Cophogryllus pietersburgi Gorochov, 2008

Gorochov, Andrej V. & Mostovski, Mike B., 2008, Apterous crickets of the tribe Gryllini from South Africa and Namibia (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), African Invertebrates 49 (1), pp. 109-109 : 117-119

Cophogryllus pietersburgi Gorochov , sp. n.

Figs 23–25

Etymology: The species is named after Pietersburg, currently Polokwane.

Description:

Male.

Coloration light brown with slightly reddish brown head, dark brown eyes, brownish grey antennal flagellum, and yellowish genae, subgenae, palpi, labium, legs, all sternites, genital plate, and lower parts of all tergites. Head very large (slightly larger than in both new species of Kurtguentheria described here), partly spherical, with comparatively small eyes and moderately wide area between antennae (distance between antennal cavities approximately equal to width of eye and about 1.6 times as great as width of scape); clypeal suture distinct, weakly arched; mandibles comparatively short. Pronotum distinctly widened in front and with high lateral lobes; pronotal disc moderately transverse, with fore and hind edges almost straight. Legs similar to those of both abovementioned species of Kurtguentheria , but hind tibia distinctly shorter and without inflation in middle and narrowing in distal part, their spurs and distal spines much shorter (longest of them slightly not reaching middle of hind basitarsus), number of hind tibial spines and spurs as in K. brachyxipha sp. n., hind basitarsus not very thin, slightly curved in profile, with 6 or 7 inner and 8 outer denticles. Hind abdominal tergites without any projection; anal plate with rounded distal part; genital plate rather large, elongate (but not long), with narrowly rounded apex and a pair of lateral lobules near it. Genitalia with characteristic epiphallus having a pair of very long proximal lobes directed backwards and connected with rami by membranes covering most part of epiphallus from side ( Figs 23, 25 ); distal part of epiphallus with large roundly angular median notch and a pair of almost spine-like small medial processes near it ( Fig. 23 ); distal part of rami extending to apex of epiphallus; first ectoparameres not long and with rather narrow distal half; second ectoparameres long (much longer than first ones) and widened in proximal part; virga wide, but not long ( Fig. 24 ); each endoparamere with distinct lateral apodeme ( Fig. 25 ).

Length (in mm): Body 11.5, pronotum 2.2, hind femur 8.1, hind tibia 4.7, hind basitarsus 2.4.

Female. Unknown.

Holotype: _ SOUTH AFRICA: Limpopo: “ South Africa: Pietersburg 24 ° 14'40''S 29 ° 15'30''E 19.II.1989 HE Stecnkamp Department of Entomology University of Pretoria” ( SANC).

Comparison: The main differences of the new species from all congeners are given in the key. It is possible that C.? zoutpansbergi with insufficiently illustrated male genitalia is most closely related to the new species, but both species are additionally distinguishable from each other by the following characters of coloration: in the new species, coloration of the pronotum and other tergites is similar, but in the species from Soutpansberg, the pronotum distinctly lighter than the dorsal part of the pterothoracic and abdominal tergites.

Figures

Figs 23–31. Cophogryllus and Acophogryllus, _: (23–25) C. pietersburgi sp. n., genitalia dorsally (23), ventrally (24) and laterally (25); (26–28) C.? zoutpansbergi (after Otte 1987), distal part of genitalia dorsally (26) and ventrally (27), genitalia laterally (28); (29–31) A. schultzei (after Gorochov 1996), genitalia dorsally (29), ventrally (30) and laterally (31).Abbreviations: (ec) ectoparamere; others as in Figs 1–5 and 15–22.