Agnotecous petchekara Desutter-Grandcolas

Robillard, Tony, Nattier, Romain & Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2010, New species of the New Caledonian endemic genus Agnotecous (Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Eneopterinae, Lebinthini), Zootaxa 2559, pp. 17-35 : 29-31

Agnotecous petchekara Desutter-Grandcolas n. sp.

( Fig.5 )

Type material. Holotype. New Caledonia. 11473, 21°34’S 166°07’E, Col de Petchekara , S. end, 13, 22.XI.2003 – 28.I.2004, G. Monteith, flight intercept. Trap (MNHN-ENSIF2681). Allotype: Same locality, collector and date as holotype, 1Ƥ, 11473 (MNHN-ENSIF2682). Paratypes (33, 3Ƥ). Same locality, collector and date as holotype: 13, 11473, (MNHN-ENSIF2683), 13, 2Ƥ, 11473 (QMF); 13, 11474 (QMF), 1Ƥ, 11474 (MNHN-ENSIF2684).

Type locality. New Caledonia, col de Petchekara (21°34’S 166°07’E).

Etymology. Named after the type locality.

Distribution. New Caledonia, Grande Terre, Province Sud, col de Petchekara .

Diagnosis. Stout and large species, close to A. azurensis Desutter-Grandcolas, 2006 by its male genitalia and FW venation. General colouration light brown, with legs I and II spotted yellow and brown. Cheeks light yellow along lower margin with a large black rounded spot behind the eye. Male FW dorsal field well shorter than lateral field; venation with few, large cells. Male genitalia twice as large as those of A. azurensis ; distal margin of pseudepiphallic sclerite straight or slightly concave, and without dorsal lobes; pseudepiphallus almost flat in lateral view, the lophi only slightly raised dorsally; pseudepiphallic sclerite disto-lateral margins almost parallel, not strongly divergent as in A. azurensis . Female: FWs not overlapping, separated by a distance smaller than their own length, the dorsal field margin sinuated laterally; ovipositor longer than FIII.

Description. Size big, body stout. Head dorsum light brown with variable yellow and dark brown lines, and many short golden setae; a short dark, transverse line between the fastigium basis and the eyes, extended along the inner margins of the eyes to the occiput; a short and thick yellow line behind each eye between this dark line and the cheek; 3 additional short and wide dark lines on the occiput; fastigium with a dark line behind median ocellus, yellow laterally between the median ocellus and each lateral ocellus. Median ocellus circled with dark brown. Face dark brown, shining, with sparse golden setae, except in a large area below each eye, covered with many short setae and not shining; a yellow spot or thin line under median ocellus; 4 additional yellowish spots, 2 above tentorium insertion points and 2 above the epistemal suture; a large yellow spot under the lower angle of each eye. Cheeks light yellow along their lower margins; with a wide black brown fleck along the distal margins of the eyes; a thin and concave yellow line within the dark fleck. Maxillary palpi largely yellow; joint 3 brown apically and distally; joint 4 yellow only laterally; joint 5 brown basally, ventrally and apically, only a dorsal fleck and the sides yellow. Scapes yellowish with brown spots on anterior and posterior sides. Antennae brown with small yellow rings made of 1 or 2 articles, their bases lighter. Pronotum dorsal disc light brown, including anterior and posterior margins, mottled with brown; a very faint medio-longitudinal light line. Lateral lobes dark brown, including the margins. Coxae I black brown with a large yellow spot. Coxae II yellow, the outer spine and 2 spots along the basal margin black. FI, FII yellow with brown spots, including a row of brown spots on the ventral margins; brown longitudinal lines on cephalic and caudal sides. TI, TII dark brown with two yellow rings, one distal and one at mid length, and a basal, dorsal yellow spot or ring. FIII with many regular oblique dark lines separated with yellow; ventral margins with brown spots. TIII brown, the spurs yellowish; spurs and spines with brown apex. TIII serrulation: 4–7 (m=5.7, n=8) inner and 9–14 (m=11.1, n=8) outer spines above spurs; 5–8 (m=6.6, n=8) inner and 7–9 (m=8.3, n=8) outer spines between spurs. Tarsomeres III-1: 3–7 (m=4.5, n=8) spines on dorsal outer edge; 1–2 (mean=1.3, n=8) spine on inner edge, in addition to apical spines; 1 outer lateral spine at one fourth of tarsomere length. Tarsi brown, the bases of tarsomeres 1 and 3 yellow. Tergites light brown, with a short medio-longitudinal yellow line in distal half. Cerci yellow mottled with brown.

Male: FW proportion and venation as in A. azurensis , with the dorsal field well shorter than the lateral field ( Desutter-Grandcolas & Robillard 2006: Fig. 2 B). FW venation ( Fig. 5 A): CuA1 and CuA2 fused at base; mirror smaller than c2 cell; chords conspicuous; harp with only one transverse vein not reaching CuA; CuA very faint compared to media veins. Apical field restricted to few alignments and cells. Stridulatory file with 170 teeth (n=1). FW lateral field not reaching tergite 3 distal margin on body dorsum. Lateral field venation: R bifurcated most often once, rarely twice, over its whole length; 6–7 additional longitudinal, parallel veins (mean 6.1, n=4). FW yellowish brown, the veins brown, except yellowish file and part of anal veins between the file and the chords; a yellowish spot at the base of MP and CuA; lateral field light brown, the longitudinal veins ochre brown, the transverse veins brown. Subgenital plate long, low in lateral view and acuminate; glandular area on dorsal margin mid length highly protruding.

Male genitalia: Large. Very similar to that of A. brachypterus (see Desutter-Grandcolas & Robillard 2006: Fig. 6 F–H) and A. azurensis (see Desutter-Grandcolas & Robillard 2006: Fig. 6 C), but the distal margin of pseudepiphallic sclerite only sightly concave with almost straight middle part (contra A. azurensis ), not bisinuated (contra A. brachypterus ) ( Figs 5 C, D); anterior margin of the arc only slightly bisinuate (it is strongly bisinuate in both A. azurensis and A. brachypterus ).

Female: FWs short, separated by a distance smaller than their own length; venation made of strong longitudinal parallel veins: 5 – 7 veins in dorsal field, in addition to a fainter, irregularly bifurcated vein along the limit with lateral field, and 3 – 4 longitudinal parallel veins in the lateral field, in addition to the vein separating the dorsal and lateral fields ( Fig. 5 B); very faint transverse veins on dorsal field; as in A. brachypterus , dorsal field sinuated close to lateral field, and lateral field slightly acuminate dorso-distally. FW colouration light brown, the veins brown or yellowish brown. Tergites abundantly covered with short brown and white setae; light brown mottled with brown, darker along distal margin. Subgenital plate light brown with a median brown fleck. Ovipositor longer than FIII, much longer than in A. brachypterus (see above).

Female genitalia: Copulatory papilla having the shape of a low sclerotized half-ring and a more or less elongated and hardly sclerotized distal lobe where the spermathecal duct opens ( Fig. 5 E–H).

Juvenile: unkwown.

Measurements. See Table 5.

Habitat and life history traits. Specimens collected in interception traps in the lower layers of vegetation and near leaf litter in the forest (G. Monteith pers. comm.), so Agnotecous petchekara is likely to live in the leaf litter within forest.

Behaviour. unknown.

Calling song. unknown.

PronL PronW FWL FWW FIIIL FIIIW TIIIL OL Male holotype 3.7 6 - 2.8 13 4.9 10.1 - Males (n=3) 3.6–4.1 5.6–6.3 4–4.7 3.1–3.2 12.4–14.2 4.6–5.3 9. 4 – 1 0. 9 - (Mean) (3.9) (6.1) (4.4) 3 (13.5) (5) (10.4) - Female allotype 4.2 6.5 1.7 - 14.3 5.6 11.4 17.2 Females (n=3) 3.9–4.4 5. 9 – 6. 6 1. 6 – 1. 9 - 1 3. 9 – 1 5 5. 1 – 5. 3 1 0. 7 – 1 2. 4 1 5. 9 – 1 8. 9 (Mean) (4.1) (6.3) (1.7) - (14.3) (5.2) (11.3) (17.1)

Figures

FIGURE 2. Agnotecous brachypterus pocquensis n. ssp. Male FW venation (A); female FW venation (B); male genitalia in dorsal (C), and lateral (D) views; female subgenital plate (E); female copulatory papilla in ventral (F) and lateral (G) views. Abbreviations and symbols, see Material and methods. Scale bars: 1 mm.

FIGURE 5. Agnotecous petchekara n. sp. Male FW venation (A); female FW venation (B); male genitalia in dorsal (C), and ventral (D) views; female copulatory papilla in dorsal (E, G) and lateral (F, H) views. Abbreviations and symbols, see Material and methods. Scale bars: 1 mm.

FIGURE 6. Agnotecous pinsula n. sp. Male FW venation (A); female FW venation (B); female copulatory papilla in ventral (C), dorsal (D) and lateral (E) views; male genitalia in dorsal (F), lateral (G) and ventral (H) views. Abbreviations and symbols, see Material and methods. Scale bars: 1 mm.