Paragryllodes Karny, 1909

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure & Jaiswara, Ranjana, 2012, Phalangopsidae crickets from the Indian Region (Orthoptera, Grylloidea), with the descriptions of new taxa, diagnoses for genera, and a key to Indian genera, Zootaxa 3444, pp. 1-39 : 6-8

Paragryllodes Karny, 1909

Paragryllodes Karny, 1909: 478 .

Type species. Paragryllodes borgerti Karny, 1909 Other species included. Indian species: Pseudendacustes gravelyi Chopard, 1928 . West African species: Paragryllodes fuscifrons Chopard, 1934 , Paragryllodes optimus Gorochov, 1996 . Central African species: Paragryllodes pictus Chopard, 1958 , Paragryllodes makandensis Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes makokou Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes kessala Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes orensis Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes deleportei Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes bipunctatus Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes longixiphus Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes centralis Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 . East African species: Paragryllodes minor Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes dissimilis Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes unicolor Desutter-Grandcolas, 1999 , Paragryllodes campanella Desutter-Grandcolas, 1998 , Paragryllodes kenyanus Kaltenbach, 1982 , Paragryllodes pyrrhopterus Kaltenbach, 1982 , Montigryllus silvaepluvialis Sjöstedt, 1910 , Montigryllus affinis Sjöstedt, 1910 . Species from Madagascar: Paragryllodes annulicornis Kaltenbach, 1982 , Paragryllodes annulipes Chopard, 1952 , Paragryllodes madecassus Chopard, 1927 . Species from the Comoros: Paragryllodes milloti Chopard, 1958 (not 1952; contra Eades et al. 2011). Species from Sri Lanka: Seychellesia ceylonicus Chopard, 1936 . Species from the Nicobar islands: Paragryllodes anjani Bhowmik, 1970 .

Distribution. Tropical Africa, Madagascar, the Comoros islands, India (Kerala), Sri Lanka and the Nicobar islands.

Diagnosis. According to Desutter-Grandcolas 1999 (p. 498, and figures therein): Size variable. Eyes strongly protruding. Fastigium very narrow, grooved, sharply separated from the vertex. Ocelli set as a very acute triangle. Scapes large, longer than wide. Maxillary palpi moderatly elongate; joint 5 widened and truncated at apex. TI with an inner tympanum, the outer tympanum lacking; two apical spurs. TII with three apical spurs. TIII with four outer, and three inner subapical spurs; three inner apical spurs, the median and dorsal subequal in length; three outer apical spurs, the median the longest; TIII strongly serrulated, except between first subapical spurs. Cerci very long. Colouration black brown mottled with yellow, legs ringed with yellow and brown. Male metanotum and tergites without glandular structures; TIII spurs not modified; FWs covering only part of the abdomen, always overlapping; stridulum: harp crossed by several oblique, parallel veins, not always clearly separated from the chords; mirror more or less separated from apical venation; apical field always short; posterior angles of supra anal plate not elongate. Male genitalia characterized by well-developed dorsal ectophallic valves; pseudepiphallic sclerite transverse or quadrate, not separate from long rami; pseudepiphallic parameres more or less triangular in shape, not hook-like; ectophallic apodemes long and thick; no dorsal cavity. Female FWs short, not covering the body, slightly or not overlapping; longitudinal veins variably separated by transverse veinlets. Copulatory papilla long and tubular, or shorter and more triangular in shape.

Remark. Morphologically, P. gravelyi fits the definition of the genus, but male and female genitalia remain to be described.

Habitat. Paragryllodes species live in tropical forests, inhabiting only plain forests (Central Africa), or both plain and gallery forests (East Africa) ( Desutter-Grandcolas 1998, 1999). They are typically nocturnal, dendrophilous species, which forage at night on dead trunks (lying on the ground or standing), or on standing trees. They hide during the day in cavities, located either near the ground (species from the Nicobar islands, Bhowmik 1970), or above the ground (African species, Desutter-Grandcolas 1999).