Philoscirtus

Hemp, Claudia, Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, Warchałowska-Śliwa, Elżbieta & Hemp, Andreas, 2015, A new species of Philoscirtus (Orthoptera: Phaneropteridae: Mecopodinae) from the West Usambara Mountains of Tanzania and its conservation status, Zootaxa 3905 (2), pp. 273-282 : 274

Re-description of Philoscirtus

Male. General colour and body shape. Predominantly green with some brown or blackish markings at the posterior margin of the tegmina. Long legs and very long antennae. Head and antennae. Fastigium verticis broad, rugose, about 1.5 times as broad as scapus. Slightly sulcate, meeting fastigium of frons in a horizontal line which is sulcate.:antennae several times longer than body length. Thorax. Pronotum rugose, disc of pronotum broad, metazona uplifted, so that posterior margin of pronotum is elevated. Pronotal sulci deep, forming furrows that run almost to the margins of lateral lobes. Prosternum bispinose. Tegmina only slightly covered by anterior up-lifted margin of pronotum; shortened, rugose. The left upper tegmen is completely sclerotized and protects the large, thin and transparent mirror on the right tegmen (examined in P. viridulus n. sp. only; Fig. 6 ).Alae reduced to tiny lobes ( Fig. 6 ). Legs. Legs long and slender. Fore femora armed ventrally with several spines; posterior ends of femora with pair of spurs. Mid femora ventrally with few spines, also with a pair of spurs. Hind femora with numerous spines and a pair of spurs at knee. Tympana of fore tibiae oval and open at both sides. Tibiae with four rows of numerous stout spines along the whole length. Abdomen. Abdominal tergites smooth. Cerci of normal shape, undifferentiated. Subgenital plate of typical mecopodine type, elongated and forked at posterior end. Subgenital plate with styli.

Females larger than males. Posterior margin of pronotum not uplifted. Tegmina small rounded and from each other separated lobes. Ovipositor stout at base, almost straight.

Diagnosis. Very characteristic because of its large size with long legs, the shortened lobe-like tegmina and the rugose pronotum. Apteroscirtus is of smaller size, brown and apterous. Philoscirtus differs from Gymnoscirtus in the shape of the fastigium verticis and the pronotum. The fastigium verticis is about 4 times as broad and smooth in Gymnoscirtus while it is only about 1.5 times as broad as one scapus and sulcate in Philoscirtus . While Gymnoscirtus has a smooth surface of the pronotum and is constricted at height of the first sulcus, the pronotum of Philoscirtus is rugose, has a broad and flat disc and the pronotal sulci run into the lateral lobes of the pronotum. Apteroscirtus and Gymnoscirtus are dwellers of forests floors while Philoscirtus species live in the canopy.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Tegmina of Philoscirtus viridulus n. sp., A Left tegmen, lower side, B Left tegmen, upper side, C right tegmen, upper side (in situ; left tegmen removed). Note the rudimentary hind wing. Scale 5 mm.