Gryllotalpella Rehn, 1917

Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J., Rodríguez, Diana Marcela Trujillo, Quintana-Arias, Ronald Fernando & Ariza, Jeison Eduardo García, 2022, Studies on Neotropical crickets: A new Gryllotalpella species (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) from Brazilian Amazon, Zootaxa 5124 (4), pp. 483-489 : 484-485

Gryllotalpella Rehn, 1917

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:25032

Type species. Neocurtilla minor Bruner, 1916 ; by monotypy and original designation.

New description. Body slender and small (16-31 mm.), cylindrical and elongated. The body’s general coloration is brown, with the ventral surface yellowish, usually with a couple of yellowish spots on the pronotum. Body surface soft and velvety. Head conical, tapering from posterior region to mouthparts. Eyes ovoid, medium-sized, compared to other genera of New World mole crickets. Ocelli always present (only lateral ocelli, central one absent), located between the dorsal margins of the eyes, variably shaped from small and round to ovoid and conspicuous. Antennae situated on the inner side of the ventral margin of the eyes, projecting to the middle of the body; escape three to four times as long as the pedicel. Maxillary palpi slender and long, third and fourth segments cylindrical and of similar length, fifth segment a little longer than the fourth segment, and dilated apex. Thorax. Pronotum ovoid is longer than wide; the anterior margin is concave and narrower than the posterior margin. Prosternum narrow and almost entirely covered by forelegs; mesosternum narrow and with a central septum from the anterior to the posterior margin; metasternum ovoid with a broad upper lobe and a lower as wide as one-third the length of the upper lobe. Wings. Tegmina covering the first or second tergite; distal portion of the radial area widened, distal portion of the subcostal area narrow, costal veins non-reticulate. Hind wings absent or extending beyond abdomen. Legs. Forelimbs small and soft; process of fore femur trigonal. Tympani totally exposed. Hind femora as long as a fourth of the abdomen length; dorsal margin of the hind tibia without spines. Abdomen cylindrical, 2 to 2.5 times the length of the head and thorax together. Dorsal margin of four last tergites with a groove into which the hindwings fit in macropterous specimens. Epiproct triangular, and cerci as long as hind femur.

Male. Unknown.

Comparison. Gryllotalpella is easily distinguished from the other genera of Gryllotalpinae distributed in America, due to its small size, open tympana, cylindrical and elongated shape, in contrast to genera such as Gryllotalpa and Neocurtilla , which are larger and more robust. It differs from Neocurtilla and Leptocurtilla , by the process of the anterior femur, which is trigonal in shape, resembling the process of Gryllotalpa . However, this process for this last genus, the apex is pointed and not rounded as in Gryllotalpella .

Key to known Gryllotalpella species

1. Second pair of wings well-developed; ocelli ovoid or circular mid-sized.......................................... 2

- Second pair of wings reduced and vestigial, ocelli round and very small................................... G. minor

2. First cubital area of the tegmina with one or two cross-veins, first and second anal area fused............... G. lawrencei

- First cubital area of the tegmina with three to six cross-veins, first and second anal area not fused...................... 3

3. Size 31 mm. Pronotal disc completely brown. Subcircular tympani, not elongated........................... G. tindali

- Size between 24–29 mm. Pronotal disc with a yellow spot on each side, in some specimens little developed. Tympani ovoid, elongate............................................................................................. 4

4. Ocelli circular; apex of dactyl not pointed; anal region 1 with five or six cross-veins; first cubital area with four cross-veins............................................................................................... G. rehni

- Ocelli ovoid; apex of dactyls pointed; anal 1 and 2 regions with numerous cross-veins, anal region 1 with three or four cross veins.................................................................................. G. mendesi n. sp.