Oryctopterus Karny, 1937

Hiremath, S. R. & Prathapan, K. D., 2021, Two new species of the genus Oryctopterus (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae: Oryctopinae) from India, with some notes on biology, European Journal of Taxonomy 748 (1), pp. 108-137 : 110-111

Genus Oryctopterus Karny, 1937

Oryctopterus Karny, 1937: 39–41 .

Oryctopterus – Gorochov 2001: 6, 20, 23–24, 26.

Type species

Oryctopus lagenipes Karny, 1935 .

Diagnosis

Male alate, female apterous. Chestnut brown, smooth, shiny. Pronotal margins, legs and abdomen with bristle-like setae. Vertex broad, convex, merged with frons. Eyes small, acutely narrowed ventrally. A pair of lateral fenestra-like transparent portions present between eyes above level of antennal sockets, a similar median fenestra-like portion present a little below level of antennal sockets on vertex. Maxillary palps with four palpomeres: first small, nearly twice as long as broad; all others elongate, subequal, not distinctly thickened. Pronotum strongly convex; lateral and posterior margins narrowly bordered and explanate, anterior margin thickened, neither explanate nor narrowly bordered.Anterior margin distinctly emarginate, forming obtuse angle. Pronotum with deep anteapical transverse impression. Median longitudinal sulcus narrow, running between anterior and posterior margins, dividing pronotum into left and right halves. Oblique sulcus arises from anterolateral depression on either side, almost reaching near middle of posterior margin. Pronotum on either side with a weak, oblique sulcus originating from posterolateral corner, reaching oblique sulcus originating from anterolateral corner (hardly discernible in Ot. varuna sp. nov.). Prosternite broader than long, converging posteriorly, unspined. Mesothoracic basisternum longitudinally sulcate along middle, deeply emarginate posteriorly, convexly raised on either side of middle. Metathoracic basisternum wider than long. All legs with coxa, trochanter, femur unarmed. Foretibia thinner than forefemur, distinctly narrowed distally resembling a bottle, apex of tibia with two pairs of prominent spines on each side, with ventral one on either side longer than dorsal; all tarsomeres unarmed dorsally; first tarsomere longer than rest combined, claw well developed in male, absent in female. Middle tibia thick, convex dorsally, with eight spines arranged in a row around apex: two lateral, one apical, five mesal. Hind tibia with six prominent spines arranged around apex: three lateral, one apical, two mesal, mesal ones larger than rest; dorsolateral and dorsomesal margins of metatibia with row of three to six denticles, prominent in male, distinctly smaller in female. First protarsomere thin, nearly rounded, 1.4–2.4 times as long as rest combined. Cerci hardly exceeding apex of ovipositor valves, basally with bulb-like sensillae at mesal side. Supragenital plate nearly as long as broad. Subgenital plate broader than long.

Remarks

Oryctopterus can be differentiated from Oryctopus by the following characters: (1) males fully winged ( Figs 1–2 , 10–12 ) (males are apterous in Oryctopus ), (2) anterior margin of pronotum emarginate forming obtuse angle (only slightly emarginate in Oryctopus ), (3) anteapical transverse groove on pronotum deeply impressed (weak in Oryctopus ), (4) foretibia distally narrowed, bottleshaped (foretibia distally not narrowed in Oryctopus ), (5) hind tibia with 3–6 small denticles on lateral and mesal margins of dorsal surface (denticles absent on lateral and mesal margins of dorsal surface of hind tibia in Oryctopus ). Shishodia et al. (2010), in their checklist of Indian Orthoptera , wrongly stated that Johns (1997) synonymized Oryctopterus with Oryctopus . Oryctopus sordellii from Sri Lanka probably belongs to Oryctopterus , as the original description states that the foretibia are apically narrowed (“ Tibiae anticae apice magis angustatae ”) and the pronotum has a deep anteapical impression (“ Pronotum, excepto sulco subito post marginum anticum transverse impress ”) ( Griffini 1914). Moreover, in the original description, it is specified that the holotype is a male that has rudimentary wings (“ rudimenta perminima elytrarum et alarum aegre conspicienda ”), indicating that it could be a subadult.

Figures

Figs 1–4. Oryctopterus varuna sp. nov., ♂. 1. Holotype (NBAIR), dorsal habitus. 2–4. Paratypes (NBAIR). 2. Dorsal habitus. 3. Ventral habitus. 4. Lateral view. Scale bars = 10 mm.

Figs 10–12. Oryctopterus varuna sp. nov., ♂. 10. Lost specimen. 11. Holotype (NBAIR). 12. Paratype (NBAIR). Abbreviations: see Material and methods. Scale bars = 5 mm.