-lateral view; (B) frontal view.
Male.
Head
(
Fig. 2A,B
): Integument smooth. Vertex smooth without any depression, blended to frontal ridge. Gena convex. Frons, smooth, unpronounced, blended with the rest of head; two parallel depressions starting at the base of scape; a pair of small circular depressions above the mandibular condyles. Antennal scape originating from where frontal ocellus is positioned. Antenna filiform and at least three times longer than body. Ocelli round and not protruding from head. Eyes pear-shaped, narrowing dorsoventrally, half as long as the width of gena. Clypeus upside down triangular with broadly round ventrally, concave. Labrum circular. Mandibles narrowing to sharp end, articulation points pronounced below gena. Maxillary palpi very long, nearly three times the dorsoventral length of the head. Labial palpi evident, but not long, shorter than the length of mandible. Both maxillary and labial palpi with bulbous apical tips.
Thorax
: Integument smooth. Completely apterous. Pronotum about as long as wide (
Fig. 3A
); sloping downward anteriorly; lateral lobe of pronotum square basally (
Fig. 2B
). Mesonotal and metanotal lobes rounded distally (
Fig. 2B
).
Legs
: Fore tibiae ventrally with 3 pairs of symmetrically arranged spines, 6 apical spurs composed of 1 pair of short symmetrical spines and 2 pairs of apical spurs (
Figs. 4A
,
5A
); no subapical spines along the dorsal surface; tympanum present as depression at distal portion of inner and outer surface of fore tibiae (
Fig. 5A
). Middle tibiae with 4 asymmetrical spines dorsally and 3 pairs of symmetrically arranged spines ventrally (
Fig. 4B
); 6 apical spurs composed of 1 pair of short symmetrical spines, 1 pair of spurs dorsally, and 1 pair of spurs ventrally (
Fig. 4B
). Hind tibiae dorsally armed with 18–21 unarticulated spines, 8 apical spurs composed of 1 pair of short spines, 1 pair of short spurs ventrally, two pairs of long spurs (
Fig. 4C
). Hind femora absent of stripes or patterns (
Fig. 3A
); light muscular lining visible through cuticle (
Fig. 3A
); femoral groove present on outer side of hind femur from base to distal part (
Fig. 3A
). Inner side of hind femora with 3–4 diagonal rows of stridulatory pegs present (
Fig. 6C
).
Abdomen
: Integument smooth. Abdominal tergites gradually narrowing to last tergite (
Fig. 3B
). Sternites rectangular and wider than its length. Lateral margin of first and second abdominal tergites with patches of granular stridulatory pegs (
Fig. 6A
). The ninth tergite broadly bilobed and divided in the middle with a broad notch along the postero-medial margin (
Figs. 7C
,
9A, 9B
). The tenth tergite forming a pair of hooks in the middle, which turn upward above the middle of the ninth tergite (
Figs. 7B, 7C
,
9A, 9C
). Paraproct projected posteriorly but distal part still remains very close to last abdominal tergite and almost flat in appearance (
Figs. 7B
,
9A
). Paraproctal process rectangular with a small denticle arising from medio-posteriorly lying almost flat and directed upwards (
Figs. 7B
,
9A, 9D
). Subgenital plate with a prominent “V” shaped posteromedian notch and relatively long styli half the length of the subgenital plate (
Figs. 7D
,
9B
). Cerci almost twice as long as the width of the tenth tergite, tapering from the base to the tip, arched inwards in dorsal view, covered in small hairs (
Figs. 7A, C, D
). Male internal genitalia largely membranous and as in
Fig. 8
.
FIGURE 2.
(A) frontal view of head, showing the long maxillary palpi; (B) lateral view showing head and thorax.
Female.
Similar to male (
Fig. 10
). Subgenital plate triangular with a broad base and tapering toward the tip (
Fig. 9E
). Ovipositor curved medially and apically directed (
Fig. 11
) and almost one-third length of hind femora. Paraproctal process absent. Cerci thicker than male cerci at base with prominently tapering to the tip (
Fig. 11
).
FIGURE 3.
Holotype of
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
(A) lateral view; (B) dorsal view.
FIGURE 4.
Legs of
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
(A) fore tibia to tarsi; (B) mid femur to tarsi; (C) Hind tibia to tarsi.
FIGURE 5.
Tibial tympana of
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
(A) male, showing outer tympanum in the right fore tibia and inner tympanum in the left fore tibia; (B) female outer tympanum; (C) female inner tympanum.
FIGURE 6.
Stridulatory apparatus of
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
(A) male and (B) female, arrows pointing to patches of granular stridulatory pegs in the first and second abdominal tergites; (C) male and (D) female, arrow pointing to diagonal rows of stridulatory pegs in the inner side of hind femur.
FIGURE 7.
Male external genitalia of
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
(A) lateral view of abdominal segments 4–10; (B) posterior view of abdomen, showing cerci, paraproctal processes, and tenth tergites; (C) dorsal view of ninth and tenth abdominal tergites; (D) ventral view showing male subgenital plate.
Measurements (in mm).
Male
(n=5): pronotum length 8.94–9.42 (9.24 ± 0.22); fore femur length 11.89–12.62 (12.23 ± 0.29); mid femur length 12.09–13.63 (12.87 ± 0.59); hind femur length 29.36–31.31 (30.02 ± 0.89); hind femur width 6.71–6.83 (6.78 ± 0.06).
Female
(n=5): pronotum length 9.00–10.24 (9.60 ± 0.48); fore femur length 11.33–13.55 (12.33 ± 0.84); mid femur length 11.96–13.65 (12.79 ± 0.67); hind femur length 28.53–31.73 (30.15 ± 1.29); hind femur width 6.50–7.60 (7.05 ± 0.40); ovipositor length 11.74–13.95 (12.56 ± 0.82).
Etymology.
From Latin “stephano” meaning crown and “soltis” referring to the Soltis Center for Research and Education, the
type
locality of the species. Therefore,
stephanosoltis
means “Crown of Soltis” referring to the first king cricket ever described at the facility.
Distribution.
Costa Rica
:
Alajuela Province
, San Ramón. Forest floor in mid-elevation (
450 m
above sea level) secondary rainforest.
Holotype
:
Male
(
Fig. 3
). (Measurement: pronotum length
9.34 mm
; fore femur length
11.99 mm
; mid femur length
12.09 mm
; hind femur length
29.36 mm
; hind femur width
6.81 mm
.)
COSTA RICA
:
Alajuela Province
,
San Ramón
,
San Juan de Peñas Blancas. Soltis Center
for
Research
and
Education
,
10°23’0.4524’’N
,
84°37’4.674’’W
,
7.viii.2018
, collected by hand at night.
Coll. S.J. Richardson.
FIGURE 8.
Male internal genitalia of
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
(A) male internal genitalia in their natural position inside abdomen, showing their relative position to the subgenital plate; (B) dissected and magnified view of male internal genitalia.
Additional Type Material.
26 paratypes
(
5 adult
males,
13 adult
females, 5 nymphal males, 3 nymphal females). Same data as
holotype
.
Type Depository.
All
type
material has been deposited to the
Texas
A&M University Insect Collection (TAMU- IC).
DNA Barcode.
We have generated a DNA barcode for
G. stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
, which has been deposited to GenBank with accession number
MN
128722
, and the DNA tissue voucher specimen was deposited to
TAMUIC
Insect Genomic Collection with voucher number TAMUIC-IGC-002678. Although
Vandergast
et al.
(2017)
generated COI genes for many
Anostostomatidae
, including several unidentified specimens of
Glaphyrosoma
from
Mexico
, the primers that they used (C1-J-2183 and C1-N-2872) amplified the back half of the COI gene and did not overlap with the DNA barcode region, which is located in the front half of the COI gene. Therefore, our DNA barcode represents the first for the genus.
Biological Information.
Glaphyrosoma stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
was hand collected along the trails adjacent to secondary rainforest in the vicinity of the Soltis Center for Research and Education. The Soltis Center’s forests are adjacent to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest (Bosque Eterno de los Niños) and located about
450 m
above sea level. The insects were only found after sunset when it was sprinkling or after it had just rained, and were more abundant when temperature was above 21
oC
. The species was never observed during the day, and when kept in a screen cage with foliage comprised of torn leaves and branches, it was observed that the insects still hid under foliage, even in a dark environment. Those that were unable to hide under the foliage started to appear dull in their cuticles, which suggested that they desiccate easily even on the rainforest floor. The species most likely lives underground in order to avoid desiccation and remain in a higher level of humidity beneath the rainforest floor and only comes out when humidity levels are higher to search for food or mates. When collecting specimens along trails, it was found they tended to hide on the overhanging dirt underside along trails and sometimes in tunnels most likely made by other burrowing animals. When baited with oatmeal, the insects were attracted within an hour of placing the bait, which suggested that these insects might be targeting a good source of carbohydrate and protein, which are rich in the oatmeal used for the trail. When presented with a choice between a plant mixture (
Passiflora
sp.,
Cecropia obtusifolia
,
Neurolaena lobata
, and unidentified
Piperaceae
) and a protein mixture (land crab and katydids), all of which were commonly found in the forest,
G. stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
showed overwhelming preference for the plants. However, when kept in a cage with other insects, they fed on dead crickets and katydids, suggesting a necrophagous behavior. Collectively, these observations suggest that
G. stephanosoltis
sp. nov.
is an omnivorous insect, which is a common dietary pattern in many ensiferans.