Lirometopum, Scudder, 1875

Piotr Naskrecki, 2000, Katydids of Costa Rica / Vol. 1, Systematics and bioacoustics of the cone-head katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae sensu lato)., Philadelphia, PA: The Orthopterists Society at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, : 47

LIROMETOPUM Scudder, 1875

Common name: Pitbull katydids

1875 Scudder, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 17: 60. type

species: Lirometopum coronatum Scudder, 1875

1999 Naskrecki and Otte, Illustr. Cat. Orthop. I ( CD

ROM) >>references; types illustrated

Diagnosis

Body very robust, of medium size; both sexes macropterous ( Fig. 11 A); tegumen smooth. Face nearly circular to moderately elongate; fastigium of vertex 3-5 times broader than scapus, short, with 3 tubercles apically, continuous with fastigium of frons; genal carinae extremely well developed; face flat. All femora armed on lower margins with spines. Male cercus stout, armed with blunt, ventral, subapical spine; ovipositor straight, with upper and lower margins parallel.

Description (male except where specified)

Head.— Fastigium of vertex 3 to 5 times as wide as scapus, as long as or shorter than diameter of eye, its apex with 3 horizontally arranged tubercles; fastigium of vertex touching fastigium of frons. Eyes small relative to size of head, weakly protruding. Head proportionately large to very large; face oval to nearly circular; frons flat, usually covered with large, irregular protuberances; genal carinae usually extremely well developed, consisting of semicircle of more or less conspicuous tubercles. Mandibles and clypeus symmetrical.

Thorax and wings.— Dorsal surface of pronotum smooth, flat; anterior dorsal margin straight, posterior one straight to weakly convex; lateral lobes with posterior angle broadly rounded; humeral sinus weakly indicated. Thoracic auditory spiracle large, elliptical, completely hidden under lateral lobe of pronotum; posterior edge of spiracle unmodified. Prosternum unarmed; mesosternum with lateral lobes forming vertical or oblique, short and widely separated spines; metasternum short and wide, unarmed.

Wings in both sexes fully developed, surpassing hind knees by 1/4 to 1/2 of their length ( Fig. 11 A); tegmina relatively narrow to wide, sometimes nearly elliptical in outline. Stridulatory apparatus of male well developed; stridulatory area of left wing thickened, with dense network of secondary veinlets; stridulatory file (vein AA 1) straight; mirror of right wing as long as wide or slightly longer than wide, with all margins weakly convex. Posterior margin of tegmen straight or convex; apex of tegmen narrowly rounded.

Legs.— Fore coxa with an elongate, forward projecting spine dorsally. Fore and mid femora unarmed dorsally but armed ventrally on anterior margins; genicular lobes of fore femora unarmed, lobes of mid and hind femora armed with short spines, but often only inner genicular lobes armed. Fore and mid tibiae unarmed dorsally, both ventral margins with immovable spines as long as 1/4 to 1/2 diameter of tibia; hind tibia armed on all four dorsal and ventral margins; apex of tibia with two pairs of ventral and one pair of dorsal movable spurs. Tympanum on fore tibia bilaterally closed, tympanal slits facing forward, tympanal area only weakly swollen, with pair of small, elongated pits below tympanal slits.

Abdomen.— Dorsal surface of abdominal terga smooth, unmodified. Male 10th tergite with shallow apical emargination, supraanal plate small, triangular. Male cercus stout, bent inwards, with short, blunt, ventral, subapical spine; female cercus simple, weakly incurved. Subgenital plate of male with small, triangular apical emargination; styli sometimes reduced to hardy visible pegs; female subgenital plate with conspicuous, triangular apical emargination.

Male concealed genitalia without well developed titillators but with part of phallic membrane partially sclerotized and covered by chitinous callosities. Ovipositor straight, somewhat longer than hind femur; both dorsal and ventral margins of ovipositor smooth, parallel; apex of upper valvula pointed or narrowly rounded.

Coloration.— Coloration light green; face often with yellow, irregular markings; clypeus, labrum and mandibles as well as abdominal sterna contrastingly black in one species ( L. coronatum ).

Remarks.— The genus Lirometopum includes 2 described species: L. coronatum , distributed from Nicaragua, through Costa Rica and Panama to Colombia, and L. concolor Karny , known only from a single male collected in the “Upper Amazon.”

Figures

FIG. 11. Lirometopum coronatum. A. female - habitus, B. female face, C. female head and pronotum, dorsal view, D. female abdomen and subgenital plate, ventral view, E. male cerci, dorsal view, F. apex of male abdomen, posterior view.