Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis, Gupta & Chandra & Husemann, 2019

Gupta, Sunil Kumar, Chandra, Kailash & Husemann, Martin, 2019, An annotated checklist of the Indian species of the band-winged grasshopper genus Sphingonotus Fieber, 1852 (Orthoptera: Acrididae) with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4604 (2), pp. 349-358 : 351-356

Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov.

Material examined. Type material: Holotype. ♀, India, Arunachal Pradesh, Changlang District; Namdapha National Park , 29 mile (27°29'5.8''N 96°27'30.3''E), 371m, 30.x.2015, coll. Amitava & Party, Reg. No. 20660/H5 . Paratypes: 1♂, 2♀, same data as Holotype. Reg. No. 22661-63/H5 .

Diagnosis. Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from similar species of the genus Sphingonotus by (i) the median carina of pronotum lacking between hind sulcus and fore sulcus; median carina of pronotum erected behind, (ii) hind wings basal coloured pinkish, (iii) hind tibiae with two reddish bands, (iv) tegmen long, reaching the apices of posterior tibiae, and (v) basal part of lower valvae of ovipositor without distinct callous tubercles.

Description: Female. Head. Head robust, punctured, rounded in profile, antennae with 21 segments, filiform, longer than head and pronotum together. Fastigium of vertex concave, anteriorly truncated and posteriorly broad, with lateral carinae elevated, median carina slightly distinct. Vertex smaller than compound eye length. Frons straight, slightly reclinate, frontal ridge parallel not sulcated and not depressed between antennae, below antennae slightly widened, small median ocellus present in inferior margin of antennal grooves, lateral carinae broad at the fastigium, slightly narrow between antennae. Foveolae elongate triangular. Eyes roundish oval.

Thorax. Pronotum weakly constricted in prozona, transverse furrows deep; the first furrow passes just behind middle of prozona; interspaces between transverse furrows weakly tuberculate, as wide as long, anterior margin subtruncated and posterior margin obtuse angular or rounded; pronotal disk smooth with three complete transverse sulci; median carina very weak in front of the first sulcus, absent between second and third sulcus, thin and linear in metazona; lateral carinae absent. Metazona approximately twice as long as prozona.

Wings. Tegmen long, reaching apices of posterior tibiae, obliquely rounded apically, intercalary vein well developed, straight. Hind wings pinkish hyaline with a fascia, not reaching the posterior margin. Abdomen. Abdomen 4 times longer than wide; tympanum well developed. Cercus smaller than epiproct, basal half broad with apically rounded tip. Epiproct trilobite, but tip obtuse. Subgenital plate with two lobes of almost rectangular shape. Ovipositor short, reniform, dorsal valve of ovipositor stout; ventral valve rather short.

Legs. Fore legs with small white hairs; profemora 6.8 times longer than wide, slightly longer than protibiae. Mid legs with small white hairs; mesofemora 1.1 times longer than mesotibiae. Hind legs with small white hairs; hind femora slender and elongate, 6 times longer than wide, 1.1 times longer than abdomen, upper and lower carina smooth, median area with 3 large black rounded patches and 6 small black rounded patches, inner side of hind femora with 2 light complete fasciae. Hind tibiae with 11 external and 7 internal black tiped spines; inner and outer apical spurs subequal. Arolium small.

Body length: Female. 31.25 (from the tip of the vertex to the end of the abdomen), compound eye length (Dorsum): 1.99, width: 1.35; vertex width: 1.43; antenna length: 12.29; head length 2.43; pronotum length: 6.24, width: 6.58; prozona length: 2.16, metazona length: 4.08, mesosternal lobe length: 0.95, width 1.64. Tegmen length: 36.44, width: 3.60. Fore leg: femur length: 3.92, width: 0.57; tibia length: 2.47, width: 0.37; tarsus length (by segments) I: 0.74, II: 0.29, III: 1.16; claw length: 0.47. Mid leg: femur length: 4.33, width: 0.63, tibia length: 3.74, width: 0.47; tarsus length: I: 0.77, II: 0.43, III: 1.37; claw length 0.50. Hind leg: femur length: 13.92, width: 2.25, tibia length: 10.96, width: 0.62, tarsus length: I: 1.31, II: 0.32, III: 1.28, claw length 0.50. Abdomen length: 12.90; basal width: 3.14. cerci length 0.96, cerci basal width 0.63, dorsal ovipositor valve length: 1.17; ventral ovipositor valve length: 1.27, width: 0.48.

Male: Body size smaller than female. Subgenital plate 1.8 times as long as wide, apex obtuse. Supra-anal plate 1 times longer than wide. Cerci large, 2.3 times larger than wide, slightly larger than supra-anal plate.

Body length: Male: 24.97 (from the tip of the vertex to the end of the abdomen), compound eye length (dorsal): 1.80, width: 1.28; vertex width: 0.94; head length: 2.53; antenna length; 10.92, scape length: 0.61. Pronotum length: 4.45, width: 4.32; prozona length: 1.52, metazona length: 2.92, mesosternal lobe length: 0.75, width 1.09. Tegmen length: 29.44. Fore leg: femur length: 2.90, width: 0.60; tibia length: 3.14, width: 0.27; tarsus length (by segments) I: 0.51, II: 0.17, III: 0.78; claw length: 0.44. Mid leg: femur length: 3.61, width: 0.58, tibia length: 3.48, width: 0.36; tarsus length: I: 0.54, II: 0.33, III: 1.07; claw length 0.50. Hind leg: femur length: 11.94, width: 3.35, tibia length: 10.15, width: 0.53, tarsus length: I: 0.99, II: 0.42, III: 1.44. Abdomen length: 10.58; basal width: 1.85. cerci length 1.11, cerci basal width 0.47, supra-anal plate length 1.33, basal width 1.37; subgenital plate length: 1.61, width: 0.88.

Color: Body light brownish to sand colour, abdomen whitish; outer median area of hind femora light brown to whitish; inner side of male hind femora dark brown with one yellowish patch, inner side of female hind femora light brown with two large yellowish transverse bands. Tegmia with a dark basal fascia. The hind wing pinkish hyaline with a curved strongly contrasting black brownish band. Inner surfaces of posterior femora brown black with 2 light complete fasciae. Hind tibiae reddish yellow.

Etymology: The name of the species has been given after the collection locality of the species.

Discussion. Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) eurasius eurasius by its body size ( S. eurasius 13 mm); lateral facial carinae more elevated and reaching above the posterior end of compound eyes. Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) octofasciatus by head very short, not robust. The hind wings of S. octofasciatus being reddish with two dark fasciae; metazona saddle shaped, posterior angle of metazona more rounded, not angulated. Tegmen short, not reaching the apices of posterior tibiae. Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) balteatus balteatus by body size small, wings with the whole centre filled up by a very broad black band, base of wings scarcely blue. Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) balteatus himalayanus Uvarov, 1923 by dark fascia of wings fairly wide, not reaching the inner margin of wing by a long distance; posterior tibiae bluish gray on the inner sides. Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) kashmirensis by having mesosternal interspace narrow, less than twice as wide as long; wings with dark transverse band well developed and broad, while mesosternal interspace wide, twice or more as wide as long; wings with dark band diffused in Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) kashmirensis . Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) orissaensis by having inner side of hind femora with 2 light complete fasciae while inner side of hind femora black with traces of blue proximally and distally in Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) orissaensis . Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) montanus by having posterior femora for the greater part of the inner side brown with two fascia, while posterior femora for the greater part of the inner side yellow with a dark fascia near the apex in Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) montanus . Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) rubescens fallax by having wings pinkish hyaline near the base while wings transparent, slightly bluish at bases in Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) rubescens fallax . Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) changlangensis sp. nov. differs from Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) rubescens rubescens by having wings pinkish hyaline, while wings iridescent hyaline in Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) rubescens rubescens .

In conclusion the discovery of a new species of the genus Sphingonotus raises the number of species in the genus to 146 and also upgrades the diversity of Indian species of Sphingonotus to 12.