Eomorphopus Hancock, 1907

Cadena-Castaneda, Oscar J., Silva, Daniela Santos Martins, Mendes, Diego Matheus De Mello, Pereira, Marcelo Ribeiro, Domenico, Fernando Campos De & Sperber, Carlos Frankl, 2020, Review of the tribe Amorphopini (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Metrodorinae): Pygmy moss-lichen tetrigids from the Amazon rainforest, Journal of Orthoptera Research 29 (1), pp. 45-62 : 45

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/jor.29.33717
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:647877CD-F043-4952-8419-20D0F18EA28C
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2E62FF59-AECC-5449-AF67-1B8B53F86EA3
treatment provided by	Journal of Orthoptera Research by Pensoft
scientific name	Eomorphopus Hancock, 1907
status

Treatment

Eomorphopus Hancock, 1907 View in CoL

Type species

Eomorphopus antennatus ( Bolívar, 1887).

Description

Body moderately depressed dorsoventrally (Figs 4A View Fig. 4 , 5A View Fig. 5 ), granulate and moderately rugose. Eyes slightly conical with a flattened base; vertex narrowed forward, truncate anteriorly, not advancing beyond the eyes; frontal costa with a narrow scutellum between the antennae and moderately sulcate (Figs 4D View Fig. 4 , 5D View Fig. 5 ), lateral lobes outwardly dilated below, the posterior angles oblong (Figs 4C View Fig. 4 , 5C View Fig. 5 , 6D View Fig. 6 ) or acute (Figs 8D View Fig. 8 , 9D View Fig. 9 ). Tegmina sublanceolate and wings surpassing the pronotum apex (Figs 4A View Fig. 4 , 8A View Fig. 8 ). Fore femur strongly carinate, but not entirely clypeate (Figs 6E View Fig. 6 , 8E View Fig. 8 , 9E View Fig. 9 ); mid femur flattened, margins above sub-straight, below strongly foliaceo-expanded, often sinuate toward the apices (Figs 6F View Fig. 6 , 8F View Fig. 8 , 9F View Fig. 9 ); antegenicular tooth of hind femur developed; the first and third articles of the hind tarsi equal in length.

Comments. -

For a long time, Eomorphopus species were described as Amorphopus , except for E. purpurascens , which was originally described as Acrydium purpurascens by Olivier (1791) and is still almost unknown, without photos and with scant morphological information. Additionally, some of the available morphological information on E. purpurascens is non-traditional, such as the description of the coloration used by Oliver (1791). Characteristics of this kind can be lost over time (e.g., wings with purplish coloration). Furthermore, the type species was not defined in the original description and the depository is unknown. The distribution is known only for Trinidad Island ( Olivier 1791). For that reason, we propose as nomen dubius this species, and Eomorphopus only contains two valid species: E. granulosus and E. antennatus .

Behavioral notes

The Brazilian specimens were collected in lowland floodplains in areas of the Solimões River and non-flooding ombrophilous forests (Terra Firme). They are commonly found in litter on the ground and occasionally on trunks of fallen trees. They are usually found in the same environment with other pygmy grasshoppers, such as Scaria ( Cadena-Castañeda et al. 2019). They are easily unnerved and usually jump when approached.