Velarifictorus zhengi Zheng & Ma, 2022

Zheng, Yan-Na, Cai, Xin-Ru & Ma, Li-Bin, 2022, Taxonomy of Landrevus species group of Velarifictorus Randell, 1964 (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllinae) with one new species and morphological diversity of Velarifictorus flavifrons Chopard, 1966, ZooKeys 1084, pp. 101-117 : 101

Velarifictorus zhengi Zheng & Ma sp.nov.

: 郑氏斗蟋 Figures 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 8A, D , 9A, D , 10A, D , 13A, D , 14A, B

Type material.

Holotype. Male. China: Yunnan, Pu’er, Meizihu Park, 22°74.6'N, 100°97.6'E, Ⅷ-18-2021, Zhixin He, Ning Wang, and Wei Yuan leg. (SUUN); Paratypes. 4 males and 8 females. China: Yunnan, Pu’er, Meizihu Park, 22°74.6'N, 100°97.6'E, Ⅷ-18-2021, Zhixin He, Ning Wang, and Wei Yuan leg. (SUUN). All specimens were found in leaf litter.

Measurements.

Male (n = 5): BL 15.73 ± 0.14, HL 3.63 ± 0.31, HW 5.47 ± 0.08, PL 3.09 ± 0.03, PW 5.32 ± 0.12, FWL 7.17 ± 0.09, HTL 10.44 ± 0.68; Female (n = 8): BL 16.93 ± 0.72, HL 3.11 ± 0.53, HW 4.85 ± 0.13, PL 3.14 ± 0.03, PW 5.00 ± 0.24, FWL 2.50 ± 0.03, HTL 10.94 ± 0.61, OL 13.00 ± 0.09.

Etymology.

Prof. Zhe-Min Zheng passed away on 16 September 2021. He was a well-known orthopterist in China, and he made outstanding contributions to the taxonomy of Chinese grasshoppers. To honor him, we named this new species after him.

Description.

Male: vertex broad and flattened, rather inclined. Occiput bright, slightly convex and somewhat wider than pronotum. Frontal rostrum convex, inclined dorsally and ventrally, and nearly three times wider than antennal scape. Antennal scape shield-like. Ocelli transversely ovoid, almost equal in size. Eyes slightly convex, about 1/4 length of head. Postclypeus shaped as a narrow band, lower margin concave; anteclypeus shaped as a broad shield. Labrum shaped as rhombus, apical margin slightly round. End section of maxillary palpi is about 2/3 length of the third section; end section of labial palpi depressed and widened, almost equal to the total length of all other sections.

Pronotum broad and flattened. Median groove of pronotal disc distinct. Posterior margin straight and middle of anterior margin concaved inside, and both margins almost equal in width.

Tegmina reaching eighth abdominal tergite. Oblique veins bifurcated proximally, and each branch of them connected to CuA vein. Three chord veins, connecting to proximal part of mirror by two transverse veins. Mirror shield-like, about twice wider than basal field. Dividing vein absent. Apical field narrow and almost 1/4 length of mirror.

Outer tympanum larger than the inner, inner tympanum oval; outer tympanum elongate-oval. Hind tibiae armed with dorsal spurs (numbered 5:6) almost equal in length; and apical spurs outside three (the dorsal one longest and about two times longer than the dorsal spurs, ventral one about half length of the dorsal, the middle one slightly longer than the dorsal) and inner two (equal in length and about 2/3 length of the dorsal).

Genitalia.

Lateral lobes of epiphallus sheet-like, tapering, apically acute, and armed with pilose at the apex. Middle lobe of epiphallus angularity forming an obtuse angle and apically rounded, about 1/3 length of lateral lobes. Ectoparamere stripe-like, tapering, and about 2.5 times longer than epiphallic lateral lobes.

Calling song.

Chirps lasting from 1.296 to 3.480 s (mean 1.888), and their duration vary from 0.115 to 0.191 s (mean 0.153). Each chirp equally contains four pulses (Fig. 4B ). The peak frequency is between 3.898 and 6.171 kHz (mean 5.035), and the average temperature is 28.0 °C. In terms of spectro-temporal variation, its frequency modulation is inclined downward, which is obvious in the second harmonic.

Female. Resembles the male. Head almost as wide as pronotum. Tegmen extends anteriorly to the second abdominal tergite (Fig. 2B ), which is shorter on the inside and progressively grows longer on the outside. Dorsally 3 or 4 longitudinal veins and laterally 6 Sc branches (the outermost of which is basally branched) arm the tegmen (Fig. 13D ). Ovipositor smooth and slightly longer than the posterior femur. The dorsal ovipositor valve is hooked and has a sharp apex, whereas the apex of the ventral ovipositor valve is slightly rounded (Fig. 14 A, B ).

Coloration.

Body dark brown. Ocelli light yellow. Eyes brown; between eyes and anterior margin of pronotum marked with yellowish -brown band. Maxillary reddish brown. Cercus and legs yellowish brown.

Remarks.

This species resembles species of the Landrevus group in features of the body and genitalia. In V. gradifrons , however, the inner tympanum is absent and the apical margin of epiphallic middle lobe is straight. In the new species, both tympana are present and the apical margin of epiphallic middle lobe is curved. The apical field of the tegmina of V. bubalus and V. elephas are longer than in V. zhengi sp. nov., and the apical margins of the epiphallic middle lobe are straighter than the new species. Furthermore, the new species is distinguished from V. landrevus , another Chinese species, in morphological and acoustical characters. Velarifictorus zhengi sp. nov. bears a longer epiphallic middle lobe, whose apex is partially pentagon-like in dorsal view and possesses more pulses (9-15) per chirp at a lower peak frequency. Finally, the absence of a dividing vein in the new species (observed in all type material) is distinct from all other species of the Landrevus group.

Figures

Figure 1. Velarifictorus zhengi sp. nov. Habitus (alive) in field A male B female (photographed by Zhixin He).

Figure 2. Bodies of Velarifictorus zhengi sp. nov. A male B female. Scale bars: 10 mm.

Figure 3. Genitalia of Velarifictorus zhengi sp. nov. A dorsal view B lateral view C ventral view.

Figure 4. Calling song of Velarifictorus zhengi sp. nov. A oscillogram of chirp (amplitude versus time) B oscillogram of pulse (amplitude versus time) C spectrogram (frequency versus time).

Figure 8. Front view of heads of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 9. Dorsal view of heads and pronotum of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 10. Lateral view of heads of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 13. Right tegmina of Velarifictorus A, D V. zhengi sp. nov. B, E V. landrevus C, F V. flavifrons A-C male D-F female.

Figure 14. Ovipositor of Velarifictorus A, B V. zhengi sp. nov. C, D V. landrevus E, F V. flavifrons A, C, E inside of ovipositor B, D, F outside of ovipositor.