Itara (Itara) minor Chapord, 1925

He, Zhixin & Ma, Libin, 2021, Crickets of the subfamily Itarinae Shiraki, 1930 (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) from China with description of a new species and distribution and critical notes on other species, Zootaxa 4942 (3), pp. 382-408 : 384-386

Itara (Itara) minor Chapord, 1925

Itara minor Chopard, 1925: 312 ; Yin and Liu 1995: 100; Gorochov 1996: 82, 83, 84

Itara (Itara) minor: Gorochov 1997: 60 , 62, 63, 64; Ma & Zhang, 2015: 537

Lectotype. Type locality: Vietnam: Tonkin , Chapra. Deposited at Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle , Paris, France (not examined).

Materials examined. China: 3 males, Yunnan, Ruili, Mengxiu , 13-vi-2013, Libin Ma coll. ; 2 males, Yunnan, Puer, Wendong , 20-iv-2019, Tao Zhang coll. ; 4 males, Guangxi, Napo, Defu , 3-v-2019, Libin Ma & Tao Zhang coll. ; 2 males, Yunnan, Lushui, Pianma , 20-vi-2019, Libin Ma & Tao Zhang coll. ; 2 females, Guangxi, Napo, Defu , 3-v- 2019, Libin Ma & Tao Zhang coll. ; 2 females, Yunnan, Lushui, Pianma , 20-vi-2019, Libin Ma & Tao Zhang coll ..

Description. Male. Body small for the genus. Head small. Occiput narrow, sparsely pubescent at median and bearing longer setae laterally. Median ocellus slightly smaller and shaped as half-moon. Antennal scape rounded and shield-like. Genae convex. Labrum apical margin broadly and medially concaved. Terminal maxillary palpus truncated; terminal labial palpus rod-like. Pronotal disc glabrous and laterally expanded ( Fig. 2A ). Harp area bearing 4 harp veins. Apical field of elytra undeveloped (shorter than mirror), armed with 5 branches ( Fig. 2A ). Visible parts of hind wings slightly longer than hind tarsus ( Fig. 2A ). Hind tarsus possessing 2 rows of small spines, 8–10 inner spines and 8 outer spines. False veins distributed in harp region and mirror. External tympanum of fore tibiae slightly larger and shaped as elongate ovoid.

Metanotal gland armed with transverse and sinuate convexity anteriorly, shallow concavity medially, almost flattened part posteriorly, and two protuberance in both sides ( Fig. 2C ). Anal plate tongue-shaped, half of basal sides ridged and apex slightly rounded ( Fig. 2D ).

Male genitalia ( Figs. 2 E–2G). Dorsal lobe of basal epiphallus shaped as obtuse angle, lateral process evenly thickened; median process short and almost without notch ( Fig. 2F ). Epiphallus rather short and small, upward convexity and basal epiphallus armed with only small denticles ( Fig. 2F ). Ectoparamere armed with pair of processes on inner part.

Female. Body sized slightly smaller than male, colored dark ( Fig. 2B ). Ovipositor far longer than hind tibia; its apex of rather acute, episternites blunt ( Figs. 13C , 14C ).

Coloration. Head colored dark. Pronotal disc dark, ornamented with light and blade-shaped patterns as well as light and basal lateral corner ( Fig. 2A ).

Measurements. Male (n=11). BL 15.27±1.86, HW 2.55±0.39, PL 1.74±0.21, PW 3.47±0.43, FWL 14.83±0.66, HWL 4.48±0.19, DVL 4.03±0.27, ML 3.64±0.32, HFL 8.62±0.55, HTL 6.74±0.31, HML 3.81±0.19. Female (n=4). BL 13.76±0.74., HW 2.83±0.26, PL 1.85±23, PW 2.73±0.18, FWL 10.37±0.71, HFL 6.20±0.43, HTL 4.68±0.35, HML 3.82±0.10 OL 9.23±1.31.

Remarks. This species is very similar to I. (I.) communis and Itara (Itara) sericea Walker, 1869 in male genitalia, but its epiphallic apex is acute. It also similar to I. (I.) aperta in body size and they are both rather small, but its lateral lobes of ectoparamere are larger and epiphallic apex acute.

Figures

FIGURE 2. I. (I.) minor. A. Habitus photograph of male. B. Habitus photograph of female. C. Metanotal gland. D. Anal plate. E–G. Male genitalia. E. Dorsal view. F. Lateral view. G. Ventral viewed. Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIGURE 13. The right half of ovipositor apex. A. I. (I.) communis. B. I. (I.) vietnamensis. C. I. (I.) minor. D. I. (I.) acri sp. n. E. I. (I.) aperta. F. I. (I.) dicrana. G. I. (I.) basidentata. H. I. (N.) nocturna.

FIGURE 14. The left half of ovipositor apex. A. I. (I.) communis. B. I. (I.) vietnamensis. C. I. (I.) minor. D. I. (I.) acri sp. n. E. I. (I.) aperta. F. I. (I.) dicrana. G. I. (I.) basidentata. H. I. (N.) nocturna.