Glomeremus shelfordi ( Griffini, 1909 )

Hugel, S., Micheneau, C., Fournel, J., Warren, B. H., Gauvin-Bialecki, A., Pailler, T., Chase, M. W. & Strasberg, D., 2010, Glomeremus species from the Mascarene islands (Orthoptera, Gryllacrididae) with the description of the pollinator of an endemic orchid from the island of Réunion, Zootaxa 2545 (1), pp. 58-68 : 59

Glomeremus shelfordi ( Griffini, 1909)

Eremus sphinx var. shelfordi Griffini, 1909: 333 (original description).

Glomeremus shelfordi, Karny, 1937: 115 .

Material examined. Unpublished high quality pictures of female holotype ( OUMNH) .

This type specimen is badly damaged: only a part of the head, the thorax, four abdominal tergites, the right foreleg and the left fore femora are remaining.

Type locality. As specified in Griffini’s original description, the holotype is labelled “ Mauritius?” .

In accordance with the original description, this specimen displays 3 ventral subapical spurs on both sides of the remaining fore tibia (according to Griffini, both fore tibia and mid tibia had the same spur formula) and it is wingless. These characters clearly distinguish G. shelfordi from the three other Glomeremus species recorded in the archipelago. In addition, the ovipositors of G.shelfordi and of the other species recorded in the archipelago are clearly distinct: 19 mm for G. shelfordi (vs. <14 mm in the three species we recorded on the archipelago); almost straight for G.shelfordi (vs. clearly falciform in the three other species we recorded in the archipelago). In spite of the numerous nights spent in the field in Mauritius, no specimen corresponding to G. shelfordi was recorded during our study, suggesting either that this island is not the type locality, or that the species is very rare or extinct.

Diagnosis. This species differs from all other Glomeremus species by the following character combination: face and thorax without black patterns; TI and TII with 3 ventral subapical spurs on both sides; wingless; ovipositor more than twice as long as hind femora (this latter character by itself distinguishes G. shelfordi from all other Glomeremus ).