Muriciacris Matiotti

Costa, Maria Kátia Matiotti Da, Pereira, Marcelo Ribeiro, Redü, Darlan Rutz, Martins, Luciano De Pinho & Zefa, Edison, 2014, A new Neotropical genus of Ommatolampidinae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Acrididae) from Brazilian Atlantic Forest, with chromosome complement, Zootaxa 3869 (4), pp. 493-500 : 494-495

Muriciacris Matiotti da Costa, n. gen.

Type species: Muriciacris triflavovittata , n. sp.

Etymology. The genus is named after the type locality, Murici / Brazil. Murici + Akris (= grasshopper).

Diagnosis. Resulting from the combination of characteristics that follow: micropterous; body color dark green; body integument rugose and impresso-punctate; protruding eyes; antennae filiform, with 17 segments; interocular space wide; fastigium of the vertex subtriangular, with truncated apex and median sulci distinct; pronotal disk without median and lateral carinae; maxillary and labial palps large and curved, with their flattened ends yellowish; epiproct marked by a deep median longitudinal sulci, anteriorly separating three rounded protuberant on each side and two posteriorly; apex of the epiproct pointed; the posterior margin of tenth tergite with four black callosities in median region; cerci short with truncated apex; absence of internal apophysis; apex of apical valves of aedeagus curved downwards.

Description. Male Holotype (Fig.1). Medium size (body length 20 mm). Micropterous. Body integument totally impresso-punctate. Head. In profile sub rectilinear; as wide as the anterior margin of pronotum. Frontal costa slightly prominent between eyes. Lateral carinae of the frontal costa absent below the median ocelli. Fastigium of the vertex with dorsal median carinula; subtriangular and truncated apex, with a deep longitudinal median groove; interocular space wide; protruding eyes (Fig. 2). Antennae filiform with 17 joints, longer than the head and pronotum together. Maxillary and labial palps large and curved, with their flattened ends yellowish (Fig. 3). Thorax. Pronotal disc without median and lateral carinae. Pronotum marked by three well deep impressed and transversal sulci; anterior margin of pronotum with median slight indentation and posterior margin not angled; metazona much shorter than prozona (Fig. 2). Lateral lobes slightly sinuous (Fig. 3). Prosternal spine acutely conical; space mesosternal subsquare and metasternal lobes distant. Tegmen broadly ovate, short, barely reaching the second abdominal tergite; broad at the base and rounded apex; veins of tegmen strongly impressed (Fig. 6). Fore and middle legs hirsute; hind femora slender and surpassing the abdomen tip, with carina upper and lower serrate; genicular lobes pointed. Hind tibiae with 7 external and 8 internal spines. Abdomen. Tympanum present. Epiproct subtriangular, longer than wide, marked by a deep median longitudinal sulci, anteriorly separating three rounded protuberant on each side and two posteriorly; apex of the epiproct pointed, the posterior margin of tenth tergite with four black callosities in region median (Fig. 4). Subgenital plate short curved top edge and directed upwards and totally pubescent (Fig. 5). Cerci short with truncated apex (Figs. 5 and 7). Phallic complex. Cingulum with long apodemes; endophallic sclerites with a dorsal-ventrally flattened apodemes; arch of cingulum developed; gonopore with a rectangular ventral projection (Fig. 8); sclerites lateral ventral moderately large. Sclerites of aedeagus covered dorsally by the wide endophallic sheath (Fig. 9). Slender aedeagus curved downward, with upper sclerites simple. Ectophallus membranous in the extremity; ejaculatory sac relatively great (Fig. 10). Epiphallus with a plane bridge, anterior projections developed, larger in size as the anchorae; lophi prominent and sclerotized (Fig. 11), with internal conical protuberance; presence of oval sclerites.

Female. Similar in color to holotype, larger in size (Body length 25 mm) (Fig. 12). Less prominent eyes. Fastigium wider than in males and without sulci. Wing narrower. Ovipositor valves short and slender, in lateral view straight. Superior margin of the dorsal valve of the ovipositor with three teeth and apical tooth of the external ventral valve of ovipositor prominent (Fig. 13). Lateral regions of the 3–5 abdomen tergites black.