Arantiini

Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, Hemp, Claudia, Liu, Chunxiang & Volleth, Marianne, 2014, Taxonomic, bioacoustic and faunistic data on a collection of Tettigonioidea from Eastern Congo (Insecta: Orthoptera), Zootaxa 3785 (3), pp. 343-376 : 350-352

Arantiini Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878

Brunner von Wattenwyl (1878) established this group for the single genus Arantia Stål. However , the description that indicates conchate tympana on both sides of the fore leg tibia (key, p. 17: “tibia anticae foraminibus rimatis instructae”, p. 136: “Vorderschienen tragen auf beide Seiten sehr verengte, beinahe geschlossene Gehöröffnungen”; p. 137: “spaltenförmige Gehörorgane”), is inconsistent with the Latin diagnosis (p. 136: “foraminibus utrinque vel in latere antico rimatis” =ears slit open on both sides or on the inner one). From the following descriptions of the species it can be seen the diagnosis is correct. A. fasciata (as A. spinulosa ) possess open tympana on both sides, but A. rectifolia asymmetrical ones. Brunner von Wattenwyl provided the genus description obviously mainly based on A. fasciata (as A. spinulosa ) and restricts the genus to occur in South Africa, although only one species is found there. In his key to genera Chopard (1955) described Arantia as having asymmetric ears: “tympans differents, les externs ouverts, les internes en forme de fente”, as in Karsch (1889): “Foramina der Vorderschienen ungleich” - foramina of the fore tibiae uneven.

Accepting the view of Karsch and Chopard, our specimens, showing also the asymmetric condition, can be easily identified as belonging to Arantia (without fore coxal spine and having only very small styli on the subgenital plate, sometimes even missing completely as in A. manca Bolivar 1906 ). However, during identification we were puzzled because at the first glance it seemed unlikely that our species, looking so differently, should belong to the same genus. After comparing descriptions and pictures it became obvious that Arantia is a quite heterogenous group. Again, Brunner von Wattenwyl (1878, 1891) may not have noticed this variability as he refers in the description of the group to the very broad tegmina, not found even in the type species.

To facilitate identification we propose to split the genus in two subgenera based on tegmen width and hind femora curvature.