Peropyrrhicia maculata Schulthess-Schindler, 1898

Felix, Rob P. W. H. & Massa, Bruno, 2016, Orthoptera (Insecta: Tettigonioidea, Pyrgomorphoidea, Acridoidea) of Kafa Biosphere Reserve, Bale Mountains National Park and other areas of conservation interest in Ethiopia, Zootaxa 4189 (1), pp. 1-59 : 21-23

Peropyrrhicia maculata Schulthess-Schindler, 1898

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:8523 Figures 11 , 16, 18–21 , 23

Material examined. ETHIOPIA: Giam Giam , IX.1893, E. Ruspoli (Ƌ syntype); Biduara, IX.1892, E. Ruspoli (♀ syntype) ( MSNG) ; Oromia, Goba Forest (3130 m), A. Carapezza (2Ƌ, 2 nymphs Ƌ, 1 nymph ♀, BMPC) ; Bale Mountain Lodge (2380 m), on light, 13.XII.2015, B. Massa (1 nymph Ƌ, BMPC) .

Distribution. Endemic to Ethiopia.

Characters of the species. Male. Pronotum saddle-shaped, tegmina exceeding the 2nd or reaching the 3rd abdominal tergite, their apical external angle slightly less than 90°, rounded ( Figure 16). Fore femora unarmed, mid femora unarmed, hind femora with 4–6 outer and 3–5 inner black spines on ventral margins. 1st and 2nd antennal segment black below, others yellow with black rings at the base. Fore tibiae unarmed, mid tibiae with 4 spines on both margins of ventral side + 1 spur on each side, and 1 spur on outer dorsal side. Hind tibiae with 6 spines on ventral margins + 2 spurs on each side, and many spines + 1 spur on each side on dorsal margin. Appendage of 10th tergite widened towards the apex, which is more or less straight with acute lateral angles; at the base of the appendage is placed the 9th tergite, as one stout inflated extrusion, that ends with a flat apex ( Figures 18–21 ).

Female. Same characters of the male, with the following differences. Pronotum not saddle-shaped, tegmina very reduced, lateral and not overlapped, not exceeding the 1st tergite, their apical external angle about 45°, rounded ( Figure 16). Ovipositor gently up-curved, with fine denticles at both upper and lower apices. Subgenital plate with a wide base, converging apically and ending with a wide concavity. At the center of the plate a longitudinal keel is present ( Figure 23 ).

Measurements. See Table 3 .

Remarks. According to Schulthess-Schindler (1898), both male and female of P. maculata described by him were collected at Biddwara (5°10'05.34"N 38°39'39.91"E), during the last expedition of the Italian explorer Eugenio Ruspoli (Ruspoli was killed by an injured elephant on 4th December 1893). However, as already pointed out by Ragge (1980), only the female was collected at Biddwara, while the male came from Jam Jam (= Djam- Djam) (not to be mistaken for Jem Jem or Djem Djem, 60 km west of Addis). Biddwara is located in the S Oromia region, whereas Jam Jam is ca. 30 Km west of Harenna Forest (Bale Mts). According to Ragge (1980) it is possible that the two specimens belong to different species. The female is related to P. antinorii and P. massaiae , from which it may be separated by shorter wings; its ovipositor is gently curved like in the latter two species, but its denticles are bigger than in the previous species ( Figure 23 ). However, new specimens collected at Bale Mountains NP, ca. 150 Km E of Biddwara, show that this species is quite widespread in Central-Southern Ethiopia, and both male and female described by Schulthess-Schindler are indeed P. maculata .

Figures

FIGURE 11. Stridulatory file of Peropyrrhicia. The short prominence on the right tegmen, to which the file is rubbing during song, is shown (bottom right).

FIGURE 18. Dorsal view of the 10 th tergite of males Peropyrrhicia

FIGURE 19. Lateral view of the 10 th tergite of males Peropyrrhicia.

FIGURE 20. Posterior view of the 10 th tergite of males Peropyrrhicia

FIGURE 23. Ovipositor and subgenital plate of females Peropyrrhicia – continued