Valiatrella multiprotubera Liu & Shi

Libin, Ma & Yalin, Zhang, 2013, Taxonomic study of the cricket genus Valiatrella Gorochov (Gryllidae, Podoscirtinae) from China, Zootaxa 3669 (4), pp. 522-530 : 528

Valiatrella multiprotubera Liu & Shi

(Fig. I. 3; Fig. II. 2 a, 2b; Fig. III. 2 a, 2b, 2c, 4)

Valiatrella multiprotubera Liu & Shi 2007: 282 , 283

Materials examined. China: 13, Yunnan, Ruili, Zhenxi Botanical Garden, 1200m, 1 Jul. 2007, coll. Zhang Xiaochen ( NWAFU); 13 (holotype), Yunnan, Ruili, Mengxiu, 3 Aug. 2005, coll. Liu Haoyu (HBU).

Distribution. China (Yunnan).

Coloration. Body light and mainly yellowish-brown. Head dorsum and antennal scape light brown. Pronotal anterior and lateral margins yellowish-brown remainder brown. Lateral lobes ornamented with dark brown spots. Basal field and mirror ornamented with brown spots distally. Femur apically and tibia dorsally ornamented with brown spots.

Measurements. BL 15.7; HW 2.5; PL 2; PW 2–3; FWL 17; HWL 4; MLL 3; HLL 10; CL 6

Diagnosis. Male. Occiput and cheek rounded and widened. Vertex lowered and flattened. Rostrum shape ladder-like in dorsal view. Face round and plump, slightly convex. Epistomal suture longitudinally widened and almost straight. The end section of maxillary palpus fan-shaped and nearly equal to length of third section; the third section of labrum palpus shaped triangular with length equal to the total of the remainder segments. Middle ocellus large, oval-shaped, depressed and flattened. Lateral ocelli ridged. Eyes large and convex, almost rounded. Antennal scape nearly equal to the width of rostrum. Upper part of clypeus shaped as narrow stripe. Labrum shaped as wide shield, its middle field convex and somewhat ladder-shaped, lateral lobes rounded.

Pronotum shaped regularly and almost ladder-like, its posterior margin slightly convex. Lateral lobes depressed. Forewings covered with pubescence. Oblique veins six. Apical field short, nearly equal to one fourth length of forewings. Basal field weakly armed with reticulate veins basically. 1A and 2A veins merged basically, dividing posteriorly. Cross-vein of cell C1 linked to the cross point of CuA1 and CuA2. CuA vein provided with three branches at chord field.

Inner and outer subapical spurs of hind tibiae numbered 6:4. Internal apical spurs long, the bottom one shortest and remaining ones equal to each other; external apical spurs very short and in same length. Hind claw, expanded basically, armed with teeth on the internal margin.

Cercus short, its basal half thick, remainder apical thin. Subgenital plate shield-shaped and tapering distally.

Epiphallus, in dorsal view, slightly narrowed and its ectophallus apodeme somewhat elongate. In profile view, the upper apical hooks slightly longer and, especially, forward curved. The lateral lobe (vertical) upward curved. Visible part of the other lobe (horizontal) somewhat angular-shaped.

Remarks. Valiatrella multiprotubera displays some variation. The specimen deposited at NWAFU is somewhat different from the holotype as follows: epiphallus very similar in dorsal view, but slightly narrowed in the NWAFU specimen; and, ectophallus apodeme also longer than in holotype. These two specimens are slightly different in epiphallus profile view, with the upper apical hooks slightly longer and especially forward pointed distally in the NWAFU specimen (but in holotype short and just upward-pointed). And the lateral lobe (vertical) bends upward in the NWAFU specimen but is posterior-pointed in the holotype.