Erebonyx catacumbae 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 : 350-351

Erebonyx catacumbae de Mello , n. sp.

( Figures 1 to 5)

Etymology: the specific name “ catacumbae ” is derived from the latin word catacumba, the equilavent to the English catacomb, originally designating underground galleries to place the dead, plus the suffix ae; the name, then, means from the catacomb.

Description of male (other than already described for the genus): Head capsule yellowish, contrasting with median brown pronotum and tergites pigmentation; fastigium yellow, darker than frons and gena; antennae poorly pigmented, not color banded, scape depressed, light yellow; eyes, antennal sockets and clypeus unpigmented; maxillary palpi poorly pigmented but bearing brownish pile, 5 th joint the most pigmented one (medium brown), truncation area unpigmented (figs. 1A, B, C, D, E, F). Fore wings; dorsum very light brown, the veins nearly white (figs. 1G, 2A, B). Limbs: all very light yellow, very pale (figs. 1A, B; 3A to E).

Description of female (fig.5): very similar to male, with the few exceptions: body decidedly more constricted at mesonotum level; abdomen more voluminous, devoid of bristle brushes; supra-anal plate less pigmented (fig. 5C); copulatory papilla sub-pyriform, yellow but nearly unpigmented at tip (fig. 4E to H).

Measurements (mm). Holotype male: Body length 8.68; Head width 1.66; Pronotum length 1.51; Pronotum width 1.98; Fore wing length 2.6; Fore wing width 1.55; Femur III length 5.3; Tibia III length 5.2. Paratype females (mean, n= 3): Body length 9.94; Head width 1.83; Pronotum length 1.79; Pronotum width 2.08; Fore wing length 0.6; Femur III length 5.75; Tibia III length 5.12; Ovipositor length 5.0.

Material examined: Holotype male, Gruta Toca do Gonçalo , Municipality of Campo Formoso, State of Bahia, Brazil, 28.xii.2010, Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira leg. All other specimens with same data as holotype, except the day of capturing: 1 female paratype (10.vi.2012); 2 female paratypes (14.vi.2012); 1 nymph (10.vi.2012); 2 nymphs (14. vi.2012).

Repository: all specimens preserved in 80% alcohol and kept at the Orthoptera Collection, Biosciences Institute, Botucatu Campus of São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil (BOTU).

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.