Pachyphymus namaquensis, Bazelet, Corinna S. & Naskrecki, Piotr, 2014

Bazelet, Corinna S. & Naskrecki, Piotr, 2014, Taxonomic revision of the southern African genus Pachyphymus Uvarov, 1922 (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Euryphyminae), Zootaxa 5, pp. 401-420 : 409-411

Pachyphymus namaquensis n. sp.

Figs. 3 , 5M–R, 6A–D, 8B

Type locality. South Africa: Northern Cape, Namaqualand, 8 km S of Nababeep (-29.5878, 17.7861) 7.x.1972 — male holotype ( SANC)

Diagnostic description (male, except where specified). General. Body small, rugose and tuberculate, hair very sparse.

Head. Integument moderately rugose ( Fig. 8 B). Antennae 19–22 segments, rather thick, filiform, longer than head and pronotum together. Occipital carinula distinct or indistinct, extends from dorsal midpoint of head to posterior margin; transverse sulcus represented by two or three protuberances or ridge along a straight or anteriorally curved line, extending from eye to occipital carinula, at posterior third of head, when viewed dorsally ( Figs. 3 A,C). Fastigium of vertex broad, moderately sloping towards frontal ridge, moderately concave; lateral carinulae of fastigium of vertex moderately high, converging in anterior. Fastigial foveolae represented by shallow indistinct punctures or absent ( Figs. 3 B,D); frontal ridge above ocellus wide with convergent carinulae, concave; frontal ridge below ocellus narrow with parallel carinulae, concave; frontal ridge lateral carinulae moderately high, converging with lateral carinulae of fastigium. Facial carinae sinuate, indistinct, branched near eye ( Figs. 3 B,D). Facial integument smooth, eye bulbous.

Thorax. Pronotum from smooth to very rugose and tuberculate ( Fig. 8 B). Pronotal crests flat in prozona, pointed in mesozona, of medium height; metazona with moderate inflation in posterior section ( Figs. 3 B,D). Metazona relative to rest of pronotum much longer, slightly wider and diverging regularly posteriorally ( Figs. 3 A,C). Lateral carinae of pronotum absent in prozona, represented by indistinct ridge in mesozona, and by tubercle in metazona. Posterior margin of pronotum with edges sloping gently to median posterior projection; lateral margin of pronotum with white spot, ranging from sinuate to straight. Prosternal process pointed or blunt, erect. Mesosternal interspace open, wide, with gently rounded lobes; metasternal interspace open, narrow, with gently rounded lobes.

Legs. Hind femur not compressed, surpassing abdomen; hind femur interior dark brown or black, with cream spot near apex; ventral surface of hind femur dark brown or black; dorsal margin of hind femur with three dark spots, one central, one apical and one proximal. Hind tibia with three dark spots or with alternating dark and pale regions along length; tibial spines 9 interior, 6 to 8 exterior, cream colored with dark tips.

Wings. Tegmen surpassing end of abdomen ( Fig. 8 B). Hind wing infumation dark brown or black, covering 80–100% of wing, including extreme apex; hind wing interior pink, purple or black ( Figs. 6 A–D).

Abdomen. Posterior margin of last abdominal tergite darkly sclerotized, rugose with medial spine. Supraanal plate transverse, with longitudinal concavity in middle, lateral margins upcurved; posterior margin of supraanal plate with two lateral and one large median projection; two basal tubercles on either side of medial concavity ( Figs. 3 E–F). Cercus, when viewed laterally, robust, of intermediate length, with elongated apex producing point varying from blunt to sharp; basal surface of cercus with small posterior bulge (Figs. 5N,P,R).

Phallic complex. Epiphallus with short ancorae and broad, lobiform apically pointed lophi ( Fig. 3 I). Zygoma of cingulum of aedeagus thick, apodemes short ( Figs. 3 J–K).

Female. Ovipositor short, robust, with curved valves. Subgenital plate trilobate, with shallow grooves separating lobes, large acute median lobe ( Figs. 3 G–H).

Coloration. Color pattern mottled gray to medium brown.

Measurements. (♂ n=18, ♀ n=15)—body: ♂ 17.3–20.2, ♀ 23.0–25.3; pronotum: ♂ 3.2–4.7, ♀ 4.0–5.0; tegmen: ♂ 12.8–18.7, ♀ 14.7–19.7; femur: ♂ 8.5–12.2, ♀ 10.3–12.2 mm.

Material examined. South Africa: Northern Cape: “Namaqualand” 6.xi.1941 — 1♂ ( SAMC); Goegap NR, on 4x 4 route (-29.6782, 18.0198) 3.x.2008 coll. P. Naskrecki— 1♂ ( USTB); Okiep (-29.5950, 17.8810) ix.1940 coll. SAM museum expedition—1♀, 1♂ ( SAMC); 11 mi NE Hondeklipbaai (-30.3186, 17.2780) 29.ix.1967 —1♀, 4♂ ( SANC); 8 km S Nababeep (-29.5878, 17.7861) 7.x.1972 —3♀, 4♂ ( SANC); 9 mi N Okiep (-29.5950, 17.8810) 17.xi.1962 —10♀, 6♂ ( SANC); 9 mi W Steinkopf (-29.2605, 17.7335) 17.xi.1962 —1♀, 3♂ ( SANC); Doringsbaai (-31.8167, 18.2333) xi.1956 coll. SAM museum expedition— 1♂ ( SAMC); Klip Vlei, Garies (-30.4942, 17.9420) xi.1931 coll. SAM museum expedition—2♀ ( SAMC); Springbok (-29.6721, 17.8845) 3.x.1972 coll. H.D. Brown, E. Koster, A. Prinsloo—2♀ ( SANC); 3 mi N Kalkfontein, Richtersveld (-28.3263, 16.9784) 30.xi.1962 —1♀, 1♂ ( SANC); Bushmanland, Henkries (-28.9667, 18.1500) x.1911 coll. SAM museum expedition—1♀, 2♂ ( SAMC); Bushmanland, “Jackalwater” x.1911 coll. SAM museum expedition—1♀, 1♂ ( SAMC).

Etymology. Named in honor of the geographic region of origin of the species and of the human inhabitants of the region, the Nama tribe, descendants of Earth’s earliest humans. All of the known specimens of this species originated from the Namaqualand region of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province in the arid Succulent Karoo biome, a region known for its springtime wildflower displays and one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.

Remarks. P. namaquensis is most similar to P. cristulifer , but P. namaquensis can be distinguished on the basis of the much higher degree of hind wing infumation ( Fig. 6 A vs. 6H), flattened prozonal crest ( Fig. 3 B vs. 2D), rugose, rounded and slightly elongate metazona of the pronotum ( Fig. 3 A vs. 2A), pointed lophi of the male epiphallus ( Fig. 3 I vs. 2M), and shape of the male cercus whose apical projection is significantly less elongate than that of P. cristulifer (Fig. 5N vs. 5H). The female subgenital plate, too, is very similar to that of P. cristulifer except that the three lobes are separated by shallower indentations than in P. cristulifer ( Fig. 3 G vs. 2G).

In both P. namaquensis and P. cristulifer , rugosity is not a good diagnostic trait, despite its use by Dirsh (1956). Both species have at least two distinct rugosity phenotypes: yellowish-brown, pale and smooth integument ( Fig. 8 B) vs. darker and much greater rugosity of integument. In both species, about 30% of the specimens had the “smooth” phenotype as determined by qualitative observation. Since most of the specimens used in this study were loaned from museum collections, we could not check for a correlation between hue and mottling of integument and microhabitat preference, but we assume that the continuous nature of the integument color and pattern serves a camouflage function and should be correlated with the specimen’s microhabitat, such as the variable colors of stones, rocks and gravel from the species’ range.

All specimens of this species in museums were found within a range of approximately 850 km and were strictly confined to the Namaqualand and Bushmanland regions of the Northern Cape, South Africa. Two distinct morphological variants of P. namaquensis are found in the coastal region of Hondeklipbaai and the inland, arid Bushmanland region. Specimens from both regions have a lower degree of infumation of the hind wing than is usual for the species ( Figs. 6 C,D vs. 6A). The Bushmanland specimens also have relatively blunt male cerci (Figs. 5Q,R), and female subgenital plate which resembles that of P. samwaysi ( Fig. 3 H vs. 4G).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Pachyphymus namaquensis n. sp.: ♂ head, dorsal (A) and lateral view (B); ♀ head, dorsal (C) and lateral view (D); ♂ supraanal plate (E) and (F) showing intraspecific variation; ♀ subgenital plate (G) and from Bushmanland (H); epiphallus (I); phallic complex, ectophallic membrane removed, lateral (J) and dorsal view (K). Black scale bar refers to two phallic complex illustrations (J – K); dotted scale bar refers to epiphallus and supraanal plate (E, F, I); white scale bar refers to head images (A – D).

FIGURE 6. Map showing geographic variation in degree of infumation and color of hind wing for species and populations as follows: P. namaquensis (A – B), from Bushmanland (C) and from Hondeklipbaai (D); P. cristulifer from Leipoldtville (E – G), from Touwsrivier (H), and from Seekoegat (representative of most common wing morph) (I); P. carinatus from Tankwa Karoo (J) and from De Aar (representative of most common wing morph) (K); P. samwaysi (L).

FIGURE 8. Photographs of lateral habitus of live Pachyphymus carinatus Dirsh (A) and P. namaquensis n. sp. (B). Photo credit P. Naskrecki.