Hyperomerus crassipes Redtenbacher, 1891

Tavares, Gustavo Costa & Nunes-Gutjahr, Ana Lúcia, 2021, Rediscovering the poorly-known Neotropical katydid Hyperomerus crassipes Redtenbacher, 1891 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae: Agraeciini) description of male reveals the synonymic status of Uchuca Giglio-Tos, 1898, Zootaxa 4903 (1), pp. 42-54 : 48

Hyperomerus crassipes Redtenbacher, 1891

Diagnoses. H. crassipes and H. ferreirai are the only two macropterous species within the genus, with tegmina surpassing the apex of the abdomen and ovipositor (when female). H. amacayaca and H. halticos are mesopterous species, in which the tegmina may surpass the apex of the tenth tergite or not, but never surpasses apex of the ovipositor (when female).

Furthermore, H. crassipes is characterized by having the prosternum completely smooth; meso- and metabasisternal lobes reduced, spineforme; caudal margin of pronotal disk truncate, caudal margin of the lateral lobes of pronotum widely rounded, produced laterally in dorsal view; anterior trochanter bearing a small digitiform spine, slightly arched; anterior femur as long as the distance between the fastigium of frons and the clypeal suture; hind femur slender only at the distal third, bearing a low carina on dorsal surface from the base to distal third, outer ventral margin bearing a row of variable-sized spines, distributed randomly till the distal third, where there are only more prominent spines; inner ventral margin bearing only big spines on distal third; hind tibia slightly sinuous, with outer dorso-apical spur larger than the internal one; lobes of subgenital plate of female acute at apex, separated by a deep sinus; female tenth tergite with posterior margin medially incised; male tenth tergite with posterior margin rounded bilobed; cercus with compressed projection bent downwards at the middle, projecting under the subgenital plate, apex rounded; basal appendage of cercus spiniform, robust at the base. Sclerites TS almost straight, with rounded apex, no spine ( Figs. 2A, D ), sclerite VS with ventral projections elongate, produced laterally and notably arched, apex acuminated ( Figs. 2B, E ).

Contrastingly, H. ferreirai is distinguished by the form of caudal margin of pronotal disk, which is rounded; prosternum bearing two notable spines, meso- and metabasisternal lobes not reduced, triangular, the first is much developed, metasternal plate also bearing a pair of spine-like projections medially; the anterior trochanter bearing a well-developed spine, notably arched; the length of anterior femur, which is much longer than the distance between the fastigium of frons and the clypeal suture; the form of hind femur, which is slender since its distal half, the inner ventral margin that bears subequal sized spines only at the distal half; the almost straight hind tibia, with inner dorso-apical spine distinctly bigger than outer one; the lobes of subgenital plate of female, which is strongly projected dorso-laterally, separated by a shallow sinus; the presence of a small lateral digitate appendix at the base of subgenital plate, cercus of male with compressed projection acuminated, with basal appendage curved caudally at a straight angle, with additional small lobe ventro-distally; the titillator’s sclerite of male notably arched dorsally, with a spine at apex ( Figs. 1G, J ); sclerite VS with ventral projection not elongate nor arched, apex rounded and project downward (Figs. H, K, L).

Figures

FIGURE 1. The phalli of Hyperomerus amacayaca (Montealegre-Z & Morris, 2003) comb. nov. (A‒F) and Hyperomerus ferreirai (Piza Jr., 1976) comb. nov. (G‒L). A, G) Posterior view; B, H) Anterior view; C, I) Lateral view; D, J) Posterior view of dorsal lobe in detail; E, K) Anterior view of dorsal lobe in detail; F, L) Anterior view of ventral lobe in detail. Abbreviations: TS) Titillator’s sclerites; ti) Titillatory processes; VS) Sclerite of the ventral fold of dorsal lobe; dl) Dorsal lobe; vl) Ventral lobe; mp.dl) Membranous processes of dorsal lobe; AP) Anterophallic apodemes; ejv) Ejaculatory vesicles. Arrow) Sclerotized area surrounding scllerits TS and processes ti.

FIGURE 2. The phallus of Hyperomerus crassipes Redtenbacher (1891). A) Posterior view; B) Anterior view; C) Lateral view; D) Posterior view of dorsal lobe in detail; E) Anterior view of dorsal lobe in detail; F) Anterior view of ventral lobe in detail. Abbreviations: TS) Titillator’s sclerites; ti) Titillatory processes; VS) Sclerite of the ventral fold of dorsal lobe; dl) Dorsal lobe; vl) Ventral lobe; mp.dl) Membranous processes of dorsal lobe; AP) Anterophallic apodemes; ejv) Ejaculatory vesicles. Arrow) Sclerotized area surrounding scllerits TS and processes ti.