Aryalidonta, Subedi & Kasalo, 2023

Subedi, Madan & Kasalo, Niko, 2023, Aryalidonta itishreea, a new genus and species of Thoradontini (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae) from Nepal honors the Emperor of Laughter, Journal of Orthoptera Research 32 (1), pp. 63-80 : 63

Genus Aryalidonta gen. nov.

Justification of the tribal assignment and the genus description. -

The herein described species shares many similarities with members of Thoradontini , the most notable of which are as follows: (i) the u- or v-shaped carinae of the vertex visible in frontal view, (ii) high-placed frontal costa bifurcation and usually low-placed antennal grooves, (iii) a vertex that is usually triangular and narrowing anteriorly, (iv) eyes adjacent to the anterior margin of the pronotum, (v) bilobate lateral lobes, (vi) wings approximately equally long as the pronotum, and (vii) nodulate surface of the pronotum. Although an overview of the material showed that the tribe requires a thorough revision, we place the new genus and species within it to allow for easier revision in the future.

The new species does not fit with the type species of any of the relevant genera and is thus described under its own genus. It is possible that the subsequent revisions will recognize more species that belong in this genus, so it is important that the genus be defined by a well-documented species.

Etymology. -

Patronymic. The genus is named in honor of the late Bhairav Aryal (Nepali: भ ैरव अर ्याल), an iconic satirist of Nepali literature popularly known as the Emperor of Laughter (Nepali: ह ाँस्य सम ्राट). The second part of the name, -donta, derives from the Greek word “ὀδών”, meaning “tooth,” and is a reference to Bhairav Aryal’s iconic smile. The genus name is of feminine gender.

Type species. -

Aryalidonta itishreea sp. nov. by original monotypy.

Species included. -

Thus far, only the type species is known.

Distribution. -

Currently known only from Nepal, from the type locality (Fig. 1 ).

Generic diagnosis. -

The generic diagnosis is provided as a comparison of the type species of the tribe Thoradontini to better represent the true definitions of each genus.

From Eucriotettix tricarinatus ( Bolívar, 1887), the type species of the genus Eucriotettix , this species is differentiated by the following characters: (i) the flat vertex with a low medial carina instead of well-expressed medial carina as in E. tricarinatus ; (ii) bifurcation of the frontal costa in the upper quarter of the compound eye height is higher in E. tricarinatus ; (iii) the prozonal carinae converging caudally instead of running parallel as in E. tricarinatus ; (iv) rectangular lateral lobes provided with small protrusions instead of with long and sharp protrusions as in E. tricarinatus ; and (v) the proximal halves of the middle femora are enlarged while the femora are slim throughout in E. tricarinatus .

From Loxilobus acutus Hancock, 1904, the type species of the genus Loxilobus , the new species is differentiated by the following characters: (i) the bifurcation of the frontal costa in the upper quarter of the compound eye height is a little higher in L. acutus ; (ii) the paired ocelli in A. itishreea sp. nov. are placed a little below half of the compound eye height while in the upper quarter in L. acutus ; (iii) the middle-level of the antennal grooves are at the level of the bottom of the compound eyes in the new species while in the bottom third of the compound eye height in L. acutus ; (iv) the vertex is triangular and gently narrowing in the new species while triangular and more sharply narrowing in L. acutus ; (v) the surface of the vertex flat with low carinae but convex in L. acutus ; (vi) rectangular lateral lobes with small protrusions in the new species while with long and sharp protrusions in L. acutus ; and (vii) the proximal halves of the middle femora are enlarged instead of slim as in the femora in L. acutus .

From Thoradonta dentata Hancock, 1909, the type species of the genus Thoradonta , A. itishreea sp. nov. is differentiated by the following characters: (i) the paired ocelli are placed a little below half of the compound eye height instead of in the lower third as in T. dentata ; (ii) the middle-level of the antennal grooves at the level of the bottom of the compound eyes instead of antennal grooves below the level of the compound eyes; (iii) narrow instead of wide vertex; (iv) external carinae straight caudally of the humeral angles instead of incurved; (v) the lateral lobes projected laterally, rectangular with a small protrusion caudally and a sharp tip laterally instead of simple sharp lateral lobes; and (vi) the proximal halves of the middle femora are enlarged instead of slim throughout.

Figures

Fig. 1. Map of Nepal with the type locality marked. Gorkha District is shown in red, and the precise place of the type locality is indicated by the blue dot. The map is adapted after Sagarjkhatri, own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia commons.