TETRIGIDAE Rambur, 1838

Zha, Ling-Sheng, Yu, Feng-Ming, Boonmee, Saranyaphat, Eungwanichayapant, Prapassorn D. & Wen, Ting-Chi, 2017, The subfamily Cladonotinae (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) from China with description of a new monotypic genus, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 51 (25 - 26), pp. 1479-1489 : 1480-1483

Family TETRIGIDAE Rambur

Subfamily CLADONOTINAE Bolívar

Genus Tetradinodula Zha gen. nov.

Type species

Tetradinodula bambusae Zha sp. nov.

Description

Body stout and size very small, its surface coarse and extremely uneven, covered with numerous granules and many conspicuous humps. Vertex wide, more than 2 times as wide as one eye, median carina visible, lateral carinae projected forwards and folded upwards distinctly, paired fossulae presented; in lateral view face nearly vertical, vertex together with frontal costa a little exserted, frontal carinae between antennal grooves strongly obtusely triangular forward; in frontal view frontal carinae diverge slightly above middle of inner margin of eyes, longitudinal furrow between antennal grooves wider than diameter of scapus. Antenna filiform and short, the longest segment about 5 times as long as wide, inserted far below lower margin of eyes, segments IX, XI and XIII mainly yellow. Eyes globose, exserted over level of anterior margin of pronotum, lateral ocellus placed slightly above lower margin of eyes. Anterior margin of pronotum truncated; median carina thick and generally with swollen base, before humeral angles conspicuously elevated and lamellate, highest at level of posterior sulcus; prozonal carinae conspicuous. Between posterior sulcus and humeral angles: pronotum distinctly elevated in the centre which forms into a pair of large humps on both side of median carina; meanwhile, median carina being cut by a deep concavity and forming into two longitudinal large humps; as a result four conspicuous large humps formed. Behind humeral angles pronotum nearly at the same level that is nearly as tall as anterior margin of pronotum, and pronotal disc covered with some conspicuous humps. Hind process wide and short, apex broadly rounded; external lateral carina reaching past middle of hind femur and folded upwards at the level of humeral angles; before apex of hind process lateral carina curved inward; posterior angle of lateral lobe of pronotum extending obliquely, backwards and slightly outwards, apex truncated; posterior margin of each lateral lobe with one concavity. Tegmen and wing absent (degenerated completely, apterous, Zha et al. 2016a, 2017). Lower margin of fore femur and upper and lower margins of mid femur with 2–3 large teeth; outer margin of fore and mid tibiae with 2 small teeth each; hind femur very stout, outer side with several nodules; first segment of hind tarsus about 1.4 times as long as third. Female subgenital plate nearly as long as wide, posterior margin truncated and middle triangularly projected. Male size smaller than female, subgenital plate short cone-shaped, apex bifurcate.

Etymology

The new genus epithet Tetradinodula means that the pronotal disc before humeral angles has four distinct humps.

Composition

The new genus consists of a type species only.

Comparative diagnosis

Tetradinodula gen. nov. is placed in Cladonotinae (Tetrigidae) based on: (1) filiform antennae; (2) medial ocellus situated below lower margins of eyes; (3) dorsal margin of fore and mid femora without furrow; (4) fascial carinae between antennal grooves wider than diameter of scapus; (5) posterior angle of lateral lobe of pronotum extending obliquely, backwards and slightly outwards, apex truncated; and (6) body covered with many large and conspicuous humps.

Tetradinodula gen. nov. is closely related to Potua Bolívar. The former differs from the latter by: (1) the longest segment of antenna 5 times as long as wide (at most 3 times in Potua ); (2) apex of hind process of pronotum broadly rounded (acute or acutely rounded in Potua ); (3) lower margin of fore femur with 2 large teeth (1 large tooth in Potua ); and (4) first segment of hind tarsus 1.4 times as long as third (equal in Potua ) ( Bolívar 1887; Tumbrinck 2014). Tetradinodula gen. nov. is also similar to Gestroana Berg ; in the former genus the elevated median carina of pronotum is obtuse and thick, only located before humeral angles, and the pronotum disc has a conspicuous four-nodule-like elevation. In Gestroana , by contrast, the elevated median carina of pronotum is spinous and thin, either extending up to the posterior third or bimodal pronotum, and the pronotum disc never has a four-nodule-like elevation ( Berg 1898; Tumbrinck 2014). Also, Tetradinodula gen. nov. can easily be separated from Austrohancockia ( Günther 1938; Deng et al. 2008) and Hancockitettix Storozhenko & Pushkar ( Storozhenko and Pushkar 2017) by small body size, short antennae, apex of hind process broadly rounded, pronotum disc has a four-nodule-like elevation instead of nearly at the same level; and from Cladonotella Hancock ( Hancock 1908 /1909, Tumbrinck 2014) and Gibbotettix ( Zheng 1992; Zha et al. 2016b) by small body size, short antennae, apex of hind process broadly rounded, anterior part of pronotum has a four-nodule-like elevation instead of gradually elevated and swollen.

Key to genera in Cladonotinae in China * (revised)

1. Lateral carinae of vertex extending far forward, apex acute; posterior angle of lateral lobe of pronotum distinctly protruding outwards, apex has 4–5 sharp spines, second one long and curved forwards.................................................................. Bidentatettix Zheng

Lateral carinae of vertex not or slightly extending forward, apex obtuse; posterior angle of lateral lobe of pronotum obliquely extending, backwards or slightly outwards, apex rounded or truncated, without spine ............................................................... 2

2. Pronotum wholly and strongly roof-like, in lateral view upper margin generally wholly arcuate ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Pronotum or nearly at the same level, or slightly roof-like, or anterior part elevated but posterior part flattened; in lateral view upper margin or straight, or interrupted into many parts, or forming two separate parts.................................................................... 4

3. Anterior margin of pronotum extending far forward, in lateral view acute angled and nearly reaching anterior margin of vertex.................................. Deltonotus Hancock

Anterior margin of pronotum truncated or a little projected forwards............................ ............................................................................................................................... Tuberfemurus Zheng

4. Pronotal disc extremely uneven, coverd with many large and conspicuous humps 5

Pronotal disc relatively flattened, either smooth or covered with many small and low bulges .............................................................................................................................................. 7

5. Body size small; apex of hind process broadly rounded; pronotum between posterior sulcus and humeral angles forming a four-nodule-like elevation................................. ............................................................................................................... Tetradinodula Zha gen. nov.

Body size large and stout; apex of hind process truncated or concave; pronotum between posterior sulcus and humeral angles not forming a four-nodule-like elevation .................................................................................................................................................. 6

6. Pronotum: anterior part gradually elevated and swollen, in lateral view anterior margin and posterior part distinctly not at the same level...... ...... Gibbotettix Zheng

Pronotum: apart from elevated median carina, anterior part of pronotum neither elevated nor swollen, in lateral view anterior margin and posterior part nearly at the same level............................................... ............................................... Austrohancockia Günther

7. Posterior margin of lateral lobe of pronotum has only one concavity; tegmen invisible............................................................ Epitettix Hancock and Pseudepitettix Zheng **

Posterior margin of lateral lobe of pronotum has two concavities; visible part of tegmen normal or narrow ............................................................................................................... 8

8. Visible part of tegmen narrow, hind wing vestigial and hidden under pronotum; first segment of hind tarsus distinctly longer than third........................ Yunnantettix Zheng

Tegmen and hind wing normal; first segment of hind tarsus slightly shorter than third............................................................................................................................ Aspiditettix Liang

* Pseudogignotettix Liang only ever included two species, but their type specimens are all nymphs. According to morphological characters of original descriptions and drawings, Storozhenko (2014) transferred the two species into Xistrella Bolívar (Tetriginae) and Tumbrinck (2014) revised the genus as a synonym of Xistrella . Deng (2016) checked the type specimens of the two species and confirmed they are all nymphs, but he thought the evidence for the revision of Storozhenko was inadequate, so he temporarily retained Pseudogignotettix in Cladonotinae . We also think the two species belong to Tetriginae , even though we are not sure whether they are Xistrella , so Pseudogignotettix is not included in the current key.

** Pseudepitettix Zheng is distributed in China and Thailand ( Storozhenko and Dawwrueng 2014), and Epitettix Hancock is widely distributed in South-East Asia, including China ( Zheng and Lin 2016) and Thailand ( Storozhenko and Dawwrueng 2014). Morphologically, there is no distinct difference between Epitettix and Pseudepitettix ( Deng 2016; Zha et al. 2016a). So Pseudepitettix should be considered a synonym of Epitettix .