Orthoptera (Tettigoniidae and Acridoidea) from Miombo woodlands of Central Tanzania with the description of new taxa
Author
Hemp, Claudia
Author
Heller, Klaus-Gerhard
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-09-17
4671
2
151
194
journal article
25521
10.11646/zootaxa.4671.2.1
e3eb548e-fa57-4a0e-8d2d-5e299b5b136e
1175-5326
3442218
FB9526DD-4A01-422A-ACC3-A50AB0A6AF40
Horatosphaga laticerca
n. sp.
C. Hemp
Holotype
.
Male.
Tanzania
, near
Gulwe
,
Mpwapwa District
,
Dodoma Region
, small hill covered by
Miombo
woodlands, on herbs in grasslands,
March 2018
.
Paratypes
13 males
,
4 females
, same data as holotype.
Depository
:
Collection C. Hemp
.
Description.
Male. Color dark green, with broad dark brown fascia dorsal on head and pronotum.
Head and antennae
. Antennae thick, more than twice as long as length of insect (
6 cm
, N=1). Fastigium verticis consisting of two bulges running into narrow finger-like sulcate ridge; separated from conical fastigium of face by gap. Eyes slightly oval, prominent.
Thorax.
Surface of pronotum with numerous small wrinkles.
Tegmina and wings
. Venation of tegmina reduced, broad, oval, slightly longer than body length. Alae reduced (
Fig. 5 A
), about
6–7 mm
long. Stridulatory file on inner side of left tegmen continuous and slightly curved; consisting of numerous small and tightly set teeth (
Fig. 6 D
).
Legs.
Tympanic auricles of fore tibiae conchate, not inflated. Fore and mid femora with ventral double row of stout black-tipped spines. Hind femora also with ventral double row of black spines that are less stout than on fore and mid legs. Fore and mid tibiae quadrangular in diameter, with numerous small spinules, especially ventrally. Hind tibia dorsally rounded, ventrally with double row of spinules.
Abdomen.
10
th
abdominal tergite greatly enlarged forming a two-parted structure: dorsally two elongated but apically rounded processes are formed; below these processes two bulbous structures are present (
Fig. 6 A, B
). Cerci laterally pan-like enlarged, with small finger-shaped process on anterior margin (arrow in
Fig. 6 A
). Subgenital plate elongated with median v-shaped incision (
Fig. 6 C
).
Female:
Similar in size and colour as male (
Fig. 4 B
), thus sexual dimorphism small. Alae stronger reduced than in male (
Fig. 5 B
),
4–4.5 mm
long. Subgenital plate with broad base and incised apex (
Fig. 7 A
). Ovipositor stout, slightly up-curved and strongly serrated. Cerci thick and short.
Measurements, males (mm) (N=4). Total length of body 26.2–29.6; Median length of pronotum 6.5–7.2; Length of hind femur 33.4–35.3; Length of elytra 24.7–25.8.
FIGURE 4.
Male (
A
) and female (
B
)
Horatosphaga laticerca
n. sp.
FIGURE 5.
Alae of male (
A
) and female (
B
)
Horatosphaga laticerca
n. sp.
FIGURE 6.
Morphological details of male
Horatosphaga laticerca
n. sp.
A, B.
Semi-dorsal and lateral view on male apex; ar- row in
A
points to process on dorsal margin of laterally pan-like expanded cerci
C.
Subgenital plate
D.
Stridulatory file.
Measurements, females (mm) (N=4). Total length of body 30.2–32.5; Median length of pronotum 7.5–7.8; Length of hind femur 33.4–34.6; Length of elytra 23.8–29.1. Length of ovipositor 13.4–14.3.
Diagnosis.
H. laticerca
n. sp.
belongs to a group of
Horatosphaga
species with a modified 10
th
tergite. In differ- ence to
H. laticerca
n. sp.
,
H. ruspolii
(Schulthess, 1898)
,
H. crosskeyi
Ragge, 1960
,
H. inclusa
(Karsch, 1893)
and
H. parensis
Hemp, 2002
have rather elongate tegmina with the typical grooves developed while the tegmina of
H. laticerca
n. sp.
are abbreviated and broadly rounded with reduced venation and without stridulatory modifications outside the stridulatory organ itself. Morphologically similar are the East African species
H. diminuta
(Chopard, 1954)
and
H. vicina
(Chopard, 1954)
. They share with
H. laticerca
n. sp.
a similar plump habitus in male and female, broad rounded tegmina with reduced venation and a similar knob-like 10
th
abdominal tergite with a broadly sulcate upper and a bulbous lower part. However, unique are the pan-like expanded very large cerci of
H. laticerca
n. sp.
while both
H. vicina
and
H. diminuta
have very inconspicuous cerci hidden under the enlarged 10
th
abdominal tergite.
Ragge (1980)
noted that
H. diminuta
and
H. vicina
only differ in body size and that
H. vicina
is maybe a large form of
H. diminuta
. Both taxa occur in isolated mountains in northern
Kenya
/
Ethiopia
(Moyale area and Mt. Marsabit) and could well represent two taxa separated by unsuitable habitat for a longer time and thus being in current speciation. Females of the latter three species are similar in their habitus with differences in the shape of their ovipositors (strongly serrated in
H. laticerca
n. sp.
; with few dents in
H. vicina
and
diminuta
) and subgenital plates (
Fig. 7
).
Habitat.
Grasslands and ruderal vegetation in the vicinity of Miombo woodlands.
Distribution.
Central
Tanzania
, only known from the
type
locality.
Etymology.
The male cerci are very enlarged, there from Latin: -
lati
, broad cercus.