Mazaea granulosa Stål, 1876

(Figs 1; 3B, C, E; 6; 7 B-H; 8A, B; 18A, B; 19C, D; 22C;

Table 1)

Mazaea granulosa Stål, 1876: 54 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype • ♀; “ Africa occidentalis ”; [no further data] (NR, Stockholm).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Nigeria • 1 ♂; Eastern Province, 20 mls NE of Calabar, [Ekinta] Forest Reserve; [5°01’23”N, 8°28’43”E; 8.I.1961]; N. D. Jago leg.; NHMUK014035468 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding, NHMUK .

Cameroon • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve; 4°22’- 4°27’N, 9°16’- 9°16’E; 9.IX.1968; J. S. Gartlan leg.; #68015 (♂), #68014 (♀); Coll. CHR • 1♂; Lake Tissongo, Douala-Edéa National Park; 3°33’48”N, 9°53’9”E; 28.I.1975; T. E. Rowell leg.; #75025; Coll. CHR • 1 ♂; Dja [Faunal Reserve], 2°49’- 3°23’N, 12°25’- 13°35’E; 16.VII.1975; T. E. Rowell leg.; leaf litter in forest; #75024; Coll. CHR • 1 ♀ nymph; same collection data as for preceding; #75023; Coll. CHR • 1 ♂; Mt Fébé, nr Yaoundé; 3°54’47.99”N, 11°29’19.56”E; 1-11.VII.1975; N. D. Jago leg.; NHMUK 014035469 • 1 ♂; Yaoundé; 3°50’38.8284”N, 11°30’4.8456”E; 20.XII.1973; G. Popov leg.; NHMUK 014035470 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; NHMUK 014453740 • 2♂; Ongot Forest; c. 03°51’N, 11°25’E; VIII.2022; C. Oumarou Ngoute leg.; Coll. CH • 1 ♂; N Yaoundé, Nkométou II; 4°2’0”N, 11°33’0”E; 3.XI.1975; M. Descamps leg.; Coll. CH • 1 ♀; Edea [Forest Plantation], Mangombe Forest Reserve, 23-24.IX.1975; M. Descamps leg.; Coll. CH • 1 ♂; Ongot Forest; 03°51’57.28”N, 11°21’59.52”E; 887m a.s.l.; 5.XII.2021 - 20. III.2022; J. Yetchom-Fondjo leg.; SMNK • 1♂; Yingui, Deng-Deng National Park; 3°21’22”N, 12°44’37”E; 513 m a.s.l.; 12.VI.2022; J. Yetchom-Fondjo leg.; SMNK • 1 ♂, 3♀; Yingui, Iboti; 04°27’48”N, 10°27’32”E; 746 m a.s.l.; 7.I.2022; J. Yetchom-Fondjo leg.; SMNK • 2 ♂; Yingui, Iboti; but 04°27’47.76”N, 10°27’17.94”E; 7.I.2022; J. Yetchom-Fondjo leg.; SMNK • 1 ♂; Sanaga Maritime, Mouanko; 03°38’23”N, 09°46’37”E; 16.VII.2017; J. Yetchom-Fondjo leg.; SMNK • 1♂; Nkam, Solé; 04°36’00”N, 09°48’00”E; 28.II.2017; J. Yetchom-Fondjo leg.; SMNK • 2 ♂; Nkam, Djawara; 4°12’15.66”N, 9°50’16.01”E; 6 m a.s.l.; 13.III.2017; J. Yetchom-Fondjo leg.; SMNK • 2 ♂, 1 ♀; locality unknown; X.1938 - VIII.1939; H. Jacques-Félix leg.; MNHN .

Congo Republic • 1 ♂; Dimonika [Biosphere Reserve]; [4°10’0.13”S, 12°25’0.12”E]; 28.V.1972; C. Morin leg.; MNHN • 1 ♂; N’go, [2°28’50.7144”S, 15°45’6.0732”E]; 12.III.1973; J. F. Cornic leg.; MNHN • 1♂, 1 ♀; Odzala; [c. 0.8°N, 14.9°E]; 9.XI.1977; S. Kelner-Pillault leg.; MNHN • 2 ♀; Mossendjo, Vouka [Vouga]; [2°34’08”S, 12°44’44”E]; 500 m a.s.l.; 14.XII.1973; J. C. Thibaud leg.; MNHN • 1 ♂; same locality as preceding; 2.XII.1973; J. C. Thibaud leg.; MNHN • 1 ♂; same locality as preceding; 2. II.1974; J. C. Thibaud leg.; MNHN .

Central African Republic • 1♀; La Maboke; [3°49’54”S, 17°50’45”E]; 16.I.1968; P. Teocchi leg.; MNHN • 1♀; same locality as preceding; 24.IV.1968; P. Teocchi leg.; MNHN • 1 ♂, same locality as preceding; 17.XII.1967; P. Teocchi leg.; MNHN .

Gabon • 2♂, 2 ♀; Ipassa; [c. 00°28’00”N, 12°43’00”E]; 30.IX.1974; A. Mougazi leg.; MNHN • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Between Lastourville and Moanda; [between 0°49’2.71”N, 12°42’29.45”E and 1°34’0”S, 13°12’0”E]; 16.VI.1974; M. Donskoff and J. Le Breton leg.; MNHN .

DIAGNOSIS. — Integument finely rugose and granulose, lacking larger papillate tubercles. Antennae in both sexes from 0.9 to 1.2 times as long as head and pronotum together. Pronotal shoulders in cross-section angular, with clear lateral carinae composed of granular tubercles forming a distinct angle between dorsum and lateral lobes. Pronotal shoulders widening evenly to hind margin, with acute hind angles. Dorso-medial tubercular areas of thoracic tergites and abdomen weakly raised.

Measurements: Table 1.

DISTRIBUTION

Most records of Mazaea granulosa are from forested areas of Cameroon. Mestre & Chiffaud (2009) also reported it from the Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea and DR Congo (Congo Kinshasa, formerly Zaire), but without citing specific localities. However, they did not find any record of Mazaea or Barombia from the Central African Republic or from Gabon. Material of M. granulosa from all these countries has been examined for this study. Dirsh (1966: 103) reported a specimen from Dundo, Angola, close to the border with DR Congo.

The occurrence of Mazaea granulosa in Nigeria, reported by Dirsh (1965, 1966, 1970) and Johnston (1968), but queried by Mestre & Chiffaud (2009), is based on specimens (collected in the Ekinta Forest Reserve in 1961 by N.D. Jago) in the NHMUK collection. This record is not surprising, given that the forested area of Cross River State, now included within the Eastern half of the Oban Group of Cross River National Park, was originally continuous with the Takamanda Forest Reserve in SW Cameroon which borders Nigeria and the Cross River NP. Mestre & Chiffaud (2009) indicated the importance for present-day distribution of forest species of the extreme dry period at the last glacial maximum (25000 to 15000 years BP), which left just two montane forest refugia in SW Cameroon, the western one extending into SE Nigeria.

Despite having been gazetted as a National Park, much of the Cross River forests are now within commercial estate concessions, and large parts of them have been cleared for oil palm production (Offiong 2017). In Cameroon, Mazaea granulosa was found to be the most common grasshopper species in three forested areas (Ongot forest, near Yaoundé; Zamakoe forest, near Mbalmayo; and Ngutadjap forest, near Ebolowa) and was most abundant where deforestation was highest (Oumarou Ngoute et al. 2020). It was found in agroforestry plots, crop fields, forest, and fallows in the SW Region and West Regions, but not in the Centre region (the forest-savannah transition zone) (Christel et al. 2019).

REMARKS

Unfortunately, the female holotype of M. granulosa in the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm, lacks provenance and is not available for study. However, current investigations of the genitalia ( Ritchie, unpublished) and mitochondrial genome (Yetchom-Fondjo, pers. comm.) of material presently assigned to Mazaea granulosa indicate a degree of geographical variation. Hence the specimens studied here and the measurements provided in Table 1 may ultimately be found to represent more than one closely-related species.