Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas, 2020

Yong, Sheyla, Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, Teruel, Rolando & Leguin, Elise-Anne, 2020, A new genus and species of cricket from eastern Cuba: the first Antillean true Eneopterinae (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Eneopterinae), Zootaxa 4858 (2), pp. 261-273 : 264-269

Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas , new species

Figures 1–10 . Table I

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Types. CUBA: Guantánamo Province: Baracoa Municipality: El Yunque (20°20’44”N / 74°34’07”W / 461 m a.s.l.); 8/June/2015; R. Teruel & T. M. Rodríguez; one adult male holotype ( SY, in ethanol 80%), one adult female allotype ( SY, in ethanol 80%) .

Additional material. Same data as holotype and allotype, one juvenile female ( SY, in ethanol 80%) .

Diagnosis. As for the genus (see above).

Description of adult male holotype. Size medium for the subfamily and tribe (total length 19.8 mm). Coloration with base light reddish brown (darker on FIII, paler on venter) and a very conspicuous dark brown to blackish pattern, composed of minute to small spots scattered all over the body and appendages, plus a broad lateral stripe all along the body; antennae dark brown, progressively paler distally. Head with eyes black; vertex brown and beige with small black spots; ocelli translucent yellowish; genae brown and beige; mouthparts in frontal view: maxillary palps brown with beige tip, labial palps beige, clypeus-labrum beige, with a basal median brown stripe and apical portion with a brown semicircle; antennae annulated, with dark reddish brown segments and pale membranes. Pronotum brown, with a very conspicuous, broad, sinuous, black stripe on lateral lobe; disk with small black spots scattered all over. FW mostly reddish brown, with small black spots; veins brown except for ochre M; a series of connected beige spots between M and R. Metanotum spotted. Legs: Femora I and II light reddish (dorsally) to beige (all other surfaces), with small blackish spots scattered all over; tibiae I and II very dark reddish brown to blackish, with irregular beige spots; femora III mostly reddish brown, diffusely infuscate dorsally and sparsely spotted with blackish and beige, with a large outer and two smaller inner black spots near the knee; tibiae III very dark reddish brown to blackish, with irregular beige spots, subapical spurs reddish with blackish tip. Abdomen reddish brown, with small black spots scattered all over and a very conspicuous, broad, black lateral stripe; supranal plate and cerci pale yellowish to beige. See figures 1, 3, 5, 7 and table I.

Head ( Figs. 1 , 3 ). Large, wider than long in dorsal view (ratio = 1.8). Tegument smooth, coriaceous and covered by short, thin and shiny setae, with a velvety look. Vertex wide, slightly convex in lateral view, almost semicircular in dorsal view. Fastigium wide and short. Eyes small and round, not protruding. Ocelli very wide, ivory colored. Genae smooth, slightly convex in frontal view. Maxillary palps short; articles 3 and 4 subequal; article 5 longer, regularly widened toward apex and truncate obliquely. Antennae filiform, much longer than body and covered with minute setae all over; scapus slightly longer than wide (ratio = 1.2), oval in cross-section, densely covered with minute setae; pedicel cylindrical, much smaller than scapus.

Thorax ( Figs. 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 ). Tegument smooth, coriaceous and covered by short, thin and shiny setae, with a velvety look. Pronotum wider than long (ratio = 1.5); anterior margin shallowly concave, posterior margin very shallowly V-shaped, lateral margins slightly swollen. FWs short and narrow, slightly surpassing the anterior margin of abdominal tergite I, symmetrical, right FW overlapping only half of left FW. Venation strongly marked, but acoustic structures confusing. PCuA located at the anterior third of FW, not clearly bisinuate, with 43–46 stridulatory teeth (those on both extremes becoming gradually too small for a reliable count). Harp wide. Chord cell very well differentiated, not close to inner FW margin. Mirror not differentiated. Vein Sc bifurcate. Apical field including only a few cells. Veins M+CuA and R strong and convex, not fused into FW apex. Lateral field with five strong longitudinal veins below R. Hind wings (= alae) minute, narrow and shaped like a triangular spatula, with few but well developed veins; with a moderately dense cover of short and rigid, pale setae and few larger dark setae scattered. Metanotal gland absent.

Legs ( Fig. 1 ). Covered all over by two very distinct types of setae: one short and rigid, another minute and velvety. FI stout, almost as long as TI, subquadrate in cross-section; TI slender, straight and cylindrical, with both tympani present (inner smaller and round, outer larger and oval) and three small apical spurs; tarsomere I-1 long and cylindrical, shorter than TI, tarsomere I-2 and I-3 very short; tarsal claws short. Mid legs similar to fore legs in structure, only slightly longer and with FII more robust; TII with four small apical spurs: one pair lateral and one pair ventral. FIII very robust, longer than TIII (ratio = 1.3), oval in cross-section; TIII serrate on their whole dorsal side and with 4:4 dorsal subapical spurs and six apical spurs: three inner (dorsal medium-sized, median almost as long as tarsomere III-1, ventral shorter) and three outer (dorsal and ventral medium-sized, median shortest); tarsomere III-1 long, shorter than TIII (ratio = 0.3), with 6:2 / 2:6 dorsal subapical spines and armed distally with a pair of curved apical spurs; tarsomere III-2 and III-3 very short; tarsal claws long.

Abdomen ( Figs. 1 , 5 b–c). Longer than head + pronotum (ratio = 1.5) and slightly wider than pronotum. Tegument smooth, coriaceous and covered by short, thin and shiny setae, giving a velvety look. Supra-anal plate wider than long (ratio = 1.4), paraboloid, with base subtrapezoidal and apex strongly convex. Subgenital plate wider than long (ratio = 1.2), paraboloid, with posterior margin convex and unmodified (i.e., free margins not enlarged, nor bearing glandular structures). Cerci slightly longer than abdomen (ratio = 1.1).

Genitalia ( Fig. 8 ). Small and subtriangular in shape. Lophi very well developed, stout, subtriangular in shape, curved inwards with tips in contact, inner surface closely denticulate and very densely setose. Pseudepiphallic ventral plate longer than wide, its basal portion reaching the epiphallus base, with short and sclerotized setae scattered all over. Pseudepiphallic parameres widely separated, heavily sclerotized, with distal lobe short and round. Rami sinuose, almost as long as the rest of pseudepiphallus and not separated from the pseudepiphallic plate by membranes. Ectophallic apodemes wide and basally divergent, not surpassing rami. Ectophallic arc wide, not divided medially and V-shaped. Ectophallic fold simple and almost triangular, visible in both dorsal and ventral views. Endophallic sclerite large, inverted teardrop-shaped, its distal margin U-shaped and with two medium-sized, digitiform lateral lobes. Endophallic cavity wide but very low.

Female (allotype). Very similar to holotype male, except as follows. Body larger (total length 22.6 mm) and more robust. Scapus as long as wide. Forewings smaller, more angulose and not overlapping medially. Legs slightly longer. Supra-anal and subgenital plates wider (width/length ratio = 1.6 and 2.0, respectively), the latter trapezoidal and with posterior margin V-shaped. Ovipositor well sclerotized, longer than abdomen (ratio = 1.3), strongly compressed and feebly punctate; apex lanceolate and unarmed, upper margin longer and convex, lower margin shorter and much shallower. See figures 2, 4, 6 and table I. Genitalia: copulatory papilla very small (respective to abdomen size), heavily sclerotized, strongly compressed (dorsal and ventral views) and navicular in shape (lateral view), with basal sclerotized ring well-differentiated but relatively small and rhomboid; dorsal margin strongly convex, sharply edged and smooth; ventral margin almost straight and bluntly edged, with a conspicuous tooth at the base of the subdistal notch that encircles spermathecal duct opening; lateral surfaces essentially smooth, only with minute, inconspicuous wrinkles.

Variation. Coloration is essentially identical in the three available specimens; the few minor differences observed are attributable to preservation.

Distribution ( Figs. 9–10 ). According to the material available to us, this species is confirmed to occur only in a single locality, in the northeast part of the Sagua-Baracoa Mountains. It is a small, relict, isolated limestone karstic plateau, hence the local name “El Yunque”, which literally means “The Anvil”.

Nevertheless, A. inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas n. sp. may be more widespread in these mountains, as part of the undetermined material examined during this study could be conspecific (see below).

Ecological notes. The type-series was found active at noon, on the dark leaf litter of broadleaf evergreen forest, at the base of a limestone cliff. The exact collecting site is located at 461 m a.s.l. in the step-sloped ascent trail to El Yunque, not far from the summit. The vegetation is very humid and shady and the relief is heavily karstic ( Fig. 10 ).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas n. sp., adult male holotype, close-ups: a) meso- and metanotum, dorsal; b) meso- and metanotum showing alae (arrow), dorsolateral; c) right forewing showing venation pattern, dorsal; d) right forewing showing stridulatory file, ventral.

FIGURE 10. Geographical distribution of the New World genera of Eneopterinae: a) tropical America, showing Antillobinthus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas gen. n. (circles), Eneoptera (stars), Ligypterus (triangles) and Ponca (squares), image frame = 14,400 x 7,200 km; b) eastern Cuba, showing the endemic Antillobinthus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas gen. n.: Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolass n. sp. (red symbol) and undetermined populations (yellow symbols), image frame = 380 x 180 km.

FIGURES 1–2. Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas n. sp., adult male holotype (1) and adult female allotype (2), habitus: a) dorsal; b) lateral; c) ventral. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURES 3–4. Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas n. sp., adult male holotype (3) and adult female allotype (4), close-ups: a) head and thorax, dorsal; b) head and thorax, lateral; c) head, frontal.

FIGURES 5–6. Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas n. sp., adult male holotype (5) and adult female allotype (6), close-ups: a) forewing, dorsal; b) apex of abdomen, dorsal; c) apex of abdomen, ventral; d) ovipositor (base omitted), lateral.

FIGURES 8–9. Antillobinthus inexpectatus Yong & Desutter-Grandcolas n. sp., 8. adult male holotype, close-ups of genitalia: a) dorsal; b) lateral; c) ventral.9. adult female allotype, close-ups of genitalia (copulatory papilla): a) dorsal; b) lateral; c) ventral.