Erebonyx de Mello, 2021

De Mello, Francisco De A. G. & Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes, 2021, Erebonyx catacumbae, n. gen. et sp.: a blind, troglobitic cricket from Brazil (Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Phalangopsidae), Zootaxa 4975 (2), pp. 343-356 : 345-348

Erebonyx de Mello , gen. nov.

( Figs. 1 to 5)

Type-species: E. catacumbae , n. sp.

Etymology: The generic name is composed by the names Erebos, which in Greek means “place of the darkness of the inferior world”, or just “darkness”, (it is also the name of a male primordial deity, the personification of darkness) and Nyx, meaning night (it is also a deity, but female, sister and consort of Erebos).

Diagnosis. 1- eyes flat (not prominent), sub-triangular, white, devoid of ommatidia; 2- maxillary palpi elongate, 5 th joint not much convex, resembling those of some forest-litter dwelling luzarines; 3- auditory tympana absent; 4- male fore wings reaching near half of abdominal tergite III, almost all transparent, dorsal fields overlapping very little on anterior half only, narrowing distad; dorsal field with all veins and areas normally present in acoustically communicating crickets but quite faded, mirror small, pars stridens vestigial with atypical (degenerated) denticles, lateral field with two parallel veins; 5- presence of three sets of bristle brushes along the posterior dorsal margins of abdominal tergites III to V, just prior to respective sets of tergal glands; 6- hind tibia with four subapical spurs on outer face and three on inner; 7- median lophi of pseudepiphallus long, with a median invagination extending from its middle portion up to the tip, each side bearing a disto-lateral projection which looks digitiform as viewed from dorsum but laminar from the sides.

Description (based on male unless otherwise specified). Head tall, its top somewhat flattened as seen laterally, inter-antennal space very narrow (fig. 1C); prominent (fig. 1D); eyes sub-triangular, all three vertices broad, ommatidia absent (fig. 1E); median ocellus vestigial, lateral more visible, all three without sharp margins; 3 rd to 5 th joints of maxillary palpi elongate (figs. 1B, D, F). Pronotum shallow, lateral lobes with postero-lateral angle as wide as antero-lateral, the inferior margins straight, disk broader anteriorly, anterior margin broadly convex, posterior one straight (figs. 1A, B, D). Metanotum non-glandular (fig. 2C). Fore wings very poorly pigmented, reaching near half of abdominal tergite III, slightly overlapping at the level of their first third, then each one becoming narrower towards the apices; mirror small, undivided, pars stridens vestigial with atypical (degenerated) denticles, diagonal vein (sensu Otte & alexander, 1983), part of Cu1, not connect to nearest chord by transverse veins; lateral field with two parallel veins (figs, 1A, B, G; 2A, B). Limbs moderately long; fore tibia without auditory tympana, both with a pair of apical spurs on inferior distal edges; tibia III with 4/4 dorsal spurs and no teeth above or between them; two apical spurs on external side and three on internal (figs. 3 A to E). Abdominal tergites III to V with a row of long bristles (brushes) along their posterior dorsal margins, just prior to respective tergal glands, the bristle brush on tergite III divided into two portions (fig. 2D, E, F); supra-anal plate wider than long, the distal margin evenly round at mid-portion (fig. 2G). Subgenital plate slightly wider (at base) than long, the posterior angles rounded, distal margin nearly straight, superior face of this piece with a very distinctive posterior, bulb-shaped, structure, which seems to be a gland (figs. 2H, I; see discussion). Phallic complex (fig. 4 A to D): median lophi of pseudepiphallus well developed as a one dorso-lateral piece element on its anterior half, but with a narrow median invaginaton as deep as its distal half making it bilobated posteriorly, each of the lobes bent upward distally; pseudepiphallic parameres depressed, the outer margins somewhat circular, just a tip of each not hidden by the median lophi when seen from dorsum; rami long; ectophallic apodemes long, distal projections long, ectophallic arc broad, ectophallic fold little pigmented; endophallic sclerite with a pair of posterior outward projections (fig. 4D).

Female characters: forewings reduced, scale-shaped, with a lobiform contour, one very distant from the other (fig. 5A, B); distal margin of supra-anal plate shaped as an open-U (fig. 5D); distal margin of subgenital plate concave (fig. 5C); ovipositor moderately long, shorter than cerci, valves normal, without serrulation (fig. 5A, F to G). Copulatory papilla capsular (fig. 4E to H).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Erebonyx catacumbae, gen. et sp. nov. Male. A- habitus, dorsal; B- habitus, lateral; C- head, frontal; D- head and pronotum, lateral; E- detailed view of eye and antennal socket; F- Maxillary palpus; G- fore wings attached to body.