Eulioptera iolandae, Massa, 2021

Massa, Bruno, 2021, Some new species of Phaneroptera, Eulioptera and Scolocerca (Orthoptera Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) from West Tropical Africa, Zootaxa 4948 (1), pp. 123-135 : 130

Eulioptera iolandae n. sp.

( Figs. 21-24 )

Material examined. Côte d’Ivoire, Denguélé Classified Forest (sudanian forest) (479m) 9°30’0.6”N, 7°40’51.1”W (MV Light Trap), 6-14.VI.2018, M. Aristophanous, W. Miles, P. Moretto, Y. Outtara (1 ³ holotype) ( ANHRT); Togo, Fazao-Malfakassa NP, Point de vue campsite (Sudanian Savannah) 8°48’50”N, 0°49’3.2”E (415m) 16-23.VIII.2018 (MV Light Trap), M. Aristophanous, M. Geiser, P. Moretto, B. Sanbena (1 ³ paratype) ( BMPC) .

Measurements (mm). Male (N = 2). Body length: 13.0-13.7; Length of pronotum: 3.4-3.5; Height of pronotum: 2.4-2.5; Length of hind femora: 18.2-19.5; Length of tegmina: 19.6-20.5; Width of tegmina: 2.1-2.3.

Diagnosis. Small species of Eulioptera , characterized by the unarmed fore coxae, a longitudinal reddish-brown stripe from the head to posterior margin of tegmina and a long subgenital plate with raised lateral margins ( Figs. 21-24 ).

Male description. Color. Green, with a reddish-brown stripe from the head, along the pronotum disc and on the posterior margin of tegmina ( Fig. 21 ), brown spots on tegmina, legs and abdominal tergites yellowish-brown. Cerci dark tipped.

Small species. Head typical of the genus, eyes round prominent, fastigium of vertex compressed, just raised at the apex, narrower than scapus, not contiguous with fastigium of frons. Antennae long. Pronotum without lateral carinae, anteriorly just incurved, posteriorly rounded, longer than high. Both pairs of wings well-developed. Tegmina about 8.9-9.3 times longer than broad, rounded at tips. Hind wings with green archedictyon, extending beyond tegmina by one fourth of latter. Stridulatory area on the left tegmen raised, mirror on the right tegmen round ( Fig. 21 ). Stridulatory file under the left tegmen arched, about 1.1 mm long, consisting of about 100 small teeth very close ( Fig. 22 ). Legs. Fore coxae unarmed, fore femora unarmed, fore tibiae furrowed dorsally, with 5-6 spines + 1 apical inner and outer spurs on ventral margin and 1 apical spur on dorsal inner and outer margins, open tympana on both sides. Mid femora unarmed, mid tibiae with 7-8 spines on both ventral margins + 1 spur on each ventral and on each dorsal side. Hind femora unarmed, hind tibiae with sparse hairs and 12-13 rows of spines on ventral margins, many spines on dorsal margins + 3 spurs on each apical side. Abdomen. Tenth tergite laterally bulging. Cerci shorter than the subgenital plate, basally stout and up-curved with a pointed brown tip, laterally flattened ( Fig. 23 ). Subgenital plate narrow and long, up-curved, apically ending with two rounded lobes; lateral margins of the subgenital plate raised and ending with a bulge on each side. Styli absent ( Fig. 24 ).

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. E. iolandae n. sp. is dedicated to Iolanda Valguarnera, as a sign of sincere gratitude for the affectionate support that she has always given me, in particular when I was affected by the malaria contracted in the Côte d’Ivoire.

Distribution. Presently it is known from Côte d’Ivoire and Togo.

Discussion. According to the key to species by Ragge (1980), characters of E. iolandae n. sp. exclude the first nine species; the following five species of the key would be excluded, having only 2 apical spurs on each side of hind tibiae ( E. crosskeyi , E. disparidens , E. umbilima , E. longicerca and E. reticulata ); however, these five species have also a different color and a different subgenital plate. All the previous species are characterized by the presence of the fore coxal spine, but in recent years new species of Eulioptera have been described with unarmed fore coxae, namely: E. longicaudata (Massa, 2017) , originally described in the genus Dithela (see above), differs from E. iolandae n. sp. in the subgenital plate, cerci and stridulatory file ( Massa 2017b); E. excavata Hemp, 2019 from Tanzania differs from E. iolandae n. sp. in the subgenital plate, cerci and color ( Hemp & Heller 2019); E. mutembai Naskrecki et Guta, 2019 and E. carrolli Naskrecki et Guta, 2019 from Mozambique differ from E. iolandae n. sp. by the subgenital plate and cerci shape, other than the color and stridulatory file ( Naskrecki & Guta 2019); a new species of Eulioptera from Zambia (Massa in press) differs from E. iolandae n. sp. by cerci, subgenital plate and stridulatory file. Finally, E. atypica n. sp. is described below, very atypical and different from all other previously known species.

Figures

FIGS. 21-24. Eulioptera iolandae n. sp. Fig. 21. Color pattern, stridulatory area and mirror of the holotype; Fig. 22. Stridulatory file under the left tegmen; Fig. 23. Lateral view of the subgenital plate and cerci of the same; Fig. 24. Ventral view of the subgenital plate and cerci of the same.