Dellia zephyra, Yong, 2018

Yong, Sheyla, 2018, Revision of the genus Dellia Stål, 1878 (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Part 1. Two redescriptions and seven new species from Cuba, Ecologica Montenegrina 16, pp. 58-107 : 91-106

Dellia zephyra new species

Figs. 15–24 , 25l , 26h . Table I

Type. Cuba : Pinar del Río Province: Sandino Municipality: Península de Guanahacabibes, La Bajada , Cueva de las Perlas (21°55'44"N - 84°28'43"W, 10 m a.s.l.); July /2016; in dark zone of the cave; T. M. Rodríguez-Cabrera; one adult female holotype ( SY, in ethanol 80%) .

Diagnosis (based on a single female). Size moderately small for the genus (16 mm). 1) Coloration predominantly dark olivaceous green, with two solid lateral stripes (upper very dark green, lower white), dorsum light orange-brown with a black median longitudinal line, epimera I–II each with a large pale red spot with bright white lower margin, tergites with conspicuous lateral yellow spots, sternites olive-green, hind femur light green, slightly darker on transversal ridges and upper and lower margins, hind knees entirely black, tarsomeres immaculate pale red. 2) Tegmina very short and digitiform, reaching anterior margin of abdominal segment I. 3) Supra-anal plate of the female relatively large, narrowly paraboloid, longer than wide and sparsely setose; median sulcus complete, shallow and very narrow, flanked by a pair of low, coarse, parallel ridges.

Etymology. The specific epithet derives from the Latinized word " Zephyrus ", the Greek god of the west wind. It alludes to the geographical distribution of this species, i.e., the western tip of Cuba .

Description (adult female holotype). Size small for the genus (total length 16.3 mm). Coloration. Head basically vivid dark olive-green, except as follows: vertex light orange-brown with dark brown coarse punctures, genae with small light yellow spots behind the eyes and a thick, irregular, longitudinal, bright white stripe just below each eye, maxillary palps with basal half green and distal half white; antennae blackish with whitish tips, scapus, pedicel and basal third of flagellum vivid light red; eyes dark brown, with six thin, parallel, vertical, conspicuously darker stripes. Pronotum with a thin, black, median longitudinal line, plate conspicuously tricolor as continued from head pattern: entire dorsal surface through upper half of lateral surfaces light orange-brown and lower half of lateral surfaces dark olive-green with a lateral pair of thick, creamy-white stripes, lateral margins moderately infuscate. Metanotum with the same coloration and pattern as pronotum. Epimera I and II each with a large pale red spot with bright white lower margin; a large yellowish white spot just below each tegmen. Tegmina whitish, with a thick, distally faded dark stripe. Fore and mid legs of same coloration, conspicuously bicolor: coxa, trochanter, femur and basal third of tibia vivid light green, distal two-thirds of tibia and whole tarsomeres pale red, immaculate; hind legs with coxa, trochanter and femur vivid light green, slightly darker on transversal ridges and upper and lower margins, hind knees entirely black, tibia vivid blue, basally and apically blackish, spines bluish with blackish tips, tarsomeres pale red, immaculate. Abdomen complexly colored, resembling thorax in pattern: tergites with a thin, black, longitudinal median line, entire dorsal surface through upper half of lateral surfaces light orange-brown, lower half of lateral surfaces olive-green with large yellow spots, lateral margins slightly infuscate, posterior margin of each tergite annulated with a thin black stripe; sternites vivid olive green, irregularly spotted with light yellow. See figure 15 and table I.

Head (figs. 16–18). Moderately large, wider than long (ratio = 1.3). Tegument shiny, but sparsely and moderately punctate, with thin and short setae scattered all aver. Vertex moderately convex in lateral view, subtriangular in dorsal view; fastigium prominent, broad in dorsal view, slightly convex in lateral view and strongly compressed in frontal view. Eyes very large, rounded and prominent; ocelli minute. Costa frontalis weakly marked and invertedly U-shaped, i.e., upper portion wider and the lower portion narrower. Genae moderately convex in frontal view. Frons moderately punctate. Antennae standard for Acrididae in size and shape, with 19/19 flagellomeres; scapus subcylindrical, depressed, longer than wide (ratio = 1.1), oval in cross-section, essentially glabrous; pedicel clearly more than half the length of scapus.

Thorax (figs. 19–20). Tegument shiny but densely and moderately punctate and mostly glabrous but with thin and short setae scattered all over. Pronotum sub-trapezoidal and slightly tapering anteriorly in dorsal view, wider than long (ratio = 1.2); anterior margin shallowly sinuose, posterior margin shallowly bilobed and incised medially, lateral margins convex sinuose; median keel deeply marked, lateral keels sparsely crenulate and deeply incised by the three transverse grooves. Metanotum wider than long (ratio = 3.3) and shorter than abdominal segment I (ratio = 0.5), rectangular in dorsal view, short, with tegument feebly punctate and shiny. Tegmina very short (reaching anterior margin of abdominal segment I), narrow and digitiform, i. e., costal and anal margins slightly convex and tip convex.

Legs (fig. 15). Covered all over by thin setae. Profemur slender, cylindrical and unarmed; protibia almost as long as profemur (ratio = 0.9), very slender and straight, ventral surface with 5:3 / 3:5 subapical spines and two small apical spurs. Mid legs very similar to forelegs, but mesotibia slightly surpassing the length of mesofemur and with 3:7 / 7:3 subapical spines. Metafemur robust, larger than metatibia (ratio = 1.1), oval in cross-section; metatibia with 3:7 / 7:3 subapical spines and five inward-curved apical spurs: two small-sized laterodorsals, two medium-sized laterals, and one large ventral.

Abdomen. Moderately large and slender (conspicuously narrower than pronotum), subcylindrical and evenly tapering posteriorly. Tegument shiny and feebly punctate, with small scattered setae and abdominal segments with median carina very well marked. Tympanic organ large, oval, located laterally on segment I. Supra-anal plate (fig. 21) relatively large, narrowly paraboloid, longer than wide (ratio = 1.3) and sparsely setose; median sulcus complete, shallow and very narrow, flanked by a pair of low, coarse, parallel ridges. Cerci very short, conical and densely covered by thin setae, not surpassing apex of posterior margin of supra-anal plate and abdomen. Subgenital plate (fig. 23), longer than wide (ratio = 1.0); anterior margin slightly convex, lateral margins essentially straight, posterior margin strongly convex and with a strong and thin V-shaped median projection. Ovipositor in lateral view: each valve of the dorsal pair with dorsal surface basically straight, with several indistinct, low crenulations and apically shallowly curved upwards; each valve of the ventral pair with ventral surface shallowly convex, with several crenulations and apically curved downwards. See figures 15, 21–23 and table I.

Male: Unknown.

Comparisons. This species is most closely related to D. brauni n. sp., D. megalapida n. sp. and D. roseomaculata , by sharing a similar combination of color pattern (dorsum and venter of a different but rather uniform color, both separated by two solid stripes, i.e., upper dark and lower white, plus epimera I and II each with a large vivid red spot) and shape of the male supra-anal plate (basal portion subrectangular, apical portion subtriangular). But D. zephyra n. sp. can be easily distinguished from them by the following characters: 1. Coloration of dorsal body surface. D. zephyra n. sp.: light orange-brown. D. brauni n. sp.: intense blue. D. megalapida n. sp.: pale blue. D. roseomaculata : grayish blue. 2. Coloration of hind femur. D. zephyra n. sp.: vivid green, slightly darker on transversal ridges and upper and lower margins, hind knees entirely black. D. brauni n. sp.: vivid olive-yellow, transversal ridges and upper margin vivid green, hind knees almost entirely black, only with lower half of outer surface brownish. D. megalapida n. sp.: vivid yellowish-green with outer surface vivid green,

transversal ridges immaculate, hind knees with upper margin vivid light red and lower margin with a small blackish spot. D. roseomaculata : reddish with outer surface dark olive-bluish, transversal ridges immaculate, hind knees reddish-brown. 3. Coloration of ventral surface of the body. D. zephyra n. sp.: vivid olive-green, irregularly spotted with yellow. D. brauni n. sp.: vivid olive-yellow, immaculate. D. megalapida n. sp.: vivid yellowish-green, immaculate. D. roseomaculata : pale green, irregularly spotted with brown.

Distribution (fig. 24). This species is known only from the type locality, on the southern coast of the extreme western tip of Cuba .

Ecological notes. The holotype of D. zephyra n. sp. was captured deep inside the dark zone of a cave, sitting on a wall about 1.8 m above the ground (T. M. Rodríguez-Cabrera, pers. comm.). This is an obvious serendipity; this specimen clearly entered the cave by accident through any of the several skylights or small forested dolines existing along its main passage. The vegetation outside the cave is a well-preserved subcoastal semicaducifolious forest, on karstic limestone terraces.

Remarks. The private collection of the late Fernando de Zayas (Havana, Cuba ) houses another female of this species, which was seen by the author in September 2013. Its origin is declared on the label as Guanahacabibes Peninsula only (without any precise locality) and it was not studied in detail, thus, it was not given type status herein.

General remarks

The following key is based on coloration of live specimens and allows a reliable identification of adults of all species:

1 Body coloration predominantly pinkish brown, without longitudinal stripes; pronotum sharply contrasted, largely green (figs. 13, 25j–k) ........................................................................................................ D. melici n. sp.

- Body coloration very different, with other colors combined (green, blue, orange, yellow, white), mostly with dark and/or pale longitudinal stripes; pronotum similar in coloration to the rest of the body ........................... 2 2 Body strikingly bicolor with alternating black and white longitudinal stripes (figs. 9, 25b–c)............................ ............................................................................................................................................... D. atrostriata n. sp.

- Body with very different coloration ................................................................................................................... 3

3 Epimera I–II each with a large red spot.............................................................................................................. 4

- Epimera I–II each either with a large yellow spot or without spots ................................................................... 7

4 General coloration largely plain green, without sharply contrasting patterns except for a single, blurred pair of dark lateral stripes along the body (fig. 2) .......................................................................................... D. insulana

- Dorsum and venter of a different but rather uniform color, both separated by two solid stripes (upper dark, ower pale) ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

5 Dorsum light orange-brown, with a thin black stripe along midline and conspicuous yellow lateral spots on abdomen; hind femur knee entirely black (figs. 15, 25l)........................................................... D. zephyra n. sp.

- Dorsum intense to greenish blue, without black stripe along midline nor conspicuous lateral spots on abdomen; hind femur knee only with upper half black or entirely reddish ......................................................................... 6

6 Dorsum intense blue; hind femur olive-yellow, outer surface only with transversal ridges contrastingly darker green, knee with upper half black; body ventrally olive-yellow (figs. 10, 25d).......................... D. brauni n. sp.

- Dorsum pale to greenish blue; hind femur yellowish-green, outer surface uniformly darker green, knee entirely reddish with a small blackish ventrobasal spot; body ventrally yellowish green (figs. 11–12, 25g –h)................ ............................................................................................................................................. D. megalapida n. sp.

7 Epimera I–II each with a large yellow spot; head and pronotum with four solid alternate green and yellow longitudinal stripes; abdomen ventrally red (figs. 5– 6, 25e –f) ................................... D. multicolor stat. resurr.

- Epimera I–II without spot; head and pronotum without longitudinal stripes; abdomen ventrally green or yellowish green................................................................................................................................................... 8

8 Body predominantly green, with head and dorsum bright white; anterior margin of pronotum concolor (figs. 7, 25a).............................................................................................................................................. D. albida n. sp.

- Body predominantly reddish, including head and dorsum of thorax, anterior margin of pronotum sharply outlined with bright white (fig. 14) ........................................................................................... D. siboney n. sp.

The complete updated list of Dellia species follows in alphabetical order, along with their geographical distribution:

1. Dellia albida n. sp. CUBA .

2. Dellia atrostriata n. sp. CUBA .

3. Dellia bayahibe Pérez-Gelabert, 2002 . HISPANIOLA ( Dominican Republic).

4. Dellia brauni n. sp. CUBA .

5. Dellia ciceroana Perez-Gelabert & Otte, 2012 . HISPANIOLA ( Dominican Republic).

6. Dellia dominicensis Perez, Dominici, Hierro & Otte, 1995 . HISPANIOLA (Dominican Republic). 7. Dellia gemmicula Rehn & Hebard, 1938 . JAMAICA.

8. Dellia insulana Stål, 1878 . CUBA .

9. Dellia karstica Perez-Gelabert, 2001 . JAMAICA.

10. Dellia maroona Perez-Gelabert, 2001 . JAMAICA.

11. Dellia megalapida n. sp. CUBA .

12. Dellia melici n. sp. CUBA .

13. Dellia monticola Perez-Gelabert & Otte, 1999 . HISPANIOLA ( Dominican Republic).

14. Dellia multicolor Carl, 1916 stat. resurr. CUBA .

15. Dellia roseomaculata Perez-Gelabert & Otte, 1999 . HISPANIOLA ( Dominican Republic).

16. Dellia siboney n. sp. CUBA .

17. Dellia viridissima Perez-Gelabert & Otte, 2012 . DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

18. Dellia zephyra n. sp. CUBA .

The present paper increases the number of Dellia species described from the Greater Antilles to 18: Cuba (9), Hispaniola (6) and Jamaica (3), all of them being island endemics. All additions refer to Cuba , which had only a single recognized species and achieves now the highest diversity number. Nevertheless, the real Cuban diversity is actually higher, as the present author is currently working on additional material for a forthcoming contribution.

Figures

Fig. 15. Adult female holotype of Dellia zephyra n. sp., full-body views: a) dorsal; b) lateral; c) ventral. Scale bar in millimeters.

Fig. 16. Dorsal close-up of head and anterior margin of pronotum of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 17. Lateral close-up of head and anterior margin of pronotum of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 18. Frontal close-up of head of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 19. Dorsal close-up of thorax and abdominal segment I of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 20. Lateral close-up of thorax and abdominal segment I of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 21. Dorsal close-up of abdominal apex of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 22. Lateral close-up of abdominal apex of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 23. Ventral close-up of abdominal apex of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision.

Fig. 24. Geographical distribution of all Cuban Dellia recognized in the present revision. Note three nearby localities for D. atrostriata n. sp. and precise occurrence still wanting for D. insulana. The upper left inset (frame equals to 150 x 75 km) depicts the single precise locality known for D. multicolor stat. resurr. (red symbol), superimposed to all sites visited by Saussure in 1855 (yellow symbols), from left to right: Havana, Guanabacoa, Santa María del Rosario, Matanzas and Limonar.

Fig. 25. Live habitus of: a) Dellia albida n. sp., adult male holotype, in captivity; b–c) Dellia atrostriata n. sp., adult male from El Cojo, in nature; d) Dellia brauni n. sp., adult male holotype, in nature; e–f) Dellia multicolor stat. resurr., adult male topotype, in nature; g–i) Dellia megalapida n. sp., adult male holotype (g), adult male and adult female paratypes while mating (h), subadult female paratype (i), all in nature; j–k) Dellia melici n. sp., adult female holotype, in nature; l) Dellia zephyra n. sp., adult female holotype, in nature. Photos courtesy Rayner Núñez (b, c), Rubén Marrero (d), and Tomás M. Rodríguez (j, k, l).

Fig. 26. Habitat at the exact collecting site of: a) Dellia albida n. sp; b) Dellia atrostriata n. sp.; c) Dellia brauni n. sp.; d) Dellia megalapida n. sp., with the author and her collaborator Rolando Teruel while photographing some of the type specimens; e) Dellia melici n. sp.; f) Dellia multicolor stat. resurr.; g) Dellia siboney n. sp.; h) Dellia zephyra n. sp., note the vegetated pits (micro-dolines or large skylights) all along Las Perlas cave, the holotype was found in the dark passage connecting two of these pits. Photos courtesy Rolando Teruel (b, f, h), Tomás M. Rodríguez (c, e), and Luis A. Casanella (d).