Pachyphymus namaquensis, Bazelet, Corinna S. & Naskrecki, Piotr, 2014

Bazelet, Corinna S. & Naskrecki, Piotr, 2014, Taxonomic revision of the southern African genus Pachyphymus Uvarov, 1922 (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Euryphyminae), Zootaxa 5, pp. 401-420 : 406-408

Pachyphymus cristulifer (Serville, 1838)

Figs. 2 , 5E–L, 6E–I

Serville 1838: 692 >> Calliptamus cristulifer Walker 1870: 690 >> Caloptenus cristulifer

Martinez 1902: 261, 272 >> Euryphymus cristulifer Kirby 1910: 264 >> Acrotylus cristulifer

Uvarov 1922: 173 >> Pachyphymus cristulifer

Dirsh 1956: 132–136 >> Pachyphymus cristulifer Dirsh 1965: 258 >> Pachyphymus cristulifer

Diagnostic redescription (male, except where specified). Wings. Tegmen surpassing end of abdomen and hind knee but not excessively so. Hind wing infumation dark brown or black, covering 50–70% of wing, excluding wing interior but including apex; hind wing interior bright pink ( Figs. 6 H–I). This species is most similar to P. namaquensis n. sp. but can be distinguished on the basis of the lower degree of hind wing infumation in the majority of specimens (compare Fig. 6 I vs. 6A), and the pointier male cercus (Fig. 5H vs. 5N).

Abdomen. Supraanal plate transverse, with a longitudinal concavity in the middle, lateral margins upcurved; posterior margin of supraanal plate with two lateral and one large median projection; supraanal plate with pair of large, strongly sclerotized tubercles in center of basal half ( Figs. 2 J–L). Apex of cercus elongate, terminating in point ranging from very sharp to blunted, descends and curves downwards into transverse curved ridge (Figs. 5E– L).

Phallic complex. Epiphallus with short ancorae and broad, lobiform apically blunt lophi ( Fig. 2 M).

Female. Subgenital plate trilobate, with deep grooves separating lobes, large, pointed median lobe ( Figs. 2 G– I).

Measurements. (♂ n=9, ♀ n=17)—body: ♂ 15.8–22.0, ♀ 21.3–25.7; pronotum: ♂ 2.5–4.2, ♀ 3.3–5.2; tegmen: ♂ 11.3–16.3, ♀ 15.3–19.7; femur: ♂ 7.7–10.0, ♀ 9.7–12.5 mm.

Material examined. South Africa: Eastern Cape: 13 mi N Miller Station (-33.0667, 23.9167) 12.ii.1958 —3♀, 2♂ ( SANC); 20 mi N Miller Station (-33.0667, 23.9167) 13.xii.1961 —1♀ ( SANC); 4 mi NW Miller Station (- 33.0667, 23.9167) 13.xii.1961 —2♀ ( SANC); 15 mi SW Graaf-Reinet (-32.2501, 24.5354) 14.xii.1961 —1♀ ( SANC); 7 mi S Graaf-Reinet (-32.2501, 24.5354) 12.xii.1960 —1♀ ( SANC); 18 mi E Touws River to Hondewater (-33.3378, 20.0336) xii.1962 coll. SAM museum expedition—2♀, 5♂ ( SAMC); 20 mi S Aberdeen (-32.4761, 24.0627) 16.xii.1961 —2♀, 1♂ ( SANC); 35 mi SW Aberdeen (-32.4761, 24.0627) 13.xii.1961 — 1♂ ( SANC); 9 mi W Klipplaat (-33.0200, 24.3408) 22.ii.1958 —5♀, 1♂ ( SANC); Steytlerville (-33.3273, 24.3447) 21.ii.1958 —1♀ ( SANC); Willowmore (-33.2916, 23.4904) 15.xi.1961 —1♀ ( SANC); Northern Cape: Bushmanland, “Lietjies Bos” xi.1935—1 ♀ ( SAMC); Middeldrift, 50 km S Calvinia (-31.4753, 19.7722) 1.iii.1969 — 1♂ ( SAMC); Wallekraal, Namaqualand (-30.3667, 17.5167)—1♀ ( SAMC); Western Cape: 26 mi NE Uniondale (-33.6587, 23.1231) 14.ii.1958 —1♀ ( SANC); 8 mi NE Touws River (-33.3378, 20.0336) xii.1962 coll. SAM museum expedition—3♀ ( SAMC); Waterford (-33.0791, 25.0089) 21.x.1961 —1♀ ( SANC); Richmond (-33.7272, 26.5733) iii.1931 coll. SAM museum expedition—1♀ ( SANC); Karoo, Klaarstroom, Prince Albert (-33.3306, 22.5344) x.1952 coll. SAM museum expedition—2♀ ( SAMC); Oudtshoorn “Zebra” (-33.4091, 22.5571) x.1951 coll. SAM museum expedition— 1♂ ( SAMC); Karoo, 3 mi SW Seekoegat (-33.0500, 22.5000) 12.xii.1961 coll. H.D. Brown, W. Furst, F. Pick—4♀, 2♂ ( SANC); 8 mi N Beaufort West (-32.3512, 22.5824) 5.xii.1961 —1♀, 1♂ ( SANC); Bulhoek Klaver, Clanwilliam (-32.0976, 19.0219)—1♀, 1♂ ( SAMC); Clanwilliam (-32.0976, 19.0219)— 1♂ ( SAMC); Leipoldtville (-32.2233, 18.4856) coll. SAM museum expedition—4♀, 1♂ ( SAMC); Leipoldtville, Eland’s Bay (- 32.2233, 18.4856) coll. SAM museum expedition—1♀, 4♂ ( SAMC); Olifants River btw. Citrusdal and Clanwilliam (-32.0976, 19.0219) coll. SAM museum expedition—1♀, 1♂ ( SAMC); Paleisheuwel (-32.4667, 18.7167) coll. SAM museum expedition—3♀, 2♂ ( SAMC); Uitpanskraal, 42 km NW Wuppertal (-32.2387, 19.1942) coll. SAM museum expedition— 1♂ ( SAMC).

Remarks. Specimens from Touwsrivier were distinct morphologically from the rest of the species. They were smaller ( Fig. 9 E–F) had slightly different male cerci (Figs. 5G–H), variable female subgenital plate ( Fig. 2 H), male supraanal plate ( Fig. 2 K), and a slightly greater degree of infumation on the hind wing with a distinct border between the infumated and colorful areas of the wing ( Fig. 6 H).

There was a distinct series of specimens from the region to the west of the Cederberg mountain range, from Leipoldtville, Eland’s Bay and Paleisheuwel to Wuppertal in the East (see GPS coordinates above). This group of specimens was the only one to exhibit variation in wing pattern and color. Wings varied from lightly to heavily infumated, with interior regions ranging from translucent to orange-pink to bright pink ( Figs. 6 E–G). The geographic location of this group of organisms is relatively isolated by the Cederberg mountain range, and P. namaquensis is geographically more accessible than the majority of P. cristulifer . Wing color and infumation polymorphism is common in several species of Oedipodinae, particularly in association with soil coloration, presumably as a means of camouflage. While the same has not yet been shown for the Euryphyminae , it is possibly similar, and, therefore, wing pattern and coloration should only be used as a diagnostic character in association with other characters, particularly sexually selected ones. While there is slight variation in the other features of this population of P. cristulifer ( Figs. 2 E–F, 2I, 2L, 5I –J) the variation falls within the threshold of normal intraspecific variation.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Pachyphymus cristulifer Dirsh, 1956: ♂ head, dorsal (A) and lateral view (B); ♂ head from Touwsrivier, showing intraspecific variation, dorsal (C) and lateral view (D); ♀ head from Leipoldtville, dorsal (E) and lateral view (F); ♀ subgenital plate (G), from Touwsrivier (H), and from Leipoldtville (I) showing intraspecific variation; ♂ supraanal plate (J), from Touwsrivier (K), and from Leipoldtville (L) showing intraspecific variation; epiphallus (M); phallic complex, ectophallic membrane removed, dorsal (N) and lateral view (O). Black scale bar refers to two phallic complex illustrations (N – O); dotted scale bar refers to epiphallus and supraanal plate (J – M); white scale bar refers to head images (A – F).

FIGURE 6. Map showing geographic variation in degree of infumation and color of hind wing for species and populations as follows: P. namaquensis (A – B), from Bushmanland (C) and from Hondeklipbaai (D); P. cristulifer from Leipoldtville (E – G), from Touwsrivier (H), and from Seekoegat (representative of most common wing morph) (I); P. carinatus from Tankwa Karoo (J) and from De Aar (representative of most common wing morph) (K); P. samwaysi (L).

FIGURE 9. Scatterplots showing interspecific differences in the ratio of forewing to hind femur length for females (A) and males (B), and ratio of hind femur to pronotum length for females (C) and males (D) of all four species. Also illustrated is an example of intraspecific variation in the ratio of forewing to hind femur length of females (E) and males (F) of two morphs (“ Touwsrivier ” and “ Leipoldtville ”) of Pachyphymus cristulifer. Black arrow indicates female from Fish River Canyon, Namibia, which is an outlier in terms of size. Ellipses indicate 95 % confidence intervals.