Afroagraecia furcata, Hemp & Heller, 2019

Hemp, Claudia & Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, 2019, New Agraeciini species from the Eastern Arc Mountains, East Africa (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Conocephalinae; Agraeciini), Zootaxa 4664 (3), pp. 301-338 : 323-327

Afroagraecia furcata n. sp. Hemp C.

( Figs. 32 B, D, F ; 34 A )

Holotype: male. Tanzania, Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve, Pwani Region, Kisarawe District , lowland forest, July 2017. Depository: collection C. Hemp.

Paratypes. 4 males, 5 females, same data as holotype and February 2015, July 2015, January 2016, July 2016, November 2016, December 2016, July 2017, August 2017, and May 2018. Depository: collection C. Hemp .

Description. Male. General habitus and coloration. Uniformly to tawny brown, with faint to obsolete brown median fascia from head over disc of pronotum; face uniformly brown to tawny, thus without typical tri-angle- shaped fascia; tegmina with numerous dark dots and tiny small patches. Head and antennae. Fastigium verticis brown above, tawny below, laterally compressed, about half of length of scapus. Cuticle of head smooth, shining, with few wrinkles. Ocellus of same colour than remaining face. Antennae more than twice the length of body, thin, dark with few irregular light markings along length. Thorax. Pronotum with faint brown median fascia, this fascia missing in some individuals. Anterior margin of pronotum rounded, posterior margin truncate; metazona slightly elevated. Lateral lobes of pronotum rounded, at height of metazona margin shallowly incurved. Prosternum bispinose with short rather blunt spines; meso- and metasterna unarmed. Tegmina and wings much longer than body length, surpassing body by about 1/3. Tegmina with numerous dark spots on creamy brown background. Legs. Fore coxa with well-developed spine. Fore and mid femora with 3 (2) outer ventral spines, unarmed on inner side. Hind femora with 4–6 outer and no inner ventral spines. Abdomen. Tenth abdominal tergite shield-like, posterior margin medially slightly incurved, cuticle shiny. Supra-anal plate finger-like elongated, sulcate ( Fig. 32 B ). Male cerci differentiated into a inner shield-like expanded part ending in an almost narrow curling band-like process ( Fig. 32 B, F ) and an outer branch. Beside the band-like process another additional finger-like process with a sclerotized acute tip is present on the inner basal part ( Fig. 32 F , arrow). The outer branch is divided into two branches. The inner branch is shorter, the outer longer and more acute ( Fig. 32 D ). On the outer branch a small inner and a stouter outer dent is present giving the whole outer branch of the cercus a spiny appearance.

Female. General coloration as in male. Slightly larger than male with long tegmina surpassing the body by about 1/3 but shorter than ovipositor. Ovipositor long, slender and slightly up-curved. Subgenital plate narrow elongated, sulcate ( Fig. 34 A ).

Measurements, male (mm) (N = 4). Body length 20.7–21.8. Length of pronotum 5.6–5.8. Length of elytra 20.1–20.9. Length of hind femur 11.2–12.1.

Measurements, female (mm) (N = 4). Body length 20.6–22.7. Length of pronotum 5.6–6.2. Length of elytra 22.5–23.3. Length of hind femur 13.3–14.4. Ovipositor length 12.9–14.8.

Diagnosis. 2 species are found syntopically each on Zanzibar and in Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve. While A. sansibara ( Redtenbacher, 1891) from Zanzibar and A. kisarawe from Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve are morphological sister pairs, A. jozani n. sp. from Zanzibar and A. furcata n. sp. from Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve are morphological sister pairs. A. jozani n. sp. and A. furcata n. sp. have forked male cerci and an expanded shield-like basal part dorsally on the male cerci. In A. jozani n. sp. an inner finger-like process is lacking while it is present in A. furcata n. sp. on the mainland ( Fig. 32 E, F , arrow). Differences are also found in the outer branch of the male cerci, A. furcata n. sp. having additional small dents, lacking in A. jozani n. sp. from Zanzibar. These two new species are well distinguished from the syntopically occurring species A. sansibara and A. kisarawe with completely different shaped male cerci (compare Fig. 33 A–D). A. jozani n. sp. is further easily recognized in the field by its pitch black fascia in both sexes on head and pronotum, lacking or being brown in the other three species of the area. A. jozani n. sp. has the typical tri-angle shaped black fascia on the face lacking in A. furcata n. sp. (but also being present in A. kisarawe and A. sansibara ). A. kisarawe and A. sansibara are morphologically very similar. In A. kisarawe the inner basal dent on the male cerci is sometimes missing (e.g. in the holotype) while being well expressed in A. sansibara (arrows in in Fig. 33 ). A. sansibara is also of larger body size than the comparatively small A. kisarawe .

Females of A. jozani n. sp. and A. furcata n. sp. may be distinguished by the pitch black fascia on head on pronotum in A. jozani n. sp., being brown or missing in A. furcata n. sp. from the mainland and the tri-angle shaped black fascia on the face in A. jozani n. sp. missing in A. furcata n. sp. (as in males). Both species, however, are similar in body size and share a narrow sulcate subgenital plate ( Fig. 34 A, B ). They may be well distinguished from the syntopic occurring Afroagraecia species, A. kisarawe and A. sansibara , having a tiny tri-angle shaped subgenital plate ( Fig. 34 C, D ).

Habitat. On branches and leaves on bushes and trees in forest.

Distribution. Tanzania, Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve.

Etymology. From latin— furca, fork, because of the forked male cerci.

Figures

FIGURE 32. Detail images of outer genitalic morphology of male Afroagraecia jozani n. sp. (A, C, E) and A. furcata n. sp. (B, D, F). A, B. Semilateral view on male apex with spread cerci C, D. Detail image of left cercus E, F. Lateral view on right cercus. Arrow points to inner process of A. furcata (F) lacking in A. jozani (E).

FIGURE 33. Male apices of Afroagraecia kisarawe without inner process (A, arrow, paratpye) and with inner process on the cerci (B, arrow, holotype) C, D. A. sansibara, preserved (C, arrow points at inner cercal process) and fresh (D) specimen.

FIGURE 34. Subgenital plates of female Afroagraecia species A. A. furcata n. sp. B. A. jozani n. sp. C. A. kisarawe D. A. sansibara.