Pizatettix, Chamorro-Rengifo, Juliana & Braun, Holger, 2010

Chamorro-Rengifo, Juliana & Braun, Holger, 2010, The Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera) described by Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr. and deposited in the collection of the University of São Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura " Luiz de Queiroz ", Brazil, Zootaxa 2635, pp. 41-66 : 60

Pizatettix gen. nov. ( Platyphyllini )

Type species: Enthacanthodes sanctaecrucis Piza, 1973

The male holotype ( Fig. 3 ) of this species does not belong to Enthacanthodes (Pleminiini) , but presents characters of the tribe Platyphyllini : the tegmina have a curved anal margin and indistinct veins, and the forefemora do not show distinct dorsal edges. Male Platyphyllini frequently sport bright markings or spots on the dorsal surface of the pronotum (pers. obs.), and Piza’s male specimen, which is otherwise green, has a cream-coloured metazona. Along with Pterophyllini and Pterochrozini , Platyphyllini is also one of the few neotropical tribes with several green species. However, the specimen does not fit into any of the described genera, especially because of the extraordinarily modified cerci. The most similar genus seems to be Drepanoxiphus , whose members have simple male cerci.

Diagnosis: Frons as broad as high, fastigium triangular, not sulcate, not surpassing the margins of antennal sockets, with two basal tubercles. Scapus of antennae with terminal spine. Pronotum granulated. Flight organs well developed with hyaline alae. Prosternum with two spines. Femoral spines of the same coloration as the legs, but with black tips. Forefemora at least as long as the pronotum. Only the genicular lobes of middle femora unarmed, all others with terminal spine. Hind tibiae dorsally with inner spines almost two times longer than the external ones. Supra-anal plate subtriangular, almost twice as long as broad. Cerci strongly modified ( Fig. 4 ), of the same length as or longer than the subgenital plate including styli. Styli long, a little shorter than the subgenital plate, basally fused, and apparently fused with the subgenital plate as well, both structures differentiated by a slight offset of the latter, where the styli originate.

Known from northwest Brazil, State of Acre, Santa Cruz; including a single species:

Figures

FIGURE 3. Pizatettix sanctaecrucis (Piza, 1973) comb. nov. male habitus lateral view.

FIGURE 4. Pizatettix sanctaecrucis (Piza, 1973) comb. nov. male subgenital plate and cerci A. ventral view, B. ventrolateral view C. lateral view.