Danielatettix Cadena-Castañeda, 2021

Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J., Gonzalez, Gloria Raquel Dávila, Rodríguez, Martha Carolina Vásquez & Rodríguez, Diana Marcela Trujillo, 2021, The status of Micronotus Hancock, 1902 species (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae), Zootaxa 5082 (2), pp. 129-144 : 137-138

Danielatettix Cadena-Castañeda n. gen.

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:516442

Description. Body granulate, small size, slender and macropronotal ( Figs. 6A, B ). Head: frontal costa bifurcation located near to the top of vertex; scutellum narrow, with carinae almost parallel; lower margin of the antennal grooves located between of the lower margin of the compound eyes ( Fig. 6C ). Eyes subglobose, with rounded dorsal surface and straight ventral margin (in lateral view) and elevated higher than vertex ( Fig. 6A ); lateral ocelli placed on the side of the costa frontal, medial ocellus located on the lower margin of the scutellum and as wide as lateral ocelli ( Fig. 6C ). Antennae elongated and filiform, more than 2.5 times longer than the fore-femur, with 13-14 segments; vertex little wider than one of the eyes in dorsal and frontal views, truncate anteriorly; median carinae present and short. Facial outline sub-vertical, rounded between the connection of the facial carinae and the frontal carinae. Fastigium of the vertex not produced in lateral view; fastigio-fascial angle rounded ( Fig. 6A ); frontal costa mid-length and connected with the facial carinae and reaching near the middle of the face; palpi whitish, with first three segments cylindrical and last two rounded and flattened ( Fig. 6C ). Pronotum: Slender, surpassing the tip of hind femora and abdomen ( Fig. 6B ). Pronotal disc almost flat, with an undulation at the level of the prozone, widened between the humeral angles; anteriorly straight, posterior apex pointed ( Fig. 6A ). Humeral angles and lateral shoulder carinae rounded; lateral lobe subrounded below, notoriously prolongated latero-ventrally; infrascapular area very slim and short; lateral area moderately widened ( Fig. 6A ). Post humeral spot present or not ( Fig. 6B , 7 ). Wings. Tegmina ovoid, wings well developed reaching to apex of pronotum ( Fig. 6A ). Legs. Fore and midfemora compressed, carinated with undulations, most conspicuous on ventral margin ( Fig. 6D, E, F ); hind femora with ante-genicular tooth little developed; hind tibia ampliated from the base to the apex; the first article of the tarsi of the hind leg, subequal to the second and third articles united. Terminalia: Male. Penultimate male sternite with posterior margin straight ( Fig. 6H ); subgenital plate slender, triangular-shaped in ventral view and divided at the apex ( Fig. 6G ); cerci small and conical ( Fig. 6H ). Female. Ovipositor normal, with the apex of dorsal and ventral valves sharped ( Figs. 6I and J ); subgenital plate emarginated along ventro-apical edge ( Fig. 6I ).

Type species: Danielatettix caudatus ( Saussure, 1861) n. comb., by monotypy and original designation.

Etymology. Dedicated to Daniela Santos Martins Silva, in recognition of her contributions to the American pygmy grasshoppers, as well as her friendship and unconditional support for the first author (OJCC).

Distribution. The only species of this new genus has several records in northern South America, and from the Amazon with a distributional gap to the south, with records in Paraguay and northern Argentina ( Map 1 ).

Comparison. Danielatettix n. gen., is similar to Stenodorsus , the species of both genera are slender and small in size compared to the other genera of the subfamily Tetriginae , which are reported for America. Stenodorsus differs from the new genus because the body is somewhat rugose, pronotum very prolongated, pronotal disc flattened; frontal costa narrowly sulcate, almost imperceptibly widening forward to the median ocellus; mid-femur slender and not carinated; first and third articles of hind tarsi equal in length.

The new genus differs from the Paratettix and Tetrix genera, the thorax does not widen markedly in dorsal view at the level of the pro- and mesothorax; the hind femur is slender, not thickened, the antennae originate in the middle of the lower edge of the antennal sockets; the other two genera in comparison, the antennas originate lower than the level of the eye sockets. Danielatettix n. gen. has the male subgenital plate apex triangular-shaped, to Paratettix and Tetrix it tends to be rounded. The fastigium is not prolonged in the new genus, as is common in Tetrix species.

Danielatettix n. gen., differs from Micronotus because of the only known species D. caudatus n. comb. throughout its distributional range, and in the literature records, it does not have brachypronotal forms, on the contrary, Micronotus species are all brachypronotal, without any record of any macropronotal specimen. The fastigium of the new genus does not extend; in addition, the frontal costa is parallel, it is not noticeably divergent, as it happens to the Micronotus species. The tegmina of the new genus are ovoid, in contrast to the tegmina of the Micronotus species that are lanceolate, less widened, and less elongated than the other genera compared here.

Figures

MAP 1. Distributional map of Micronotus and Danielatettix n. gen. species.

FIGURE 6. Danielatettix caudatus n. comb. A. Habitus lateral and B. Dorsal view. C. Frons. D. Fore-leg. E–F. Mid-leg variation. G. Male subgenital plate. H. Male terminalia in lateral view. I. Female terminalia in ventral and J. lateral view.

FIGURE 7. Danielatettix caudatus n. comb. Color variation A. Color form 2. B. Form 3. C. Form 4. D. Form 5.