Oncodopus soalalaensis, Ünal, Mustafa & Beccaloni, George W., 2017

Ünal, Mustafa & Beccaloni, George W., 2017, Revision of the Madagascan genera Oncodopus Brongniart and Colossopus Saussure (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae; Euconchophorini), with description of Malagasopus gen. nov., Zootaxa 4341 (2) : 205-209

Oncodopus soalalaensis sp. nov.

( Figs. 50–59 , 110 )

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org: TaxonName :499688 Type locality. Madagascar, Mahajanga, Soalala Reserve . Holotype male ( MNHN) .

Description. Male (Holotype): Body size small for genus ( Tab. 2 ). Fastigium of vertex ( Figs. 50, 51 ) simple, elongated into a short horn, upper surface flattened, 1.7 times longer than eye diameter, its basal part 1.5 times wider than antennal scape. Fastigium of frons ( Fig. 51 ) with a small spiniform tooth. Face convex, not distinctly flattened, with tubercles. Pronotum ( Figs. 50, 51 ) almost saddle shaped, 1.1 times longer than wide and 3.1 times longer than its height; depression of typical sulcus deep and distinct; anterior margin slightly convex, posterior margin concave in middle; prozona 1.5 times longer than metazona. Tegmina ( Fig. 50, 51 ) almost concealed under pronotum, only the apex visible from above; reaching to a little beyond the middle of the metanotum. Prothoracic auditory spiracle large, oval; its dorsal half concealed under lateral lobe of pronotum. Mesothoracic auricle small, without ventral lobe; its dorsal part concealed under lateral lobe of pronotum. Prosternum with two, U-shaped spines, almost parallel, not reaching to level of ventral margin of fore coxa. Fore coxa with a spine projecting forward. Fore femur ( Fig. 50 ) with a large inner spine on anterio-lateral margin and 6 ventral spines on inner margin. Fore tibia ( Fig. 50 ) with 5 inner and 5 outer spines ventrally. Mid and hind femora with 2 ventral spines on outer margin apically. Hind tibia with 6 dorsal spines on inner side (5–6 spines in other males); with 4 apical spurs ventrally, all of which almost equal in length. Last abdominal tergite ( Fig. 53 ) short and broad, posterior margin convex without median notch (other males have a very indistinct median notch). Cercus ( Fig. 54 ) stout, with 3 arms; apical arm short, roundly curved inwards, pointed with a spine; basal inner arm short and broad, pointed with a tooth; median inner arm larger, near to ventral surface of cercus, pointed at apex with a large tooth. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 55 ) longer than wide, its styli longer than depth of posterior median incision.

Female: Head as in male. Fastigium of vertex ( Figs. 56, 57 ) 1.3 times wider than antennal scape. Pronotum ( Fig. 56, 57 ) short and wide, saddle shaped, 1.2 times wider than long; anterior margin convex, posterior margin broadly concave; prozona 3 times longer than metazona. Tegmina ( Fig. 56 ) reduced, like a very small scale placed on anterio-lateral margin of mesonotum. Only a small portion of prothoracic auditory spiracle covered by lateral lobe of pronotum. Mesothoracic auricle without ventral lobe, not covered by pronotum. Legs and their spines as in male. Last abdominal tergite very short and broad, posterior margin without median notch. Cercus short conical, its apex slightly incurved. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 59 ) triangular, with distinct median carina; its apex with a small notch, hind margin curved upwards in posterior view. Ovipositor ( Fig. 58 ) distinctly longer than hind femur, slightly shorter than abdomen, almost straight, apical part very slightly upcurved.

Colour (dry specimens). Body various shades of light brown. Upper portion of face yellowish brown, lower part darker with reddish brown; labrum black; upper surface of head greenish brown; eye darker. Pronotum slightly reddish brown with some short longitudinal stripes; posterior half of metazona greenish brown in male. Legs yellowish brown; mid and hind tibia of male reddish brown. Abdomen slightly darker reddish brown, with indistinct transverse dark bands in male, greenish brown in female. All sternites reddish brown in male and concolorous in female. Basal part of ovipositor greenish brown, turning to reddish brown in apical part.

Diagnosis. This species has the following unique characters: the shape of its pronotum in both sexes, the morphology of the male cercus, the shape of the ovipositor and its colour. Features indicating it is closely related to O. saussurei sp. nov. are the tridentate male cercus, the small body size, and the last tergite without median incision. However, this new species differs from O. saussurei by the fore tibia with 5 inner and 5 outer spines ventrally ( O. saussurei has 4 spine), the shape of the pronotum, features of the male cercus, the shape of its longer ovipositor and its colour. The fore tibia has a similar structure to that of O. brongniarti sp. nov., having 5 ventral spines on both sides. But, all other characters are very different from it.

Material examined. Madagascar, Mahajanga, Soalala Reserve nat. VIII, 3 males (including Holotype) , 1 female nymph; Namoroka, 9.1952, 1 male nymph; Madagascar centre, Rég. de Bétafo d’Ambositra , et de Miandrivazo, 1905, 1 female (leg. Bauet) (all in MNHN) .

Measurements (mm). Holotype (male): Body length: 33.6; pronotum length: 10.6; width of pronotum: 9.4; fore femur length: 8.8; width of fore femur: 3.7; fore tibia length: 9.4; hind femur length: 13. See Table 2 for the range of measurement of the other specimens including female.

Etymology. The species name is derived from “Soalala” is the type locality of this new species.

Distribution. Central and western Madagascar ( Fig. 110 ). Mahajanga Province: Soalala, Namoroka. Fianarantsoa-Toliara Province: Betafo, between Ambositra and Miandrivazo.

Habitat. The region in which this species occurs contains dry deciduous forest. Living specimens have not been studied.

Phenology. A nymph of this species was found in September. The exact collecting dates of the adults were not recorded on the labels.

Figures

FIGURES 50 – 59. Oncodopus soalalaensis sp. nov. Male: 50 forelegs, head and pronotum, dorsal view, 51 head and pronotum, lateral view, 52 habitus, dorso-lateral view, 53 last abdominal tergite, 54 cercus, 55 subgenital plate. Female: 56 forelegs, head and pronotum, dorsal view, 57 head and pronotum, lateral view, 58 habitus, dorso-lateral view, 59 subgenital plate. Scale bars 1 mm.

FIGURES 109 – 111. Maps. 109 map of Madagascar, 110 distributions of Oncodopus spp., 111 distributions of Malagasopus spp. and Colossopus spp.