Paracinipe theryi (Werner, 1931) Werner, 1931

Massa, Bruno, 2013, Pamphagidae (Orthoptera: Caelifera) of North Africa: key to genera and the annotated check-list of species, Zootaxa 3700 (3), pp. 435-475 : 448

Paracinipe theryi (Werner, 1931) new status [= Acinipe mauritanica f. prasina Bolivar, 1935]

Material examined. Morocco, ex Vaucher, 3♂, 1♀; Msuda (=M’Zouda), ♂ syntype of Acinipe mauritanica f. prasina (MNCN); Asni, 1♂; Plateau de Yagour, 2♂; Djebel Toubkal, 1♂; Tizi n’ Test, 8♂, 5♀; Iguer Torrenta, 4♂, 5♀ (MNHN).

Descamps & Mounassif (1972) considered this taxon as subspecies of P. dolichocera ; actually the two taxa are confined to three different mountainous Morocco areas, Ifrane National Park (between Sefrou and Azrou), Zaida National Park (between Khenifra and Marrakech) and Toubkal National Park (between Marrakech and Ouarzazate). P. dolichocera lives only on the first two areas, while the other taxon only on the third area and between Marrakech and Chichaoua ( Fig. 107 ). Biometrics of the two taxa are rather different, being P. dolichocera stouter than P. theryi . In particular hind femurs of the former are clearly stouter than those of the latter ( Table 2). Figs. 108–109 show the ratio length/height of hind femurs versus length/height of pronotum of both sexes; it seems evident that the overlap is very low. Other than measurements, P. dolichocera differs from P. theryi also for the absence of white spots inside of the hind femurs, instead of presence in the other taxon. Thus, I consider P. theryi as a valid species. Acinipe mauritanica f. prasina described by Bolivar (1935) from Msuda (=M’Zouda) and characterized by a white stripe on the abdomen and green colour, actually is Paracinipe theryi .

Figures

FIGURES 107 – 109. 107. Distribution of Paracinipe dolichocera and P. theryi. 108 – 109. Ratio length / height of pronotum versus length / height of hind femurs of males (108) and females (109) of P. dolichocera and P. theryi.