Paraxantia hakka Wu & Liu, 2021

Wu, Chao & Liu, Chun-Xiang, 2021, A new species of Paraxantia Liu & Kang (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae; Vosiini) from China, Zootaxa 5026 (3), pp. 440-446 : 441-444

Paraxantia hakka Wu & Liu sp. nov.

Figs. 1–4 , 6 , 7 .

Type Material. Holotype. 1♂, China: Guangdong Province, Shaoguan City, Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, Nan’Ling Mt. , N 24°55′38″ E 113°00′53″, 1310m, 2014.V.26–30, leg. Chao Wu, IZCAS . Paratypes. 7♂, same data as in holotype, IZCAS; same locality as in holotype , 1♂, 2009.V.5, 6♂, 2011.V.18-21, leg. Liusheng Chen, IZCAS .

Description. Male. General appearance similar to other congeners, but body size comparatively small.

Head. Ovoid, elongate, occiput convex and smooth. Compound eyes elongate, protruding ( Fig. 1C ). Antennae slender, long, flexible, shorter than body.

Pronotum. Normal. Pronotum gradually tilting and widened backwards; anterior margin concave, posterior margin convex with a small middle notch; first transverse groove strongly impressed; lateral carinae finely denticulate on pronotum; one oblique slightly granular line beginning in middle of each lateral carina, then ending in middle of posterior margin. Lateral lobes of pronotum deeper than long; both anterior margin and posterior margin arc-shaped; ventral margin obviously concave, with proximal part obviously extending downwards. ( Fig. 1A, B )

Legs. Fore femur longer than pronotum, widened in apical half, external margin with 7 sparse-arranged spines; fore tibia normal, slightly flat, with 4-5 sparse-arranged small spines; fore tibia with tympanum conchate on both sides, opening of the tympanum very narrow, slit, slight swelling at tympana area. Middle femur normal, external margin with 8–9 spines. Middle tibia long, thin, with about 3–4 sparse-arranged small spines on external margin. Hind legs elongate, slender; hind femur widened in basal half and gradually narrowed towards top, slightly swollen near knee; external ventral margin with 20–23 external spines and 4 internal spines on apical half. Hind tibia slender, not swollen; dorsally carrying 22–24 close-packed external and 25–27 internal spines with similar size. ( Fig. 1A )

Wings. Tegmen and hind wing fully developed. Leaf-like tegmen very long, five times longer than pronotum. Tegmen opaque, with numerous faint cross veinlets. Tegmen widened before middle and tapering towards rounded apex. Costa normal, 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 slim, elongated, cambered; about 4.6–4.8 mm long, with 65–75 teeth, sparse-arranged in middle, dense-arranged at both ends; about 12–15 sparse-arranged large middle teeth, obviously different from those at two ends ( Fig. 3A ). 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 rather short, robust styli. Cerci robust, hairy, furcated at apex; dorsal furca conical, extending and sloping inwards and upwards, with rounded apex; apical one flat, spoon-shaped; ventral one horizontally extending inwards, abruptly tapering apicad into a long sharp spine ( Fig. 2 ).

External genitalia. External genitalia complex, membranous structure of phallic induration hardened, pleated, densely covered with tiny spines; phallic lobes robust, blade-shaped ( Fig. 3C ). Titillator ossified, with robust, short triangular branches; the lateral keel on branches is almost toothless ( Fig. 3B ).

Coloration. Generally fresh green when alive, with some purple-brown spots on lateral surface of thorax. Compound eyes brown. Pronotum with pale-yellow stripe along lateral keel. Hind wings hyaline, with green exposed part. Base of fore legs and spines on hind femur yellow. ( Fig. 4 )

Female. Unknown.

Measurements (mm). length of pronotum: ♂ 9.30–9.38; length of tegmen: ♂ 58.85–59.10; width of tegmen: ♂ 22.75–22.96; length of anterior femur: ♂ 9.61–9.72; length of middle femur: ♂ 11.61–11.73; length of posterior femur: ♂ 24.85–24.91.

Discussion. This new species is similar to other congeners of eastern and southern China, but differs by the following features. Body size is rather small, forewing is comparatively rounded. Male cerci is comparatively slender, although close to that of P. sinica (Liu) and that of P. parasinica Liu & Kang. Male stridulatory file of left tegmen is slim and rather short, with sparse-arranged teeth in middle and dense-arranged ones at both ends. Male titillator is short, robust, with almost toothless lateral keel.

Etymology. The new species was named after Hakka, a sub-nation of the Han nationality, representing the aboriginal culture of the Nan’Ling area.

Distribution. China: Fujian, Nan’Ling Mt.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Paraxantia hakka sp. nov.. A: body, lateral view; B: pronotum, dorsal view; C: head, anterior view.

FIGURE 2. Male cerci of Paraxantia hakka sp. nov., holotype, multi-angle view. A: in exterior-lateral view; B: in ventral view; C: in dorsal view.

FIGURE 3. Holotype of Paraxantia hakka sp. nov.. A: male stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen; B: titillator, in dorsal view; C: male external genitalia and right side of the cerci in lateral view (epph: epiphallus; ph. in: phallic induration; ph. lo: phallic lobes; ti: titillator; ce: cercus).

FIGURE 4. Male of Paraxantia hakka sp. nov., paratype, in nature.

FIGURE 6. Ecological habitat. Nan’Ling National Nature Reserve (Guangdong, China), 1300m.

FIGURE 7. Distribution map of the Paraxantia hakka sp. nov. in China.