Falconius dubius Guenther , 1938

Muhammad, Amira Aqilah, Deranja, Maks, Adzic, Karmela & Abdullah, Nurul Ashikin, 2023, Towards a better understanding of the genus Scelimena (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae, Scelimeninae): New insights and notes on the taxonomy, ecology, and physiology of the genus in Peninsular Malaysia, Journal of Orthoptera Research 32 (1), pp. 55-62 : 55

Falconius dubius Guenther, 1938

Falconius dubius Günther, 1938: 399, 404, 419.

Scelimena razalii Mahmood, Idris & Salmah, 2007, syn. nov. - Mahmood, Idris and Salmah 2007: 1279; Muhammad et al. 2018: 53; Maitlo and Panhwar 2021: 34.

Material examined. -

MALAYSIA, Selangor • 2 ♂; holotype and paratype of Scelimena razalii ; 24 July 2004; Rezwana Rezali leg.; CIS (UKM) • 2 ♂; Ulu Langat ; 16 Mar. 1964; AAM leg.; MZUM IOt 002323, 002324 • 1 ♂; Ulu Langat ; 7 Mar. 1964; AAM leg.; MZUM IOt 002353 • 1 ♂; Ulu Gombak Bt 16; 7 Mar. 1964; AAM leg.; MZUM IOt 002370 • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding ; MZUM IOt 002377 • 1 ♂; Ulu Gombak ; 15 July 2019; Adzic, K. leg.; MZUM • 1 ♂; Ulu Gombak ; 15 July 2019; Deranja, M. leg.; MZUM • 1 ♂; Ulu Gombak , 24 July 2019; Muhammad, A. A. leg.; MZUM • 1 ♂; Ulu Gombak ; 29 July 2019; Adzic, K. leg.; MZUM . • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding . Negeri Sembilan • 1 ♀; Negeri Sembilan, Pasoh ; 26 June 1997; Rina Silviana leg.; MZUM IOt 002383 . Pahang • 1 ♂; Eko Rimba Lentang ; 22 July 2019; Adzic, K. leg.; MZUM • 1 ♀; Eko Rimba Lentang ; 22 July 2019; Deranja, M. leg.; MZUM .

Justification of the synonymy. -

After examination of the Scelimena razalii Mahmood, Idris & Salmah, 2007 type material, we consider it to be a synonym of Falconius dubius Günther, 1938. We found many Falconius Bolívar, 1898 specimens in the UKM collection, but none were identified as belonging to the genus Falconius as described in Mahmood et al. (2007). The genus can easily be distinguished from other Scelimenini genera by the swollen hind tarsi in females (Fig. 1D , indicated by an arrow. Note that this character is present in Eufalconius Günther, 1938 as well), a relatively stout head with the most prominent feature being the frontal costa forking relatively close to the fastigium, the anterior margin of the eyes raised slightly above the fastigium, and a relatively high position of the paired ocelli and the antennal grooves in relation to the compound eyes (Bolivar 1898, Muhammad et al. 2018). Upon further comparison with photographs of the type material of F. dubius available on Orthoptera Species File (OSF) database, we found no differences between these two species. We cannot be certain that the S. razalii specimens reported from Pakistan ( Maitlo and Panhwar 2021) also belong to this species because we did not have the opportunity to examine this material. Hence, those specimens should be re-examined in the future.

This paper is the first official record for the species from Peninsular Malaysia (following data from Adžić (2021); note that the type material specimens are listed incorrectly in the thesis, which is corrected in this paper) (Fig. 1 ).

Figures

Fig. 1. Specimens of Falconius dubius Guenther, 1938 from Peninsular Malaysia. A-C. Holotype of Scelimena razalii Mahmood, Idris & Salmah, 2007 syn. nov.; D. A female specimen from Universiti Malaya collection; E. The morphology of living specimens in their natural habitat in Ulu Gombak, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia, both male and female.