Aracopsis Desutter-Grandcolas, 2020

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure & Faberon, Léo, 2020, Phalangopsidae crickets (Orthoptera, Grylloidea) from the Mitaraka biological survey, French Guiana, Zoosystema 42 (32), pp. 739-797 : 744-746

Genus Aracopsis Desutter-Grandcolas , n. gen.

( Figs 3-5 ; Table 3)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:187D9FF1-9DC8-42E0-BCE5-FD0BD7D8D4BF

TYPE SPECIES. — Aracopsis hugeli Desutter-Grandcolas , n. sp. by original designation.

DIAGNOSIS. — Size small. Mesonotum, metanotum, and tergite 1 well-developed, tergites 2 to 9 short and compressed. Head narrow in side view, very long in front view; eyes small but highly protruding; fastigium slanting from the vertex, with a faint basal transverse furrow; maxillary palpi elongate, article 5 much longer than article 4 and hardly widened in apical third. TI with an inner tympanum; outer tympanum absent. TIII with 3/3 apical spurs, the dorsal the longest on each side; 4/4 subapical spurs, small and alternate; serrulation small. Male: FWs small, overlapping, rounded distally, with a stridulatory file; tergites 3 to 6 with paired glandular structures. Male genitalia very small, compact; pseudepiphallic sclerite transverse, flat; apical lophi located on a narrow membranous projection between pseudepiphallic sclerite and ectophallic fold; pseudepiphallic arm small with simple and acute apex; ectophallic arc very wide, its width greater than ectophallic apodeme length; basal part of ectophallic apodemes greatly enlarged; endophallic sclerite long and narrow, with impaired lamella-shaped apodeme and a crest-like longitudinal apodeme. No phallic glands associated with pseudepiphallus. Female: apterous. Female genitalia: copulatory papilla elongate, conical, sclerotized.

By its external morphology, Aracopsis Desutter-Grandcolas , n. gen. is close to Philippopsis and Phalangopsis , and superficially resembles Aracamby and related genera (Souza-Dias & Desutter-Grandcolas 2014); it can readily be separated from all these genera:

– Similar to Philippopsis by its size, body shape, head shape and tibial spurs. Distinguished from Philippopsis by inner tympanum (lacking in Philippopsis ), forewings and tergal glands in males (males with short flap-like forewings and without tergal glands in Philippopsis ), TIII serrulation (sparse in Philippopsis ) and male genitalia (arm long, narrow, curved, with bifid apex; ectophallic arc narrow, with two long evaginations, ectophallic apodemes short and high, in Philippopsis ).

– Similar to Phalangopsis by maxillary palpi, leg shape and TIII serrulation. Distinguished from Phalangopsis by small size, inner tympanum (lacking in Phalangopsis ), shape of maxillary palpi last article (much thinner and longer in Phalangopsis ), male FWs (not overlapping in Phalangopsis ) and male genitalia (pseudepiphallic lophi much more developed, ectophallic arc narrow, ectophallic apodemes long, almost parallel and thick, in Phalangopsis ).

– Resembling Aracamby by small size and general body shape. Distinguished by tergites relative size, head shape (wider in Aracamby , with less protruding eyes), last article of maxillary palpi (article 5 strongly curved before mid length in Aracamby ), TII apical spurs (four in Aracamby ), TIII apical spurs (median spur the longest on inner and outer sides in Aracamby ), tibial tympanum (variable in Aracamby ), male FWs (long, covering most of abdomen, convex, with a full stridulum in Aracamby ) and male genitalia (arm long, thick, almost straight, with bifid apex; ectophallic arc wide and narrow, ectophallic apodemes long and thin, in Aracamby ).

Females apterous or with pad-like forewings in all four genera; separated by the same morphological characters as males (size, head shape, tympanum, tibial spurs). Female copulatory papilla short and conical in Aracopsis Desutter-Grandcolas , n. gen. and Phalangopsis ; elongate and basally membranous in Philippopsis and Aracamby .

ETYMOLOGY. — Taxon named after its phylogenetic relationships to Philippopsis and Phalangopsis , and superficial resemblance to Aracamby .

DISTRIBUTION. — French Guiana.

DESCRIPTION

General morphology

Size small. Body ( Fig. 3 ) convex, with well-developed pro-, meso-, metanota, and tergite 1; tergites 2 to 9 reduced and short. Head very long and narrow in side view.Fastigium slightly wider than half scape width, separated from vertex by a faint, transverse furrow ( Fig. 4A ). Eyes ( Fig. 4A, B ) small, strongly protruding. Ocelli small, set as a triangle; distance between lateral ocelli shorter than distance between median and one lateral ocelli; median ocellus not protruding. Maxillary palpi ( Fig. 5A ) very elongate, especially articles 3 to 5; articles 3 to 5 very thin; article 3 slightly shorter than article 4; article 5 the longest, little but regularly widened from mid length toward the tip, truncate at apex. Legs setose, elongate and very thin.

TI with a small inner tympanum; outer tympanum absent; two apical, ventral spurs. TII with two long, apical, ventral spurs; no dorsal spurs. TIII with 4/4 subapical spurs, short and alternate; 3/3 apical spurs ( Fig. 5B, C ); inner apical spurs longer than outer spurs; dorsal apical spur the longest on both sides. FIII with a filiform apical part ( Fig. 4C, D ). Basitarsomeres all very long and thin. Basitarsomeres III with few small dorsal spines, in addition to apical ones ( Fig. 5B, C ). Cerci very long.

Coloration ( Fig. 3 )

Contrasting black, light orange, yellow and brown; face yellowish with wide longitudinal, brown bands; scapes yellowish, antennae black brown; pronotum black, more or less mottled with light orange; legs annulated yellow and brown; cerci brown with a wide yellow ring at their base.

Male

No metanotal gland. FWs ( Figs 4A ; 5D ) present, very short, fully overlapping; dorsal field rounded in shape; venation faint; stridulatory file with very small teeth. HWs lacking. Tergites 3 to 6 with a pair of dorsal projections ( Fig. 4E ), smaller on tergite 6. Supra anal plate depressed along mid line basally; short and strong setae on basal half, very long ones on distal half.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 4 F-H)

Pseudepiphallic sclerite short and transverse, without extended rami; distal margin V-shaped; apical lobes making a very narrow projection posterior to pseudepiphallic sclerite, well separate the one from the other by a V-shaped indentation; pseudepiphallic arms very short, C-sclerite having the shape of a thin and very long spine. Ectophallic fold very short, hardly distinct between apical lobes and pseudepiphallic parameres; ectophallic apodemes very short, greatly enlarged at the level of the arc. Endophallic sclerite long and narrow, with very short endophallic apodemes (both longitudinal crest and distal lamella). No phallic glands.

Female

Similar to male, but without FWs and tergal glands. Ovipositor short, about half TIII length, and gently curved upwards ( Fig. 4I ); apex slightly widened, without distal teeth.

Female genitalia

Copulatory papilla ( Fig. 5 E-G) short, conical, with acute apex.

Figures

FIG. 3. — Aracopsis hugeli Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen, n. sp. in its natural environment in French Guiana: A, female paratype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3976, dorsal view; B, male, front view; C, male, rear view, showing abdominal dorsal glands. Photos: Sylvain Hugel.

FIG. 4. — Aracopsis hugeli Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen, n. sp.: A, male pronotum and FWs, dorsal view; B, face; C, FIII outer side; D, FIII inner side; E, male abdominal glands; F-H, male genitalia, in dorsal (F), ventral (G) and side (H) views; I, female ovipositor. Photos of male holotype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3984 (A, D-H), female allotype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3985 (C, I) and female paratype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3976 (B). Scale bars: 1 mm.

FIG. 5. — Aracopsis hugeli Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen, n. sp. morphology: A, last three articles of maxillary palpus in female allotype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3985; B, C, hindtibia outer (B) and inner (C) apical spurs in female allotype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3985; D, forewings in male holotype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3984, note that the file (PCu) is hiden under pronotum; E-G, copulatory papilla of female paratype MNHN-EO-ENSIF3977 in dorsal (E), ventral (F) and side (G) views. Abbreviations: see Material and methods. Scale bars: 1 mm.