Malagasopus desutterae, 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) : 210-212

Malagasopus desutterae sp. nov.

( Figs. 2, 5, 8 , 60 –69,111, 118)

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:499690

Type locality. S. Madagascar, Beheloka. Holotype male ( MNHN).

Description. Male (Holotype): Head wide, 1.2 times longer than its width. Fastigium of vertex ( Figs. 2 , 60, 61 ) short and broad, 1.2 times narrower than eye, 1.5 times wider than antennal scape; triarmed, its arms short. Face slightly convex, almost flattened, with 2 rows of vertical tubercles, and 2 spiniform tubercles placed both sides of frons. Fastigium of frons ( Fig. 61 ) with a short, distinct spiniform tooth. Pronotum ( Figs. 60, 61 ) slightly longer than wide; depression of typical sulcus very deep and distinct; anterior margin convex, posterior margin with a rounded median incision; prozona 1.5 times longer than metazona in middle, 2.8 times longer than its height. Tegmina ( Figs. 60, 61 ) slightly protrude from under pronotum, only their apex visible from above; reaching slightly beyond of posterior margin of metanotum. Prothoracic auditory spiracle fully concealed under lateral lobe of pronotum. Mesothoracic auricle small, dorsal half covered by lateral lobe of pronotum, its inner gap elliptical; without ventral lobe. Fore femur ( Figs. 5 , 60 ) with a small inner spine on anterio-lateral margin, 4 ventral spines on inner side, no apical spine ventrally, outer side without ventral spines. Fore tibia ( Fig. 60 ) with 4 strong inner and 4 smaller outer spines ventrally. Mid and hind femora without spines. Hind tibia with 6 dorsal spines on outer side; without apical spur dorsally ( Fig. 8 ); with 4 apical spurs ventrally, inner 2 slightly shorter than outer ones. Prosternum with 2, U-shaped spines, not reaching to level of ventral margin of fore coxa. Fore coxa with a forward projecting dorsal spine. Last abdominal tergite ( Fig. 63 ) long and broad, 2.6 times wider than long, posterior margin elongated with a very narrow small median incision, like a split. Cercus ( Fig. 64 ) short and broad, apical part strongly incurved; with 2 arms, dorsal arm short and narrow, pointed with a sharp tooth, ventral arm long, broad with a larger apical tooth. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 65 ) almost twice as long as its width, with a distinct median carina; posterior margin with a wide triangular median incision; its styli small, almost rectangular, longer than posterior incision of plate.

Female: Head very wide, almost rounded in frontal view, only 1.1 times longer than its width. Fastigium of vertex ( Figs. 66, 67 ) short and broad; triarmed, all arms directed slightly upwards; as wide as diameter of eye and almost twice as wide as antennal scape. Fastigium of frons ( Fig. 67 ) with a short spiniform tooth. Pronotum ( Figs. 66, 67 ) wider than long, typical sulcus very distinct like a deep depression; anterior margin convex, posterior margin concave; almost twice as long as its height; prozona 2.5 times longer than metazona. Tegmina strongly reduced, like small scales, covered by pronotum. Prothoracic auditory spiracle almost rounded, only a small part visible in lateral view. Mesothoracic auricle like an oval bowl, without ventral lobe. Forelegs as in male but larger. Mid and hind legs as in male but hind tibia with very small 5 dorsal spines on inner side. Prosternum with 2, Ushaped spines. Last abdominal tergite very narrow and broad, with a distinct narrow median incision which separates the hind margin into 2 rounded lobes. Cercus conical, short and broad, its apex slightly incurved. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 69 ) short and broad, median part swollen, 2.6 times wider than long, triangular but hind margin with a large deep incision. Ovipositor ( Fig. 68 ) sword shaped, slightly upcurved, 1.5 times longer than hind femur and slightly shorter than abdomen.

Colour (dry specimens). Body various shades of brown in male and milky brown in female. Lower margin of frons and mandibles dark, reddish brown. Labrum light, yellowish brown. Spines of fore femur and basal parts of fore tibial spines black. Dorsal surface of fore femur with black stripes and black spots; outer sides of mid and hind femora with irregular, large black spots and stripes. Pronotum with 2 median and 2 lateral short black longitudinal stripes in prozona; metazona with several dark brown spots. Visible part of male tegmina with several small black spots. Abdominal tergites reddish brown in male and milky brown in female, with indistinct irregular transverse dark stripes. Basal third of ovipositor milky brown, apical two thirds dark.

Diagnosis. This new species shows its close affinity to M. meridianus sp. nov. by the structure of the legs, the last male tergite, the subgenital plate and the cercus. It differs from it in the shape of male pronotum with longer metazona (4.5 mm in the middle), the length of the male tegmina (only hind margin visible from above, almost fully covered by pronotum), the structure of the male cercus, the number of spines on the fore tibia (4 inner and 4 outer spines ventrally in this species, and 5 inner and 5 outer spines in M. meridianus sp. nov.). Although it has a somewhat similar pronotum and tegmina to Oncodopus spp. the generic characters given in the table 1 and under the genus Malagasopus show that these taxa are very different.

Material examined. Madagascar sud, Beheloka , April 1963, 1 male (Holotype) , 2 males nymph, 2 females nymph ( MNHN). Madagascar, Toliara Prov., Mahafaly Plateau , 6.2 km 74 ENE Itampolo, elev . 80 m, 21–25 Feb. 2002, 24 ° 39'13" S, 43 ° 59'48" E, 1 female (leg. Fisher, Griswold et al.), in spiny forest thicket (CAS).

Measurements (mm). Holotype (male): Body length: 31.2; pronotum length: 11.9; width of pronotum: 10.3; fore femur length: 8.2; width of fore femur: 3.4; fore tibia length: 8.4; hind femur length: 12.4. See Table 3 for the measurement of the female.

Etymology. This new species name is dedicated to our colleague Dr. Laure Desutter-Grandcolas from the MNHN Paris in recognition of her very important contributions to Orthoptera research. She very kindly assisted M. Ünal during his research visits to the MNHN and loaned the specimens of this new species as well as many others.

Distribution. South-west of Madagascar ( Fig. 111 ). Toliara Province: Beheloka, NE Itampolo.

Habitat. This species is known from spiny forest. Living specimens have not been studied.

Phenology. Adults have been found in February and nymphs in April.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 9. Fastigium of vertex from above. 1 Oncodopus zonatus, 2 Malagasopus desutterae, 3 Colossopus grandidieri. Figs. 4 – 6. apical half of left fore femur, inner view. 4 Oncodopus zonatus, 5 Malagasopus desutterae, 6 Colossopus redtenbacheri. Figs. 7 – 9. apical part of left hind tibia from above. 7 Oncodopus zonatus, 8 Malagasopus desutterae, 9 Colossopus grandidieri. Scale bars 1 mm.

FIGURES 60 – 69. Malagasopus desutterae gen. nov. et sp. nov. Male: 60 forelegs, head and pronotum, dorsal view, 61 head and pronotum, lateral view, 62 habitus, dorso-lateral view, 63 last abdominal tergite, 64 cercus, 65 subgenital plate. Female: 66 forelegs, head and pronotum, dorsal view, 67 head and pronotum, lateral view, 68 habitus, dorso-lateral view, 69 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.