Paraxantia angustipennis Wu & Liu, 2023

Wu, Chao & Liu, Chun-Xiang, 2023, The genus Paraxantia Liu & Kang (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae Vosiini) in Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains, revealing high diversity of species, Zootaxa 5306 (3), pp. 367-376 : 369-370

Paraxantia angustipennis Wu & Liu sp. nov. ÝMṂAEǴÃ

Figs. 1A, B ; 3B, E ; 4B, E, H ; 5D, F, G ; 6C, E, G ; 7 .

Type Material. Holotype. 1♁, China: Yunnan Province, Nujiang of the Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Gongshan , Dulongjiang , Xiong’dang ; 2150m; 20.VI.2015; Chao Wu leg. ( IZCAS) . Paratypes. 1♀, China: Yunnan Province, Nujiang of the Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Gongshan , Dulongjiang , Kong’dang ; 2150m; 20.VI.2015; Chao Wu leg. ( IZCAS). 3♁, ditto ( IZCAS). 1♁, China: Tibet, Linzhi , Medog , Bo’nong’gong; 29.6547°N 95.4861°E, 2149m; 17.VII.2012; Chao Wu leg. ( IZCAS). 3♁, China: Tibet, Linzhi , Medog, Han’mi; 29.3647°N 95.1284°E, 2130m; 13–20.VII.2013; Chao Wu leg. ( IZCAS) .

Description. Male.

Head. Ovoid, elongate. Occiput convex, smooth. Compound eyes ovoid, protruding ( Fig. 3B ). Antennae slender, long but shorter than body length.

Pronotum. Slightly wider than head. Pronotal disc gradually tilting and widened backwards; anterior margin concave, posterior margin convex without middle notch; first transverse groove strongly impressed; lateral carinae finely denticulate; a triangular area composed of one transverse line near the first transverse groove and other two oblique slightly granular lines which are separate beginning in middle of two different lateral carinae, then ending in same middle point of posterior margin. Lateral lobes deeper than long; both anterior margin and posterior margin arc-shaped; ventral margin slightly concave. ( Fig. 3B )

Legs. Fore femur longer than pronotum, slender, ventral margin with 6 sparsely arranged spines; fore tibia normal, very slender, with 6 inner and 4 outer ventral spines, sparsely arranged and small; fore tibia with tympanum conchate on both sides, opening of tympanum very narrow, slit, and tympana area swollen ( Fig. 5D ). Middle femur normal, ventral margin with 9–10 spines. Middle tibia long, thin, with about 4 sparsely arranged small spines on external margin. Hind legs elongate, slender; hind femur widened in basal half and gradually narrowed towards apex, slightly swollen near knee; external ventral margin with 18–20 external spines and about 4 internal spines on apical half, and the spines large, blunt in basal half and gradually sharpened towards apex. Hind tibia slender, not swollen; dorsally bearing 22–24 close-packed external and 25–27 internal spines with similar size.

Wings. Tegmen and hind wing fully developed. Leaf-like tegmen very long, about six times longer than pronotum. Tegmen opaque, with numerous faint cross veinlets. Tegmen widened before middle and tapering towards rounded apex; anterior margin almost straight. Costal field widened with oblique cross veins; subcostal vein and radial vein joined at base, then separated but closely abutted together till before apical part of tegmen. Stridulatory file of left tegmen slender, elongated, cambered; about 4.8–5.0 mm long, with 150–160 teeth, densely arranged ( Fig. 3E ). Hind wing projecting beyond tegmen, wide, colorless, transparent except for tip with greenish pale veins.

Abdomen. Short. Tenth abdominal tergum broad, concave in middle; anal flap tongue-shaped, hairy. Subgenital plate elongate, anteriorly wide, sharply tapering into a narrow apical half, with notch at apex. Subgenital plate with short styli. Cerci robust, hairy, elongate; apical part flat, spatula-shaped, torsional at apex; dorsal furca missing; ventral furca extending inwards near apex of cercus, swelling at base, abruptly tapering apicad into a long sharp spine, torsional downward ( Fig. 4B ).

External genitalia. Membranous structure of phallic induration hardened, pleated, densely covered with tiny spines; phallic lobes long, acinaciform, with blunt apex ( Fig. 4E ). Titillator sclerotized, with two long and narrow branches; angle between the two branches comparatively small; the lateral keel on the branches bearing small spines ( Fig. 4H ).

Coloration. Generally fresh green when alive, with some purple-brown spots on lateral surface of meso- and metathorax. Compound eyes yellowish brown. Pronotum with pale yellow stripe along lateral keel, extending to posterior margin of compound eyes. Tegmen green, opaque; veins yellowish green, among which the main veins are yellower. Hind wings hyaline, with green exposed part. Base of fore legs and spines on hind femur yellow. ( Fig. 6C )

Female ( Figs. 7A–B ). Robust, similar to male, but wings much shorter. Tegmen wide, opaque, subfusiform; about four times longer than pronotum ( Fig. 1B ). Other characteristics similar to males. Cercus conical, slightly incurved, surface densely hairy; vf.1 wide, transverse, saddle-shaped. Ovipositor prominent, falcate; tip round, blunt, with small teeth on both margins; vl.3 about 2.5 times wider than vl.1 ( Fig. 5F, G ). Coloration similar to male.

Measurements (mm). length of pronotum: ♁ 9.8–10.2, ♀ 13.5; length of tegmen: ♁ 61.5–62.2, ♀ 53.8; width of tegmen: ♁ 18.5–18.8, ♀ 22.8; length of anterior femur: ♁ 10.2–11.0, ♀ 12.55; length of middle femur: ♁ 13.6–14.5, ♀ 14.9; length of posterior femur: ♁ 25.4–26.7, ♀ 30.4; length of ovipositor: 11.5.

Etymology. The new species is named for the forewing which is narrower than the other species. The combined Latin adjective ‘angusti + pennis’ means ‘with narrow forewing’.

Discussion. The new species is similar to P. tibetensis in appearance, but smaller sized. The tegmen of male of the new species is significantly narrower than that of P. tibetensis , the male cerci and male external genitalia are also significantly different from P. tibetensis . In addition, the fore tibia bears 2–3 dorsal spines in males of P. tibetensis ( Fig. 5C ), but doesn’t bear dorsal spines in P. angustipennis sp. nov. ( Fig. 5 D ). In Tibet-Medog, P. angustipennis sp. nov., P. tibetensis and P. rubripes can be observed in the same place at the same time.

Distribution. China: Tibet, Medog; Yunnan, Dulongjiang.

Sinica species group

Body green ( Fig. 6D ). Basal half of hind tibia normal. Male cerci with obvious dorsal furca ( Fig. 4C ). Phallic induration of male external genitalia large, sclerotized.

Species included: P. sinica ( Liu, 1993) , P. bicornis Liu & Kang, 2009 , P. hubeiensis Liu & Kang, 2009 , P. parasinica Liu & Kang, 2009 , P. daweishanensis Liu, 2014 , P. huangshanensis Liu, 2014 , P. szechwanensis Liu, 2014 , P. hakka Wu & Liu, 2021 , P. nujiangensis sp. nov..

Distribution: S-China.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Paraxantia spp. in Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains, body in lateral view. A–B: P. angustipennis sp. nov. (Holotype and Paratype); C: P. tibetensis; D: P. nujiangensis sp. nov. (Holotype). A, C, D: males; B: female.

FIGURE 3. Head and pronotum, male stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen of Paraxantia spp.. A–C: head and pronotum, dorsal and lateral view; D–F: male stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen. A, D: P. tibetensis; B, E: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; C, F: P. nujiangensis sp. nov..

FIGURE 4. Male right side of the cerci and external genitalia of Paraxantia spp.. A–C: cercus; D–F: male external genitalia; G– J: titillator. A, D, G: P. tibetensis; B, E, H: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; C, F, I: P. nujiangensis sp. nov.; J: P. daweishanensis.

FIGURE 5. Male fore tibiae and female ovipositor of Paraxantia spp.. A–E: fore tibia; F, G: ovipositor; A: P. rubripes; B: P. kaquewa; C: P. tibetensis; D, F, G: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; E: P. nujiangensis sp. nov..

FIGURE 6. Paraxantia spp. in natural habitat and ecological habitat. A: P. tibetensis, male; B: P. rubripes, male; C: P. angustipennis sp. nov., male; D: P. nujiangensis sp. nov., male; E: P. angustipennis, Dulongjiang River, Xiong'dang, Yunnan; F: P. nujiangensis, Nujiang River, Gongshan, Yunnan; G: P. tibetensis, P. rubripes and P. angustipennis, Medog, Tibet; H: P. nujiangensis, Baihualing, Baoshan, Yunnan. (A, B: photograph © Yue- Zheng Tu, published with permission)

FIGURE 7. Distribution map of the Paraxantia spp. in Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains. ■: P. tibetensis; ●: P. angustipennis sp. nov.; ◆: P. nujiangensis sp. nov.; ▲: P. rubripes; ★: P. kaquewa.