Luzaropsis Chopard, 1925

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 : 31-34

Luzaropsis Chopard, 1925

( Figs 13 , 14 )

Luzaropsis Chopard, 1925: 521 .

Type species. Luzara ferruginea Walker, 1869

Other species included. Luzaropsis confusa Chopard, 1969 n . erect., Luzaropsis henryi Chopard, 1928 and Luzaropsis omissa Gorochov, 2003c . Luzaropsis mjöbergi Chopard, 1930 described for one female from Sarawak resembles these species by its legs (inner tympanum, TIII apical and subapical spurs), but has a subgenital plate which is short, transverse and with a straight apical margin: it certainly belongs to another genus, as suggested by Gorochov (2003c, p. 725).

Distribution. Sri Lanka.

Diagnosis. Size medium, legs relatively short and (for PIII) thick, body and legs highly setose. Head flattened dorsally ( Fig. 14 C). Eyes large, but not protruding ( Fig. 14 A, B). Ocelli all wide; distance between the lateral ocelli almost equal or greater than the distance between one lateral and the median ocelli; median ocellus subapical. Fastigium nearly as wide as the scape. Scape slightly longer than wide. Maxillary palpi short; joint 4 longer than joint 3; joint 5 slightly shorter than joint 4, distinctly widened from its base and concave dorsally ( Fig. 13 A, B). Pronotum transverse, but not particularly short; wider posteriorly, with raised antero-lateral angles ( Fig. 14 A, B). FWs short and coriaceous in both males and females. TI with one inner, or two tympana, the outer smaller than the inner; two apical, ventral spurs. TII with four apical spurs, the inner ventral the longest, the outer dorsal the smallest. FIII short and thick, without a filiform apical part. TIII shorter than FIII, flat, wide and slightly furrowed dorsally; serrulation strong and regular through whole length, except near the knee; four pairs of short subapical spurs, the inners slightly longer than the outers and set slightly more distally than the outers; three pairs of apical spurs, all short, the median the longest on outer side ( Fig. 13 C), the dorsal spur the longest on inner side ( Fig. 13 D); TIII spurs not modified. Tarsomeres not elongated; hind basitarsomeres flattened dorsally, with two rows of thick spines. Colouration. Part of the cheeks and lateral lobes of the pronotum black brown; FW media vein yellow, prolonged in males on the dorsal disc of pronotum and behind the eyes ( Fig. 14 C, D). Males. Metanotum not glandular (at least in the species devoid of a stridulum). FWs not reaching the distal margin of tergites 2 or 3, truncated apically. FWs of two different types, either slightly overlapping and with a venation similar to that of females ( L. henryi , Fig. 13 E), or overlapping and with a reduced stridulatory apparatus ( Fig. 13 G, file short, veins of the harp parallel to the chords and not clearly separated from them, no distinct mirror: L. ferruginea , L. confusa , L. omissa ); lateral field with few longitudinal parallel veins, but either narrow and regularly narrowed toward apex ( Fig. 13 F), or very wide basally and narrowed abruptly in distal fourth ( Fig. 13 H). Tergites not glandular. Distal part of supra anal plate with thick margins bearing bunch of long setae in latero apical corners ( Fig. 14 E, F). Subgenital plate short and truncate. Male genitalia. Pseudepiphallus comprising two different part, a dorsal transverse sclerite connected to the rami and a distal, median, elongate sclerite. Pseudepiphallic parameres long and high. Epi-ectophallic invagination very deep, without a sclerotized arc; ectophallic apodemes short; ectophallic fold long and narrow, originating from deep inside the genitalia, with a pair of ventral sclerites from which originates a pair of small apodemes. Dorsal cavity present, more or less regularly inflated. Endophallic sclerite transverse at the base of the dorsal cavity. Females. FW slightly overlapping over nearly their whole length; venation with thick, protruding, parallel, longitudinal veins, and faint transverse veinlets ( Fig. 13 I, J). Subgenital plate transverse, distal margin deeply concave ( Fig. 13 K). Ovipositor as long or, most often, longer than FIII; dorsal valves with a distinctive dorsal notch and ventral concavity before apex ( Fig. 13 L). Female genitalia. Copulatory papilla short and flat, hardly sclerotized ( Fig. 13 M); spermathecal duct widened before aperture.

Remarks. The present-day Luzaropsis genus is clearly a homogeneous assemblage, which presents however a wide diversity for a large amount of characters. There are on one hand species with a wider head and pronotum ( Fig. 14 B), with a stridulatory apparatus ( Fig. 13 G) and a wide FW lateral field ( Fig. 13 H) in males, and on the other hand, species with thinner head and pronotum ( Fig. 14 A), no stridulum ( Fig. 13 E) and a thinner lateral field ( Fig. 13 F) in males. For male genitalia, some species have a pseudepiphallus which is clearly composed of two different sclerites ( L. confusa , to a lesser extent L. henryi ), while in L. ferruginea the two parts are almost continuous. Chopard (1969) correctly represented this variation in his Figures 155, 157, 158, which were misinterpreted by Gorochov (2003c, p.725): this invalidates the synonymy proposed by Gorochov (2003c) between L. ferruginea and L. confusa , which differ thus by their genitalia, colouration, venation and size.

Traditionally classified within Phalangopsidae crickets, Luzaropsis presents a whole panel of characters, which cast some doubt on its familial affinity. This is most particularly the case of its male genitalia, which share some characters with Gryllomorpha Fieber, 1853 (two-part pseudepiphallus, ectophallic fold, dorsal cavity and endophallus). This problem will be further addressed in a forthcoming paper (Desutter-Grandcolas in prep.).

Habitat. Unknown.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Luzaropsis henryi Chopard, 1928 (A, E, F), Luzaropsis confusa Chopard, 1969 (B, C, D, G, H, K, L, M) and Luzaropsis sp. affinis henryi Chopard, 1928 (I, J). A, B, maxillary palpus; C, D, TIII apical spurs, outer (C), inner (D); E – H, male FWs, dorsal (E, G) and lateral (F, H) fields; I, J, Female FWs, dorsal (I) and lateral (J) fields; K, female subgenital plate; L, female ovipositor; M, female copulatory papilla, lateral. Scales 1 mm.

FIGURE 14. Luzaropsis henryi Chopard, 1928 (A, C, E), Luzaropsis confusa Chopard, 1969 (B, D, F). A, B, Head and pronotum, dorsal; C, D, head, profile; E, F, male supra anal plate, dorsal. Scales 1 mm.