Xistra Bolívar, 1887

Zhang, Rong-Jiao, Deng, Wei-An, Li, Jie-Juan & Lin, Li-Liang, 2022, Pygmy grasshoppers of the genus Xistra Bolívar, 1887 (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Metrodorinae), Zootaxa 5162 (2), pp. 183-197 : 184

genus Xistra Bolívar, 1887

http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1101370

Xistra Bolívar, 1887: 186 ; Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893: 108; Hancock, 1907: 45; Kirby, 1910: 27; Kirby, 1914: 55; Willemse, 1930: 29; Günther, 1939: 159; Shishodia, 1991: 103; Blackith, 1992: 196; Yin, Shi & Yin, 1996: 930; Otte, 1997: 66; Jiang, & Zheng, 1998: 303; Liang & Zheng, 1998: 102; Zheng, 2005a: 129; Zheng, 2005b: 124; Deng, Zheng & Wei, 2007a: 119; Zheng, 2009: 297; Zheng & Zeng, 2011:1895 ; Storozhenko & Omelko, 2012: 64; Li, Deng, Zheng, Lin & Lu, 2014: 210; Zheng 2015, Deng, 2016: 108; Deng, Wang, Mao & Li, 2021: 2 (Published online 20 Dec 2021).

Type species: Xistra gogorzae Bolívar 1887 , by subsequent designation ( Kirby 1910).

Description and differential diagnosis. Xistra spp. have the following characteristics: Size small, slender; body surface smooth. Head and eyes distinctly exserted above pronotal surface; vertex narrow, its width equal to or narrower than width of compound eye; vertex concave, its lateral margin exerted above the upper margin of eyes, seen from front, appearing as a “V”-shaped concavity or a “U”-shaped concavity between the eyes. Antennae filiform, antennal grooves inserted between or below inferior margins of compound eyes. Pronotum with anterior margin straight; humeral angles obtuse; hind process of pronotum long, cone-shaped. Lateral lobes of pronotum turned outwards, posterior margins with ventral sinus and tegminal (upper) sinus, apex of hind angle truncate. Visible part of tegmina oval; hindwings developed. Upper and lower margins of fore femora and middle femora entire, margins finely serrated; first segment of posterior tarsi equal to or slightly longer than third one.

Xistra is closely related to Xistrella Bolívar , Mazarredia Bolívar and Systolederus Bolívar , but differs from the three latter genera by the vertex, seen from front, appearing as an acute triangular excision between the eyes.

Composition and distribution: Altogether, 24 species are now assigned to the genus Xistra and found in China, Philippines, Cambodia and Nepal (table1).