Euconocephalus brevicornis Tiwari and Diwakar, 2024

Tiwari, Chandranshu & Diwakar, Swati, 2024, The Orchestra Nocturne: Description For Six New Katydid Species From India (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), Zootaxa 5405 (2), pp. 227-245 : 241-243

Euconocephalus brevicornis Tiwari and Diwakar sp. n.

( Fig. 8 )

Material examined: Holotype: Male. INDIA: Assam, Hollangapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary , Jorhat ~ 120 m a.s.l. 2017, Coll. Chandranshu Tiwari, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, 110007 (Delhi), India . Paratype: Assam, Hollangapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary , Jorhat ~ 120 m a.s.l., 2017 Coll. Chandranshu Tiwari (4 ♂) .

Type locality: Hollangapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary , Jorhat, Assam, India.

Measurements (length in mm): Body 27.11 (1.9); tegmen 32.45 (2.1); fastigium 1.24 (0.21); pronotum 7.6 (0.35); fore-femora 4.98 (0.2); mid-femora 6.56 (0.3); hind-femora 19.85 (0.6); fore-tibia 5.67 (0.8); mid-tibia 6.96 (0.3); hind-tibia 19.29 (1.4); file 2.12 (0.4)

Distribution. Crepescular-Nocturnal. Grasslands and fallowlands on the forest edge. In addition to type locality, the new species was also recorded by the collector in ONGC colony, Cinnamara in Jorhat.

Seasonal occurrence: The species was recorded from the type locality during the post-monsoon period. Etmylogoy: The species epithet refers to the character of small fastigium. Latin adjective (=small horned).

Following Euconocephalus in gender.

Differential diagnosis: The new species is similar to Euconocephalus farooqii ( Shah and Usmani 2022) but differs in the following traits: smaller size; fastigium shorter and with a weak median carinula, lateral carinae absent; straight stridulatory file with more than 60 teeth, fore and mid-femora dorsoventrally unarmed, supra-anal plate with obtuse apex, subgenital shorter and broader without the middle fringe, styli comparatively shorter.

Description

Male: body small and slender. Head. Conical in profile; fastigium of vertex conical, slightly extending beyond the base of antennae and separated from fastigium of frons by a notch with a small ventral tubercle present at the base of fastigium, dorsal surface smooth with a weak medial carinula. Apex rounded. eyes more or less spherical. Pronotum dorsal lateral sulcus barely visible; posterior dorsal margin broadly rounded, anterior margin almost straight; lateral carinae absent; lateral lobes of pronotum longer than high with distinct humeral sinus. Prosternum bispinose, mesosternal and metasternal lobes more or less triangular with a longitudinal dark band in the middle.

Legs. genicular lobes of fore femora spineless on both side; genicular lobes of mid femora spines on inner side with a single spine and spineless on outer side; genicular lobes of hind femora with a single spine on both inner and outer side; fore coxae with a long spine; all femora dorsally spineless, fore- and mid-femora ventrally unarmed, hind-femora ventrally armed with 7 spines on inner and 6 spines on outer margin. Tympanum on fore-tibia conchate, tympanal slits facing forward with a pair of small elongated pits laterally just below the tympanum; fore- and midtibiae dorsally spineless; fore-tibiae armed ventrally with 6 spines on outer and 4 spines on inner margin. Mid tibia armed ventrally with 7 spines on outer and 5 spines on inner margin. Hind tibia dorsally armed with 24 small spines and 25 small spines on inner and outer margin respectively, ventrally armed with 7 and 6 small spines on inner and outer margin respectively. Single dorsal pair of spurs and two ventral pairs (outer large and inner being small) of spurs present at the apical region of hind tibiae. Wings. tegmina longer than hind wings but not extending beyond the hind wings; apices rounded. wings surpassing the middle of hind tibia when folded. Stridulatory file on the ventral side of left tegmen with 73±12 (n=5) teeth. Sulcate with slight curve, narrowing towards the distal end, medially wide.

Male genitalia. Male tenth abdominal tergite with two incurved lobes on posterior margin and triangular excision between them; median carina faintly visible. Supra-anal plate with obtuse apex, subgenital shorter and broader without the middle fringe, styli comparatively shorter. Cerci thick with two incurved teeth, dorsal tooth short with long spine ventral tooth large with small spine.

Female. Unknown

Coloration. Both green and brown morphs. Apex of fastigium white. Antennae light colored. Sternum unicolor with a longitudinal brown band interrupted in the middle. Femora unicolor to the morph. Tibia brown in both color morphs.

Depositories: The specimens are deposited in the Department of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, University of Delhi.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Euconocephalus brevicornis (a)–(b) habitus in different color morphs, (c) dorsal view of head depicting fastigium, head and pronotum, (d) face, (e) lateral view of head with notched frons, (f) ventral view of sternum (g) lateral view of cercus, (h) dorsal view of right tegmen, (i) supra-anal plate, (j) subgenital plate, (i) scanning electron microscope image of stridulatory file.