Poreuomena tshuapa, Hemp & Massa, 2021

Hemp, Claudia & Massa, Bruno, 2021, Biogeographical and evolutionary aspects of a Guineo-Congolian bushcricket tribe: Revision of the genera Cestromoecha Karsch, 1893 and Poreuomena Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878, with the description of new species (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Phaneropterinae), Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 68 (1), pp. 45-79 : 45

Poreuomena tshuapa sp. nov. Figs 97-100

Material examined.

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tshuapa , Bokungu 1949, M. Dupuis (Holotype ♂) ; same data as holotype (Paratype ♂) ; Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haut-Lopori V-VI 1927, J. Ghesquiére (Paratype ♂) (MRAC).

Diagnosis.

Similar in the outer male genitalic apparatus to P. magnicerca from further west in the Congo Basin. Differentiated from P. forcipata and P. laeglae by a different 10th abdominal tergite which is clearly divided into two lobes in P. forcipata , while P. tshuapa sp. nov. only has small humps and the posterior margin of the 10th abdominal tergite of P. laeglae is more-or-less straight. P. forcipata has male cerci differentiated into two branches, an outer rather blunt, finger-like part and an inner blade-like expanded branch with an acute tip, similar to the inner branch of P. tshuapa sp. nov. and P. magnicerca . However, P. tshuapa sp. nov. has an additional branch just below the finger-like part of the cerci, absent in P. forcipata , but also present in P. magnicerca (also see diagnosis at P. laeglae ). In P. magnicerca , the blade-like subapical section or the “third” branch is more roundish and larger than in P. tshuapa sp. nov. and the subgenital plate differs between these two species. In P. tshuapa sp. nov., the subgenital plate is bilobate with the processes clearly separated, while in P. magnicerca , the lobes of the subgenital plate are shorter and situated more closely to each other. Further, in P. forcipata and P. laeglae , asymmetrical spines are present on the left side of the supra-anal plates.

Description.

Male. Probably predominantly green when alive, preserved specimens of tawny colour (Fig. 97 ). Where tegmina meet when folded, interior part of cells of dark colour while surrounding and elevated veins green/tawny. Typical Poreuomena species with Rs branching off from the radius near the base. The tegmina have two typical well-developed flaps at their base, the flap on the left side smaller and more pointed than the flap on the right tegmen. Beneath the flaps, tegmina with narrow longish brown markings are typical for several Poreuomena species. The stridulatory file on the left tegminal flap is about 1.5 mm long with small broadly-spaced inner teeth becoming gradually larger and are more densely set (Fig. 98 ). The last third consists of very densely packed teeth becoming smaller again; the apical part is strongly curved. All-in-all, the stridulatory file consists of about 70-80 teeth. Stridulatory file on the underside of the right tegmen not as well-developed, but similar in shape and size and arrangement of the teeth. The 10th abdominal tergite has almost a straight posterior margin with only two bump-like structures laterally (Fig. 99 ). The cerci are stout, divided at their apical part into three branches: a subapical blade located just beneath the second elongated, finger-like branch and an inner blade-like or leaf-like expanded branch with sclerotised margins (Figs 99 , 100 ). The subgenital plate is elongated and deeply divided into two lobes; without styli (Fig. 100 ). Between the subgenital plate and the cerci, two longish internal structures are present (titillators).

Female. Unknown.

Measurements

(mm). Males (n = 3). Body length: 17.7-18.2; pronotum length: 3.8-4.1; length hind femora: 20.3-21.2; length of tegmina 29.6-30.4; width of tegmina: 4.6-5.0.

Distribution.

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tshuapa Province.

Figures

Figures 97 - 100. Morphological details of male Poreuomena tshuapa sp. nov. Habitus (97), stridulatory file on the underside of the left tegminal flap (98), different views on apex with cerci (99, 100).