Sinochlora Tinkham, 1945

Wu, Chao & Liu, Chun-Xiang, 2024, Studies on the genus Sinochlora Tinkham, 1945 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae), I. Establishment of species groups and description of three new species, Zootaxa 5512 (1), pp. 22-34 : 23-24

Genus Sinochlora Tinkham, 1945

Type species: Sinochlora kwangtungensis Tinkham, 1945

Medium to large-sized for typical phaneropterine tettigoniids. Body green, without significant markings, except for black and white diagonal lines at the base of the tegmina (forewings); slender, laterally compressed.

Head. Head ovoid, as wide as pronotum; compound eyes protruding, ovoid; antennae slender, much longer than body.

Thorax. Pronotum normal.

Legs. Pro- and mesothoracic legs elongate, slender; femora with black spines; tympanum on fore tibia open on both sides; metathoracic legs long, slender; hind femur longer than body but not exceeding hindwings, femoral spines black.

Tegmina and wings. Tegmen narrow, opaque, noticeably longer than abdomen, tapering to rounded apex; costal vein white and with black anterior edge; stridulatory file of male left tegmen short, strongly swollen; stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen with teeth regularly arranged, becoming gradually smaller from the middle to both sides. Hind wing projecting beyond tegmen, wide, colorless and transparent except at apex, with pale green veins.

Abdomen. Abdomen short, compressed. Tenth abdominal tergum of male well-developed, strongly sclerotized, not divided into two pieces; cerci long but shorter than subgenital plate, simple structure, conical; epiproct of male developed, strongly sclerotized, morphologically diverse, with or without black long bristles according to the different species; subgenital plate of male elongated, strongly upcurved, broad and split deeply, styli short; subgenital plate of female short, with apex notched. Ovipositor short, strongly sclerotized, acinaciform, apex truncated.

All Sinochlora are typical forest species. Adults prefer to move on the top of broad leaves, they are also active during the day and are good at flying; both sexes have significant phototaxis. The nymphs behave similarly to the adults and are green in color ( Fig. 6A ).

Sinochlora is highly species-diverse genus in Phaneropterinae ; some species were shown to have overlapping distribution ranges, often 2–3 species existing in the same place. Although the external morphology is almost impossible to effectively distinguish species, but the structure of the male abdomen is characteristic among species. Considering the large number of species in this genus, we have divided the genus into four species groups based on the various characteristics through morphological studies and molecular evidence using a large number of specimens.

Although features such as male left and right stridulatory areas are different among different species, the most significant species difference is clearly the characteristic of male genitalia. This feature is sufficient to distinguish these species with highly similar appearances, so, in the following new species descriptions, we only describe the male abdomen genitalia and discuss differences with similar species.

Key to species groups of Sinochlora Tinkham (Males)

1 Posterior process of epiproct elongated, thickened, black ( Fig. 1A )......................... S. tibetensis species group

- Epiproct without black posterior process................................................................... 2

2 Tenth abdominal tergum without central process ( Fig. 1B )............................ S. szechwanensis species group

- Tenth abdominal tergum with significant central processes ( Fig. 1C, D ).......................................... 3

3 Tenth abdominal tergum elongated, length longer than width ( Fig. 1C )....................... S. sinensis species group

- Tenth abdominal tergum short, almost equal in length and width ( Fig. 1D )................... S. longifissa species group

Figures

FIGURE 6. Sinochlora spp., nymph and adult in natural habitat. A: Sinochlora sp., nymph, A’hui, Liu’an; B: Sinochlora dulongensis sp. nov. male adult, Yunnan, Dulongjiang.

FIGURE1.Male abdomentip of Sinochlora spp.from thefour species groups.A: S.tibetensis (China:Tibet); B: S.szechwanensis (China: Sichuan); C: S. sinensis (China: Guangdong); D: S. longifissa (Japan).