Neoconocephalus vittatus (Piza, 1973)

(Figs. 15, 16, 17)

Homorocoryphus vittatus Piza, 1973 . Piza Jr. (1973): 1 [Description]; Paschoal & Barros (1977): 241 [Catalog]; Chamorro-Rengifo & Braun (2010): 43 [Catalog, transferred to Neoconocephalus Karny, 1907].

Neoconocephalus spitzi Piza, 1983 . Piza Jr (1983): 112 [Description]; Chamorro-Rengifo & Braun (2010): 43 [Catalog]. syn. nov. (Fig. 15A–I)

Type locality. Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, São Paulo, Brazil .

Diagnosis. Head conical (Figs. 15E, N, 16E); fastigium of vertex semicircular in frontal view, slightly longer than scapus length, base three and half times wider than scapus width (Figs. 15E, N, 16E); lateral lobe of the pronotum longer than wider (Figs. 15C, L, 16C).

Redescription. Head: Conical in frontal view (Figs. 15E, N, 16E); fastigium of vertex semicircular in frontal view, slightly longer than scapus length, base three and a half times wider than scapus width, tooth weakly projected at basal portion of fastigium (Figs. 15C, D, E, L, M, N, 16C, D, E); fastigium of frons rounded (Figs. 15E, N, 16E, N). Thorax: Pronotum anterior margin almost straight and posterior margin convex (Figs. 15D, M, 16D); lateral lobe longer than wide, anterior margin of lateral lobe almost straight, followed by a curve with lower margin almost straight, margin of humeral sinus rounded, invagination of humeral sinus deeply concave (Figs. 15C, L, 16C). Wings: Tegmen with basal and apical region equally wide (Figs. 15B, K, 16B). Legs: Foreleg genicular lobe triangular, tympanum with two distinct regions: proximal one with a pair of open longitudinal slits and apical one with a small closed slit, tibia with six pairs of ventral spines; midleg genicular lobe triangular, tibia with seven pairs of ventral spines; hindleg femur ventrally with two inner spines and eight outer spines, tibia dorsally with 27 inner spines and 22 outer spines, tibia ventrally with 11 pairs of spines. Color: Type specimens, additional type (holotype of N. spitzi) and additional material mostly dark brown or brown; pronotum with light and dark longitudinal stripes; sometimes tegmen with black spots.

Description of male. Tegmen: Stridulatory area well marked and long (Figs. 15F, 16F). Cercus: dorsal lobe with measuring half than length of lobe, ventral lobe two times longer than dorsal lobe (Figs. 15G, H, 16G, H).

Description of female. Subgenital plate: Posterior margin in an open V-shaped with two triangular projections (Figs. 15O). Ovipositor: Almost reaching the tegmen apex (Figs. 15K).

Measurements: Female holotype: BdL 25.2(25.0); FL 1.2; PdL 5.9(6.0); TegL 36.6(37.0); FlegL 5.1; HlegL 18.7(19.0); OvL 21.2(20.0). Female (n=7): BdL 23.9–26.0; FL 1.2–1.4; PdL 5.4–5.9; TegL 36.1–38.7; FlegL 5.0– 5.4; HlegL 16.7–18.5; OvL 20.7–22.3. Male (n=5): BdL 21.9–24.9; FL 1.2–1.3; PdL 6.0–6.2; TegL 33.5–35.8; FlegL 5.2–5.7; HlegL 17.9–19.0.

Distribution. Brazil: Bahia [new record], Espírito Santo [new record], Minas Gerais [new record], Paraná [new record] and São Paulo states.

Taxonomic notes. This species is most similar to N. parvus (Redtenbacher, 1891) and N. vicinus (Karny, 1907) . However, N. vittatus can be distinguished from N. parvus by the space between fastigium of vertex and fastigium of frons measuring less than one third of scapus length (Fig. 15C, L, 16C) (longer than one third of scapus length in N. parvus) and from N. vicinus by the pronotum lateral lobe with an evident curve between anterior and lower margin (Fig. 15C, L, 16C) (lateral lobe anterior margin without separation from the lower margin in N. vicinus).

The male holotype of N. spitzi syn. nov. is herein considered conspecific to N. vittatus . The specimens have a very evident characteristic in comparison to other Neoconocephalus species, which is the strongly truncated apex of the fastigium of the vertex, in dorsal view (Fig. 15D, M, 16D). In addition, other characteristics reinforce the proposed synonymy, such as fastigium of frons rounded (Fig. 15E, N, 16E), pronotum lateral lobe longer than wide (Fig. 15C, N, 16C), and tegmen with basal and apical region equally wide (Fig. 15B, K, 16B). The coloration is not used as characteristic to support the synonymy in Neoconocephalus species, but N. vittatus and N. spitzi syn. nov. have a unique pattern of coloration, with paired bright longitudinal stripes with contrastingly dark inner borders overhead and thorax (Fig. 15C, D, L, M, 16C, D).

Type material. Neoconocephalus vittatus: female holotype “ Santa Rita do Passa Quatro; Amilton Ferreira leg.; xii-1969 ” [MELQ] . Neoconocephalus spitzi syn. nov.: male holotype “ Campos do Jordão —S.P.; 7-XII-1926; Spitz, col.” [MELQ] .

Additional material. Females: One female “ Brasil, MG, Morro do Pilar, PN Serra do Cipó, Córrego Água Escura; Malaise 1239m; 18–21/XI/2018; 19°16’03” S 43°30’57”W; Alves, A.A. & Santos, A.P.M. leg.” [DZRJ ORT1322]. Two females “ BRASIL, Paraná, Palmas (área de retirada de Pinus taeda); 26°33’26”S 51°32’ 32”W; 24.I.2013; A.C. Pereira leg.” [MNRJ-ENT6-32111, MNRJ-ENT6-32112]. One female “ Brasil: ES, Vila Velha, área urbana; 09. VI.1997_ Manual; Oliveira, Vanessa leg.” [UFES]. One female “ Vila Velha, ES; Brasil; 16/ VI /1985; M. M. Maia leg.” [UFES]. One female “ Brasil. ES. Vila Velha; Garanhuns; 26 VI 1997; Alvarenga, R.M. leg.” [UFES]. One female “ Brasil, ES, Vitória; 10.VIII.2002; Prado, E.M. leg.” [UFES]. Males: Two males “ Brasil, MG, Santana do Riacho, Serra do Cipó; 4.III.2013; Light; Santos et al. leg” [DZRJ ORT0618 and DZRJ ORT620]. One male “ Brasil, BA, Palmeiras, Pousada Villa Bella; 09/ V /2021; Manual; Alves, A.A. leg.” [DZRJ ORT1255]. One male “ BRASIL, Paraná, Palmas (área de retirada de Pinus taeda); 26°33’26”S 51°32’ 32”W; 24.I.2013; A.C. Pereira leg.” [MNRJ-ENT6-32113] .