Arantia (Euarantia) griffinii, Hemp & Massa, 2017

Hemp, Claudia & Massa, Bruno, 2017, Review of the African genera Arantia Stål and Goetia Karsch (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae), Zootaxa 4362 (4), pp. 451-498 : 486-487

Arantia (Euarantia) griffinii n. sp. ( Figs. 46 , 67 , 101 )

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:500647

Material examined and depository. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Dzanga-Ndoki National Park , Lac 1, 24–25.II.2012 (light trap), 02°28’40.5N 016°13’02.6E, P. Moretto (♂ holotype) ( BMCP).

Measurements. Body length: 30.6; pronotum length: 7.2; pronotum height: 6.6; hind femur: 35.5; hind tibiae: 40.1; tegmina length: 48.1; length of hind wings: 50.1; tegmina width: 15.5; tegmina length/width: 3.1; tegmina width/pronotum length: 2.1.

Diagnosis. It is a large-sized (♂ 30.6 mm), very characteristic species, covered by many small hairs on the legs. The coloration is unusual for the genus (abdomen yellow with dorsal part red). Inner margins of the tympana inflated. Posterior margin of the pronotum is brownish, similar to A. scurra but not as dark. Very peculiar is the fastigium of vertex being almost heart-shaped leaving a large gap to the fastigium of the face.

Description. Male ( Fig. 46 ). General habitus and colour. Predominantly green, leaf-like. Antennal segments reddish with small black rings. Head and legs yellow with reddish dots and stripes. Behind the eye yellow, face yellow, labium dark. Posterior part of pronotum brown, lateral lobes with a yellow area, metazona dark reddish. Head and antennae. Eyes oval, fastigium of vertex heart-shaped, forming two broad wings. Between fastigium of vertex and the face a large gap. Antennae long and very thin, 52.5 mm. Thorax and legs. Fore coxa unarmed. Tibiae densely covered by short hairs. Tympana on fore tibiae open on outer, closed and inflated on inner side. Pronotum green, anterior margin slightly concave, posterior margin rounded. Lower margin of pronotal lobes without the concavity present in most other species of the genus. Tegmina oval, green with a thin dark stripe at the base, 3 times longer than broad. The stridulatory area of the left tegmen is almost straight, the stridulatory file is arcuate, narrow and consists of ca. 80–85 teeth ( Fig. 67 ). Fore femora with 4 inner ventral spines, fore tibiae with 8 inner ventral and 5 outer ventral spines. Mid femora with 1 outer ventral spine near the tibia joint, mid tibiae ventrally with 14 outer and 11 inner spines, 9 spines on outer and inner dorsal margins. Hind femora with 5 outer and 4 inner ventral spines, hind tibiae slightly curved, with 14 outer and 10 inner ventral spines. Abdomen. Cerci are long and incurved, apically slightly inflated with a larger and a very small dent ( Fig. 101 ). Subgenital plate is triangular, long and narrow, the apex is straight and styli are absent.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. A. griffinii n. sp. is dedicated to Achille Griffini (1870–1932), distinguished Italian entomologist, who studied many African collections of Orthoptera preserved in different world museums.

Affinities. It is related to A. melanota , but the tibiae of A. griffinii do not have blackish tympana and the male cerci have a smaller dent at the tip. In addition A. melanota has broad-based spines on the hind femora.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality, the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the in the south-west of the Central African Republic, Central Africa.

Figures

FIGURES 45–50. Habitus of Arantia (Euarantia) tibiaspinosa n. sp. (45a), inset expanded spiny base at joint with femur of hind tibia (45b), A. (Euarantia) griffinii n. sp. (46), Arantia (Goetia) gestri (holotype) (= A. dimidiata) (47), A. (Goetia) dimidiata (syntype) (48), A. (Goetia) galbana (49) and A.(Goetia) purpurea (holotype) (50).

FIGURES63–71.Stridulatory files of Arantia retinervis (63), Arantia excelsior (64), Arantia scurra(65), Arantia tibiaspinosa n. sp.(66), Arantia griffinii n. sp. (67), Arantia bispinosa n. sp.(68), Arantia galbana (69), Arantia dimidiata (70) and Arantia purpurea (71).

FIGURES 96–105. Cerci of Arantia excelsior (96, 97), Arantia tigrina (= A. excelsior) (98), Arantia scurra (99), Arantia tibiaspinosa n. sp. (100), Arantia griffinii n. sp. (101), Arantia dimidiata (102), Arantia gestri (= A. dimidiata) (103), Arantia galbana (104)and Arantia purpurea (105).