Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus Beier, 1954

Moulin, Nicolas, 2018, A revision of Syngalepsus Beier, with the description of two new species from the Central African Republic and Malawi (Mantodea, Tarachodidae), ZooKeys 802, pp. 121-143 : 124-128

Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus Beier, 1954 Figures 1B, 1D, 6B, 6D, 6E, 6F, 7B, 7D, 7E, 8

Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus : Beier 1954: 19; Beier 1957: 141; Roy 1968: 318; Ehrmann 2002: 154; Otte and Spearman 2005: 336.

Holotype.

Male deposited in NHM Wien; Type locality: Lemfu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Allotype: Female deposited in Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium. Type locality: Shamba, Kasai, Republic of the Congo.

Material examined.

2 females: Republic of the Congo, Voka, 4°40'16"S, 14°40'25"E, 611 m, end of year 1979 and 02.III.1980, Onore G. col. (MNHN).

Diagnosis.

One of the largest species of the subgenus Syngalepsus . Close to G. (S.) bipunctatus but larger. Prosternum largely blackened. Hind wings brown. Genitalia mainly different from other species by apical process (paa) of left phallomere more massive; with many large bristles.

Original description of Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus by Beier (1954: 19).

" Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus n. sp. Körper dorsal einfarbig gelblichbraun. Frontal schild ein wenig breiter als hoch, dorsal flach gerundet. Scheitel flach gewölbt, ganzrandig, nur in der Nähe der Augen mit einer seichten Furche. Augen länglich, flach, mit breit verrundetem Dorsaleck. Fühler einfarbig bräunlich. Pronotum schlank, etwa 3 mal so lang wie breit, die Metazone nur sehr wenig schmäler als die Prozone, Supracoxalerweiterung kaum angedeutet. Elytren des Männchens das Abdomenende nicht ganz erreichend, ziemlich stark rauchbraun getrübt, subhyalin, die Längs- und Queradern bräunlich, die falschen Längsadern weitgehend erhalten, aber zart. Alae wie die Elytren. Prosternum mit Ausnahme der Seitenränder und des Basalteiles in der Metazone geschwärzt, in dieser Schwärzung jedoch noch zwei tiefschwarze, kreisrunde Makeln erkennbar. Fangbeine medial einfarbig rötlich gelbbraun, der Trochanter lateral mit einer schwarzen Punktmakel. Vorderfemora mit 4 Aussendornen. Vordertibien mit 10 Aussen- und 11 Innendornen. Mittel- und Hinterbeine einfarbig, nicht punktiert, die Tarsenglieder apical schmal angedunkelt. Männliches Genitalorgan: Rechter Epiphallus stumpf, apikal abgerundet und medial bis zum Apex mit Spinderlborsten besetzt; linker Epiphallus ebenfalls stumpf und parallelseitig, der Apikalteil nicht ab gebogen; linkes Basalsklerit klaunenförmig, mit kräftigen Endhaken; Hypophallus reduziert, weichhäutig; Phallus kurz. Körper L. ♂ 30 mm; Kopf B. 3 mm; Pronotum L. 7 mm, B. 2,2 mm; Elytren L. 19,5 mm."

Translation.

" Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus n. sp. Body dorsally monochrome yellowish brown. Lower frons slightly wider than high, dorsally flat rounded. Vertex flat arched, entire, only near the eyes with a shallow furrow. Eyes oblong, flat, with dorsal part broad and rounded. Antennae monochrome brownish. Pronotum slender, about 3 times as long as wide, metazone only very slightly narrower than prozone, supracoxal sulcus hardly indicated. Forewings of the male not quite reaching the abdomen apex, rather cloudy smoky-brown, clear, the longitudinal (anterior cubitus) and transverse veins brownish, the false longitudinal veins (media and radius) largely preserved, but tender. Hind wings similar to forewings. Prosternum blackened except lateral and basal boarder of metazone, but in this blackening there are two deep-black, circular spots. Fore legs monochrome with reddish ventral surface, trochanter with a lateral black spot. Fore femora with 4 posteroventral femoral spines. Fore tibia with 10 posteroventral tibial spines and 11 anteroventral tibial spines. Meso- and metathoracic legs monochrome, not punctuated, segments of the tarsi darkened apically. Male genitalia: Right phallomere blunt, main lobe (fda) apically rounded, with thick bristles near the middle. Apical process (paa) (titillator) blunt, with parallel sides, with its apex not bent; sclerite L4B claw-shaped, with strong end hook; ventral phallomere reduced, membranous. Posterior process of phalloid apophysis (apa) short. Body length ♂ 30 mm; width of head 3 mm; pronotum length 7 mm; width of pronotum 2.2 mm; hindwings length 19.5 mm."

Additional description of Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus by Beier (1957: 141).

"Zur Beschreibung des männlichen Kopulationsorgans ist folgendes nachzutragen: Der linke Epiphallus hat dorsal einen oralwärts gerichteten scheibenförmigen Anhang, medial einen stumpfen Haken; sein Basalsklerit ist kurz; der Phallus ist kurz, pfriemenförmig, mit relativ grossem Basalack; der Hypophallus hat einen derben, kahnförmigen Lateralteil und einen häutigen Lobus. Das Endglied der Cerci ist in der Regel lang und schmal. - Körper L. ♀ 26-30 mm; Kopf B. 2,9-3,1 mm; Pronotum L. 6,9-7 mm, B. 2,2 mm; Elytren L. 17,5-19,5 mm. Das Weibchen dieser Art, das in einem Stück (Allotype) von Kasai, Shamba, vorliegt, war noch unbekannt. Es ist dorsal fast einheitlich braun gefärbt, nur der Scheitelbogen ist geschwärzt und die Metazone des Pronotums trägt zwei grosse schwarze Flecke. Dorsalrand des etwas queren Frontalschildes fast gerade. Scheitel flach gewölbt. Elytren schwärzlich-rötlichbraun, ventral entlang dem R geschwärzt. Alae grösstenteils schwärzlich, mit rötlichbraunen Rändern. Prosternum wie beim Männchen. Vordercoxen präapikal mit schwärzlicher Querbinde. Trochanter medial grösstenteils schwarz. Femur medial in der Ventralhälfte Schwarz, mit schwarzen Dornen. Vordertibien medial bräunlich, die Tarsenglieder geschwärzt. Fang- und Schreitbeine lateral bezw, dorsal braun punktiert. Supraanalplatte breit dreieckig, gekielt. - Körper L. 27 mm; Kopf B. 3,3 mm; Pronotum L. 7 mm, B. 2,7 mm; Elytren L. 4 mm. - Es ist in der Färbung dem Weibchen von femoratus G.-Tos aus dem Betschuanaland sehr ähnlich, unterscheidet sich aber von diesem durch helle Vordertibien und die Körpermasse, vor allem durch schlankeres Pronotum und relative kürzere Elytren."

Translation.

"To describe the male genitalia, the following is to be added: The left phallomere has a dorsally directed disc-shaped appendage (L4B), medially a blunt hook; sclerite L4A is short; the posterior process of phalloid apophysis (apa) is short, belt-shaped, with a relatively large basal coat; ventral phallomere has a rough, posterior lateral part and a membranous lobe. Distal cercomere are usually long and narrow. - Body length ♀ 26-30 mm; width of head 2,9-3,1 mm; pronotum length 6,9-7 mm; width of pronotum 2,2 mm; forewing length 17,5-19,5 mm.

The female of this species, of which there is one specimen (allotype) collected at Kasai, Shamba, was previously unknown. It is dorsally almost uniformly brown, only the vertex is blackened and metazone carries two large black spots. Dorsal margin transverse, lower frons almost straight. Vertex flat arched. Forewings blackish-reddish brown, blackened ventrally along anterior radius. Hindwings mostly blackish, with reddish brown edges. Prosternum as in the male. Forecoxae with blackish pre-apical bandage. Trochanter mostly black. Forefemora half black in ventral face, with black thorns. Fore tibiae half brownish, tarsus blackened. Meso- and metathoracic legs lateral and dorsal brown dotted. Supra-anal plate wide, triangular and keeled. - Body length 27 mm; width of head 3,3 mm; pronotum length 7 mm; width of pronotum 2,7 mm; forewings length 4 mm. It is very similar in colour to the female of Galepsus (Onychogalepsus) femoratus Giglio-Tos collected from Bechuana land (Botswana), but differs from it in terms of its bright fore tibiae and body mass, above all by a slimmer pronotum and relatively shorter forewings."

The female symbol in the description of Beier, in 1957, is a mistake. He wanted to indicate the measurements for the males.

Additional description of Galepsus (Syngalepsus) denigratus by Beier (1969a: 21).

"Das von mir seinerzeit (1957) für das Weibchen von denigratus gehaltene Exemplar gehört offensichtlich nicht dieser Art an. Es liegen nun 4 Weibchen vor, die ich mit Bestimmtheit dieser Art zuzählen möchte. Sie lassen sich folgendermassen charakterisieren: Weibchen. Ober- und Unterseite einschliesslich der kurzen Elytren braun, der Scheitel in Längsstreifen schwach angedunkelt, Occiput bisweilen mit einem schwarzen Punkt; Pronotum mit zwei Paaren kleiner brauner Punkte in der vorderen Hälfte der Metazone, Prosternum wie beim Männchen, meist jedoch etwas breiter geschwärzt; Vordercoxen medial mit zwei schwarzen Apikalmakeln, Trochanter mit schwarzer Medialmakel, Vorderfemora medial vor und hinter der Krallenfurche mit einer grösseren schwarzen Makel, weiter distal mit einigen braunen Punktmakeln, an der Basis der hellen grossen Innendornen ebenfalls mit je einer braunen Punktmakel; Beine braun gesprenkelt. Seiten des Pronotums äusserst fein körnchenförmig gezähnelt. - Körper-L. 32-34 mm; Kopf-B. 3,8-4 mm; Pronotum-L. 7,5-8 mm, B. 2,9-3,1 mm; Elytren-L. 4,5-5 mm; Hinterfemora 6-6,5 mm. - Die Weibchen sind an der charakteristischen Fleckung der Voderbeine leicht kenntlich. Die Art ist neu für Angola. Sie war bisher nur aus dem Congo bekannt."

Translation.

"The specimen I held at that time (1957) of the female denigratus obviously does not belong to this species. There are now 4 females that I want to count with certainty of this kind. They can be characterised as follows: Female. The upper and lower side including stigma of forewings, brown, the apex of the head dimly darkened in longitudinal stripes, gena sometimes with a black dot; pronotum with two pairs of small brown dots in the anterior half of the metazone, prosternum as in the male, but usually a little more blackened; fore coxae with two apical black spots, trochanter with a medial black spot, forefemora with a, medial and behind the claw furrow, larger blackish spot, further distal with a little brown spot, at the base of the larger anteroventral femoral spines also each with a brown spot; Legs speckled brown. Margins of pronotum extremely fine granulated serrated. - Body length 32-34 mm; width of head 3,8-4 mm; pronotum length 7,5-8 mm; width of pronotum 2,9-3,1 mm; forewings length 4,5-5 mm; metathoracic femora length 6-6,5 mm. - The females are easily recognizable by the characteristic patch on the forelegs.

The species is new to Angola. It was previously known only from the Congo."

Note: The female described in 1957 from Shamba in Kasai (Republic of the Congo) is confirmed to be G. (S.) denigratus , after examination.

Redescription of female.

Fine body, brown, length 33.0 mm from head to apex of abdomen. Wings reduced, brown or more or less bicoloured according to examined specimens.

Head. Vertex slightly convex, brownish at the top. Parietal sulcus well marked. A brown-black spot on the vertex, against the parietal sulcus, near the juxtaocular bulge. Lower frons almost square, slightly wider than long. Eyes slightly prominent on the side, almost square head, front view. Antennae broken in both examined females. Maxillary palps with the base of the last segment brown-black.

Thorax. Pronotum with prozone almost as wide as metazone. Two small depressions, stained brown, on each side of the midline of the metazone, behind the supracoxal sulcus. Two parallel black spots in the middle of the metazone; closer to the edge than the median line. Two small black-brown bands, parallel to the median line, near the posterior border. Margin of pronotum serrated along its entire length. Prosternum with a large black-brown spot, not reaching the edges of the pronotum. Two depressions characteristic of the subgenus, not very visible because of this dark spot.

Fore legs. Femora with 12 anteroventral femoral spines, 4 posteroventral femoral spines, 4 discoidal spines; tibiae with 11-12 anteroventral tibial spines, 11-12 posteroventral tibial spines. Coxae with a big black-brown spot at the apex, in the posterior margin and a smaller one in a more anterior position. Trochanter with a smaller, black-brown spot, very close to the junction with the femora. Anteroventral face of femora with several dark brown spots of various sizes and shapes forming a band along the ventral half. Dark brown spots at the base of the big spines. Apex of anteroventral femoral spines dark brown. Tibiae with a darker longitudinal line inside. Meso- and metathoracic legs stained with dark-brown little spots as forelegs. Wings. Forewings and hindwings, short, not reaching the beginning of the 1st abdominal segment. Forewings light brownish red, with a dark spot taking all the discoidal area. Costal area of the same colour as the first part of the discoidal area. Hind wings brownish. Abdomen. Stained with brown markings. Triangular supra-anal plate, as wide as the abdomen. Cerci relatively long, 4.5 mm, flattened, the last two distal cercomeri longer than wide.

Measurements (mm). Body length 30.2-33.0, pronotum length 7.2-8.2, fore wings length 4.1-5.0, fore coxae length 4.0-4.1, fore femora length 4.9-5.4, fore tibiae length 3.4-3.8; width of pronotum 2.6-2.7, width of head 3.4-3.9, width of fore femora 1.4-1.6.