Euconocephalus latipennis 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 : 239-241

Euconocephalus latipennis Tiwari and Diwakar sp. n.

( Fig. 7 )

Material examined: Holotype: Male. INDIA. Arunachal Pradesh, Namdapha Tiger Reserve , Changlang district ~ 796 m a.s.l. 2017 Coll. Chandranshu Tiwari, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, 110007 (Delhi), India . Paratype: Arunachal Pradesh, Namdapha Tiger Reserve , Changlang district ~ 796 m a.s.l. (2 ♂) .

Type locality: Namdapha Tiger Reserve , Arunachal Pradesh. India .

Measurements (length in mm): Body 31.48 (0.8); tegmen 43.26 (0.5); fastigium 1.21 (0.23); pronotum 8.42 (0.38), fore-femora 6.42 (0.3); mid-femora 7.79 (0.5); hind-femora 25.7 (0.3); fore-tibia 7.0 (0.2); mid-tibia 8.85 (0.1); hind-tibia 24.88 (0.7), file 2.52 (0.1).

Distribution: Nocturnal. Found only in the dense understorey. The species is currently known only from its type locality.

Seasonal occurrence: The species was recorded from the type locality during the early monsoon.

Etymology: The species epithet refers to the character truncated tegmen. Latin adjective (=wide wing). Following Euconocephalus in gender.

Differential diagnosis: The new species is allied to Euconocephalus budaunensis ( Farooqi and Usmani 2018a) but differs in the following characters: smaller size; shorter fastigium, truncated apices of tegmen and a denser stridulatory file.

Description:

Male: Body slender. Head. fastigium of vertex conical, short and blunt. Fastigium separated from frons by a notch with a small ventral tubercle present at the base of fastigium. Eyes suboval and prominent. Pronotum: anterior dorsal margin concave, posterior margin rounded; transverse sulcus distinct before the middle of pronotum; lateral carinae of pronotum absent. Lateral lobes of pronotum longer than high; humeral sinus distinct. Prosternum armed with a pair of spines, mesosternal and metasternal lobes triangular. Prosternum armed with a pair of spines, mesosternal and metasternal lobes triangular. Legs: genicular lobes of fore femora unarmed on both sides; mid genicular lobes armed by a single spine on inner side and unarmed on outer side, hind genicular lobes armed by a single spine on both sides.All femora dorsally unarmed. Pro femora with a small spine on the inner margin ventrally. Mid femora ventrally unarmed on inner margin and 3 minute spines on outer margin. Hind femora ventrally armed with 15 small spines on inner margin and 12 small spines on outer margin. Fore and mid tibiae dorsally unarmed. Tympanum on fore tibia conchate, tympanal slits facing forward with a pair of small elongated pits laterally just below the tympanum. Fore tibiae ventrally armed with 6 small spines each on inner margin and outer margin. Hind tibiae dorsally armed with 15 small spines each on inner margin and outer margin. Hind tibiae ventrally armed by 21 small spines on inner margin and 23 small spines on outer margin. Single dorsal pair of spurs and two ventral pairs (inner small and outer large) of spurs present on the apical region of hind tibiae. Wings. Tegmina longer than hind wings but not extending beyond the hind wing; apices truncated; Wings reaching beyond the middle of hind tibiae when folded. Tegmen on two third of the radial field, decorated with blackish spots. Hind wings pellucid. Stridulatory file. 126±4 teeth (n=3) file sulcate, almost straight, slightly elevated before the middle on proximal side; extremely dense in the middle narrow on both proximal and distal end.

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 triangular with dorsal longitudinal groove. Subgenital plate long, lateral ridges well developed, middle ridge weakly developed, basal V shaped ridge not visible, apical magin with triangular excision; styli conical, short; apex sub obtuse; converging apically. Cerci thick with two incurved teeth, dorsal tooth short with long spine ventral tooth large with small spine.

Female. Unknown

Coloration. Dark green when alive. Apex of fastigium white. Antennae brown with short dark bands apically. Tegmen appears green when live with dark spots in radial field, but is hyaline with veins and brownish spots. fore femora light brown, mid and hind femora dark green. All tibia dark brown.

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

Figures

FIGURE 7. Euconocephalus latipennis (a) habitus, (b) dorsal view of head depicting fastigium, head and pronotum, (c) lateral view of head with notched frons, (d) ventral view of sternum, (e) wing apex (f) dorsal view of right tegmen, (g) subgenital plate, (h) lateral view of male cercus, (i) scanning electron microscope image of stridulatory file.