Melidia pif, Massa, 2022

Massa, Bruno, 2022, New and less known Orthoptera from biodiversity hotspots of Mozambique and Zambia (Tettigoniidae; Acrididae), Fragmenta entomologica 54 (1), pp. 27-44 : 35-36

Melidia pif new species

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:14E696C3-DD8A-4C83-8438-372AE2F7891E

Material examined. Zambia: Gwabi River Lodge, Chirundu, Actinic Light Trap 8-11.III.2019, V. Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (1♂ holotypus, 2♂ paratypi) ; Zambia: Gwabi River Lodge, Chirundu, MV Light Trap 8-11.III.2019, V. Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (1♀ paratypus) ; Zambia: Gwabi River Lodge, Chirundu, Lepiled Light Trap 8-11.III.2019, V. Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (1♂ paratypus) ; Zambia: Lakeview Lodge , Sinazongwe (493m), Actinic Light Trap 23-28.II.2019, V. Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (4♂ paratypi) ; Zambia: Lakeview Lodge , Sinazongwe (493m), Lepiled Light Trap 23-28.II.2019, V. Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (3♂ paratypi) ( ANHRT) ; Zambia: Bruce-Miller Farm , Choma, Lepiled Light Trap 28.II-8. III.2019, V. Dérozier, M. Imakando, W. Miles, L. Mulvaney (1♂ paratypus) ( BMPC).

Measurements (in mm). Males. Body length: 13.5- 14.5; length of pronotum: 3.3-3.4; height of pronotum: 2.7-2.8; length of tegmina: 20.3-23.0; width of tegmina: 3.1-3.5; length of hind femora: 16.5-18.0. Female. Body length: 15.3; length of pronotum: 3.4; height of pronotum: 2.9; length of tegmina: 24.1; width of tegmina: 3.5; length of hind femora: 17.0; length of ovipositor: 5.6.

Diagnosis. Melidia pif n. sp. is very similar to M. brunneri Stål, 1876 and M. claudiae Massa, 2015 , but it differs from them mainly by its very peculiar male cerci, stout, downcurved and provided with an inner long pointed spine.

Description. Male ( Fig. 10e ). Colour. Yellowish with green tegmina, antennae brownish, stridulatory area of left tegmen brown, abdomen yellowish. Head and antennae. Fastigium of vertex very narrow, scarcely furrowed above, separated from the fastigium of frons, which is tuberculated. Eyes rounded, well projecting. Thorax. Pronotum little narrowing anteriorly, flat above, anterior margin straight, posterior rounded, humeral sinus evident, lower margin of lateral lobes of pronotum rounded. Tegmina comparatively narrow with convex fore margin and rounded apex, wings longer than tegmina. Stridulatory area of left tegmen wide. The stridulatory file is widely arched and consists of three parts: the distal with 13 teeth evenly spaced, the central with 5 bigger teeth more spaced, and the proximal with 4-5 small teeth ( Fig. 10f ). Legs comparatively long. Fore coxae armed with a small spine, fore tibiae sulcate on upper margin, distinctly widening on tympanum area. Tympana open on inner and outer sides. Fore femora armed on inner ventral margin with 3-4 spines, fore tibiae with 2 spines + 1 spur on inner and outer ventral margins, 1 spur on outer dorsal margin; mid femora armed with 2 spines on outer ventral margin, mid tibiae with 5-6 on outer and inner ventral margins + 1 spur on each side; hind femora armed with 1-2 small spines on outer ventral margin, hind tibiae with many spines on ventral and dorsal margins + 3 spurs on each apical side. Abdomen. Tenth tergite with a straight margin, subgenital plate long and apically deeply divided into two in-curved lobes, styli absent ( Fig. 11h ). Cerci stout, downcurved and apically flattened and blunt; a long inner spine sinuous spine present in their middle ( Figs 11c, 11d ).

Female ( Fig. 12e ). Same characters as the male, with the exception of the subgenital plate which is narrow and apically divided ( Fig. 10m ), and the ovipositor, gently upcurved and with two lateral bulges at its base ( Fig. 12f ).

Etymology. This species is friendly dedicated to Pif, nickname of Pierfrancesco Diliberto, director, radio-television host, screenwriter and actor, highly appreciated for his proximity to social and environmental problems; ‘ pif’ should be treated as a noun in apposition.

Affinities. The most related species are M. brunneri and M. claudiae , whose males have a subgenital plate very similar to that of M. pif n. sp. ( Figs 11f, 11g ). However, in M. pif n. sp. the apical lobes are short, more similar to those of M. brunneri , and cerci are very different, their diagnosis is immediate ( Figs 11c, 11d ). Concerning the stridulatory file, very small differences are detectable in M. brunneri and M. claudiae ( Figs 10b, 10d ). M. laminata Chopard, 1954 ( Kenya and Tanzania) has a longer subgenital plate and cerci similar to M. brunneri and M. claudiae . M. adfinia Hemp, 2019 (central Tanzania) has the subgenital plate similar to that of M. brunneri ( Hemp 2021) . M. kenyensis Chopard, 1954 ( Kenya) is known only from the holotype female ( Figs 12a, 12b ) and the comparison with the general habitus of the female of M. claudiae ( Figs 12c, 12d ) and M. pif n. sp. ( Figs 12e, 12f ) confirms differences in the tegmina shape and the ovipositor. The subgenital plate of the female of M. pif n. sp. ( Fig. 11m ) differs from that of M. brunneri , which is widely divided at the apex ( Fig. 11i ) and from that of M. claudiae which is short and pointed ( Fig. 11l ).

Discussion. The genus Melidia Stål, 1876 is also related to Phaneroptera , but it is more robust, has relatively broader tegmina, a different ratio hind wings length / tegmina length (1.2 on average), and a brown patch in the stridulatory area of the left tegmen. When Ragge (1980) revised the African Phaneropterinae with open tympana, three specie of Melidia were known: M. brunneri , M. kenyensis and M. laminata ; other two species were recently described: M. claudiae and M. adfinia . Males of all described species ( M. kenyensis is known only from the female sex) are characterized by a more or less elongate subgenital plate with the apex divided into two lobes, and thin and incurved cerci. Only the newly discovered Zambian M. pif n. sp. has cerci completely different from the general model, but its habitus is the same of the others. Melidia species are generally uncommon (probably except for M. brunneri , well present in the museum collections), and small series of specimens are difficult to be obtained. The use of light traps in the present study allowed to capture in Zambia and Mozambique three of the six presently known species.

Figures

Fig. 10 – a, habitus and b, stridulatory file of Melidia brunneri Stål, 1876; c, habitus and d, stridulatory file of Melidia claudiae Massa, 2015; e, habitus and f, stridulatory file of Melidia pif n. sp.

Fig. 11 – Dorso-lateral view of cerci and subgenital plate of a, Melidia brunneri, b, M. claudiae, c, M. pif n. sp.; d, dorsal view of cerci of M. pif n. sp.; ventral view of the male subgenital plate of e, M. brunneri, f, M. claudiae, g, M. pif n. sp.; ventral view of the female subgenital plate of h, M. brunneri, i, M. claudiae (l), l, M. pif n. sp.

Fig. 12 – a, Habitus of the female and b, ovipositor of Melidia kenyensis; c, habitus of the female and d, ovipositor of M. claudiae; e, habitus of the female and f, ovipositor of M. pif n. sp.