Teleogryllus Chopard, 1961

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, Anso, Jérémy & Jourdan, Hervé, 2016, Crickets of New Caledonia (Insecta, Orthoptera, Grylloidea): a key to genera, with diagnoses of extant genera and descriptions of new taxa, Zoosystema 38 (4), pp. 405-452 : 432

Genus Teleogryllus Chopard, 1961

Teleogryllus Chopard, 1961: 277 .

TYPE SPECIES. — Gryllus posticus Walker, 1869 by original designation.

ILLUSTRATIONS. — Habitus: Fig. 10B ; Otte & Alexander 1983: fig. 36. Male genitalia: Otte & Alexander 1983: fig. 39. Calling songs: Otte & Alexander 1983: fig. 38.

EMENDED DIAGNOSIS.— After Otte & Cade (1983). Species medium or large, reddish brown, brown or black. Body slighty pubescent. Head only slightly longer than wide in front view, high in lateral view (compared to Notosciobia ). Eyes not protruding. Median ocellus well-developed, apical. Maxillary palpi: joint 3 somewhat longer than joint 4; joint 5 the longest, regularly widened toward apex, dorsal and ventral margins slightly concave and convex respectively. Pronotum transverse, slightly wider anteriorly than posteriorly; LL higher anteriorly than posteriorly, without a vertical groove or depression in posterior half. TI with a small, rounded inner tympanum; outer tympanum well-developed, elongate; three apical spurs, set as a triangle. TII with four apical spurs. TIII shorter than FIII but not particularly short; with five to seven (usually five or six) inner or four to eight (usually six to eight) outer subapical spurs; three apical spurs on each side, the median the longest on each side. Basitarsomeres III with two rows of few, strong spines, outer spines more numerous. FWs present in both sexes. HWs variable. Coloration. Head and pronotum dark brown, with a yellow stripe along inner margin of each eye and along margins of fastigium; suture between lateral ocelli often yellow. Legs lighter brown. HWs variable, often well developed in both sexes.

Male. FWs covering abdomen completely or almost completely. Stridulum complete; mirror well-defined, small, rounded or oval, divided by one half-circled vein; harp with most often two to four veins, oblique but horizontal at mid length. Lateral field very high, with several parallel, slightly oblique veins.

Male genitalia. Pseudepiphallic sclerite long and narrow, with a long median lobe and two shorter lateral lobes. Rami short, not fused anteriorly. Pseudepiphallic parameres elongate, sclerotized on inner and outer margins; their apex acute. Ectophallic fold long and very thin. Dorsal cavity high, not twisted.

Female. FWs as long as in males, overlapping. Ovipositor long, but shorter than in Gryllodes .

CALLING SONG. — Revising the African species of Teleogryllus, Otte & Cade (1983) conclude that Teleogryllus species are conspicuous singers, which songs are complex and usually made of two distinct parts. Among the species occurring in New Caledonia, T. marini Otte & Alexander, 1983 alternates short trills and small groups of syllables, while T. oceanicus (Le Guillou, 1841) emits irregular succession of echemes comprising two or three syllables ( Otte & Alexander 1983: fig. 38; Otte et al. 1987: fig. 12).

DISTRIBUTION. — Teleogryllus is widespread in the Palaeotropics and in Oceania. In addition to New Caledonia, T. marini is known to occur in Queensland and Fiji Islands, while T. oceanicus is widespread through Southwest Pacific, from Australia to Hawaii.

HABITAT. — Teleogryllus species live in open areas, even man-made such as lawns. Some are burrowing species, but most use crevices to hide during the day (S. Hugel, pers. comm.).

REMARK

This wordwide-distributed genus is present in New Caledonia with two species, i.e. Teleogryllus oceanicus (Le Guillou, 1841) and Teleogryllus marini Otte & Alexander, 1983 , which can be separated by their songs and details in male genitalia ( Otte et al. 1987).

Figures

FIG. 10. — New Caledonian Gryllinae (Gryllidae): A, Notosciobia sp., from Parc Provincial de la Rivière Bleue, by night (Photo PG); B, Teleogryllus oceanicus (Le Guillou,1841) from Vanuatu;C, Lepidogryllus comparatus (Walker,1869),specimen from Col d’Amieu,mé Areto;D, Lepidogryllus darthvaderi Desutter-Grandcolas & Anso, n. sp., male holotype from Grand Kaori; E, Gryllodes sigillatus (Walker, 1869), from Rodrigues (Photo SH). Scales bars: 2 mm.