Najtaecesa, Desutter-Grandcolas, 2017

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2017, Najtaecesa n. gen., a trigonidiine-like Cearacesaini Koçak & Kemal, 2010 cricket from the Amazonian rainforests (Grylloidea, Gryllidae, Hapithinae), Zoosystema 39 (1), pp. 117-124 : 118-119

Genus Najtaecesa n. gen.

TYPE SPECIES. — Najtaecesa aratayensis n. sp.

LIST OF INCLUDED SPECIES. — N. aratayensis n. gen., n. sp., N. loretensis n. gen., n. sp.

ETYMOLOGY. — Najtaecesa n. gen. is named in honor of the great collembologist Judith Najt, who gathered and supported a CNRS research team focussing on insect systematics and evolution within the MNHN, thus reviving this discipline; the termination refers to the type genus of the tribe, Cearacesa Koçak & Komal, 2010 .

DIAGNOSIS. — Small elongate crickets, broadly resembling Trigonidiinae (Trigonidiidae) by their general shape (body and head narrow, FW longer than the body; HWs much longer than FWs and pointed). Body surface regular, without corrugation. Head triangular with protruding eyes; scapes small; 5th joint of maxillary palpi widened apically, but longer than wide. TI with a large, open inner tympanum and inflated over its whole length (not only at level of tympanum); no outer tympanum. Male genitalia: pseudepiphallic sclerite with distal margin V-shaped; with two flat and diverging lophi (contra Cearacesa Koçak & Komal, 2010 ); pseudepiphallic ventral lobe nearly as wide as pseudepiphallic sclerite.

DISTRIBUTION. — Eastern ( French Guiana) and western ( Peru) Amazonia.

HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. — Not documented.

DESCRIPTION

Small species with bright and contrasted coloration (attested in N. aratayensis n. gen., n. sp., Fig. 1A , suspected in N. loretensis n. gen., n. sp., Fig. 1G ). Head, body, FWs and legs abundantly covered with small setae and with numerous longer ones. Head small and triangular ( Fig. 1B, H ). Eyes slightly protruding. Ocelli ( Fig. 1D ) small and vertical; arranged in a flat triangle located on a low, transverse, curved crest between eyes; median ocellus subapical in position. Fastigium much broader than scape, rounded ( Fig. 1B, H ). Scapes small, slightly longer than wide ( Figs 1C ; 2A ). Face broad; distance between each antennal pit and epistemal suture almost equal to fastigium width ( Fig. 1B, H ). Maxillary palpi very small ( Fig. 2A ); last 3 joints subequal in length; 5th joint greatly enlarged from its base, but longer than wide, with convex posterior margin, concave anterior margin, straight apical margin ( Fig. 2A ). Pronotum transverse ( Fig. 1A, G ). DD posterior margin bisinuated. LL squared, slightly longer than high ( Fig. 1C ); anterior angle slightly raised. Legs (legs I and II after N. aratayensis n. gen., n. sp. only). FI thick. TI inflated and squared; a large inner tympanum, open, with a thickened ovoid membrane in dorsal part; 3 apical spurs, small and conical, outer dorsal spur lacking, inner dorsal spur dejected ventrally; inner ventral spur the smallest. TII with 4 apical spurs, short, gathered on/near TII ventral side. FIII thick at base ( Fig. 1A, G ), somewhat filiform over about 1/3 of its length ( Fig. 1E, I ). TIII shorter than FIII, flattened and grooved dorsally; 3 inner and 3 outer apicalspurs; inner dorsal spur the longest, well longer than median inner spur; most often 5 inner and always 5 outer subapical spurs, the inner twice as long as the outer; TIII serrulated over whole length, but without spine between dorsal apical spur and first subapical spur, and with 0 or 1 spine between the first two (more distal) subapical spurs; spines of irregular size, but most often large, the more proximal spines (above subapical spurs) usually smaller. Tarsi all very short; tarsomeres 1 only hardly longer than tarsomeres 2 ( Fig. 1A ); tarsomeres 3 nearly as long as tarsomeres 1 and 2 together. Claws simple. Cerci very long and thin, going beyond HW tip ( N. aratayensis n. gen., n. sp.) or not ( N. loretensis n. gen., n. sp.).

Male

Metanotum glandular (at least in N. aratayensis n. gen., n. sp.: Fig. 1F ). FW longer than body ( Fig. 1A, G ); with strong, longitudinal veins, little bifurcated, and weaker transverse veins ( Fig. 2B, C ). No stridulatory device. HWs greatly longer than FWs ( Fig. 1A, G ).

Male genitalia ( Fig. 2 D-I)

Pseudepiphallus split transversally into a dorsal pseudepiphallic sclerite and a more ventral membranous plate, located dorsally to ectophallic fold and ectophallic invagination; this plate connected laterally to pseudepiphallic parameres and laterally to an invagination on pseudepiphallus ( Fig. 2D, I , arrow). Pseudepiphallic sclerite quite flat and homogeneously sclerotized; anterior margin deeply emarginated; distal margin V-shaped, with two flat and diverging lophi. Pseudepiphallic plate conspicuous between lophi ( Fig. 2D, G ); posterior margin variously convex; anterior margin bumping against ectophallic arc. Pseudepiphallic parameres large and more or less concave on outer side ( Fig. 2E, H ). Rami circular; separate from pseudepiphallic sclerite by an elongate ramal plate. Ectophallic invagination broad, encompassing the whole dorsal side of dorsal cavity; sclerotized on whole margin; protruding at dorsal midpoint (ectophallic arc, Fig. 2D, G ) as a more or less elongated free process; ectophallic apodemes very short, without a free apex ( Fig. 2F, I ). Ectophallic fold wide and conical, regularly narrowed toward apex, hardly sclerotized ventrally; not reaching posterior margin of pseudepiphallic parameres ( Fig. 2E, H ). Ventral valves united as one membranous lobe, dejected anteriorly. Dorsal cavity largely open ventrally, quite irregular in shape, and quite low.

Female

Unknown.

REMARK

This taxon was mentioned as a putative new genus in Desutter (1988, 1990).

Figures

FIG. 1. — Najtaecesa n. gen.: A-F, Najtaecesa aratayensis n. gen., n. sp.; G-I, Najtaecesa loretensis n. gen., n. sp.: A, G, male holotype, dorsal views; B, H, face, front views;C, Head and pronotum,lateral view;D, head, dorsal view;E, I, FIII outer side,lateral views;F, metanotum,dorsal view (wings apart).Scale bars:1 mm.

FIG. 2. — Najtaecesa n. gen.:A-F, Najtaecesa aratayensis n. gen.,n. sp.;G-I, Najtaecesa loretensis n.gen., n. sp.: A, maxillary palpus;B, C, ♂ FW,dorsal and lateral fields, coloration as on Fig. 1A, C; D-I, ♂ genitalia, dorsal (D, G), ventral (E, H), lateral (F, I) views. Abbreviations: see Material and methods. Scale bars: 1 mm.