Phaloria walterlinii, Desutter-Grandcolas, 2009

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2009, New and little known crickets from Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu (Insecta, Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Pseudotrigonidium Chopard, 1915, Phaloriinae and Nemobiinae p. p.), Zoosystema 31 (3), pp. 619-659 : 639-644

Phaloria walterlinii n. sp.

( Figs 7-9 )

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: Vanuatu. [Sanma province], Espiritu Santo [Island], Butmas , 600 m alt., forêt du plateau de Tankara, 15°21’56”S, 166°59’E, nuit (18-20h), 16.X.2006, T. Robillard, 1 ♂ (fn TR121), sur plante de sous-bois, 0.40 m H (fougère), chant sur fougère, femelle à proximité (40 cm) (TR vidéo 3) (MNHN-ENSIF2117).

Allotype: same locality and date as the holotype, sur plante de sous-bois, nuit, L. Desutter-Grandcolas, 1 ♀ (fn 2) (MNHN-ENSIF2118).

Paratype: data as allotype, 1 ♀ (fn 1) (MNHN-ENSIF 2119).

ETYMOLOGY. — Species dedicated to Walter Lini, who led Vanuatu to independence.

DIAGNOSIS. — Species characterized by its large size, its dark and very contrasted pattern of colouration, and its male genitalia (arms of pseudepiphallic sclerite only little separate and diverging distally, lophi small and membranous, ectophallic fold partly sclerotized dorsally and ventrally, but without free ectophallic parameres, ectophallic apodemes very long and thin, dorsal cavity lacking). It is thus clearly distinct from P.offensa described from Banks island, but also from P. chopardi n. comb. (with additional characters on female genitalia: papilla shorter and wider, with sinuated apex) and Phaloria sp. described above.

DESCRIPTION

Size greater than P. chopardi n. comb. and Phaloria sp. Overall colouration dark brown, with clear yellow pattern ( Fig. 7 ). Numerous short, light ochre setae.

Head. Ocelli small, arranged as an acute triangle, the distance between lateral ocelli much larger than between lateral and median ocelli; a faint transverse furrow behind lateral ocelli; median ocellus subapical in position, within a faint longitudinal furrow. Fastigium clearly narrower than scape. Eyes protruding anteriorly ( Fig. 7 ). Maxillary palpi: joint 5 longer than joint 3, itself longer than joint 4.

Pronotum. Anterior and posterior margins of dorsal disc concave and convex respectively; anterior angle of lateral lobe slightly raised.

Legs. TI clearly grooved below, and especially near tympana ( Fig. 8A, B ); both inner and outer tympana small and oval; 2 apical spurs, the inner slightly longer than the outer; outer spur slightly more toward tibial medio-ventral axis. TII with 3 apical spurs; outer dorsal spur lacking; inner dorsal spur the longest.TIII with 4 pairs of long and thin, subapical spurs, the outer slightly longer and more apart from tibial main axis; 3 small, outer apical spurs; 3 inner apical spurs, the dorsal the longest, slightly longer than basitarsus III; between subapical spurs, spines located on a kind of sub median, longitudinal carina; serrulation made of few, little spines, lacking between tibia apex and the first subapical spur, slightly more numerous on outer side (3-6 between successive spurs) than on inner side (0-3 between successive spurs); 7-10 (inner) and 7-14 (outer) spines above subapical spurs. Basitarsi III with 3 small, outer spines, in addition to apical spine.

Colouration

Head dorsum yellowish brown, with 3 pairs of longitudinal brown lines (a more lateral one behind the eyes, one from the inner angles of the eyes, a median one behind lateral ocelli); each median line including a rounded yellowish spot at one third of its length. Ocelli whitish. Antennae brown, scapes brown and yellow, their outer margin largely yellow. Maxillary palpi yellow, 5th joint apex brownish. Face yellow; a large, median, brown band below the median ocellus, down to the epistemal suture, but subdivided before it and prolonged as two brown bands on the clypeus; two thin yellow lines included in the median brown line at the level of antennal pits; a broadly triangular brown fleck below each antennal pit and inner angle of eye; cheeks mottled with brown ( Fig. 8C ). Pronotum ( Fig. 8D, E ): anterior and posterior margins light ochre; dorsal disc otherwise brown; muscular inscriptions yellowish, prolonged laterally by a large, more or less trilobate, yellowish area, connected to yellow part of lateral lobe; lateral lobe largely light brown along lower and posterior margins, yellow otherwise. Legs ringed and mottled with brown; TI and TII with 4 brown rings, including one near the knee, one at the level of the tympana, one subapical and one apical ( Fig. 8A, B ); FI and FII with two brown rings, one apical near the knee and one subapical, and 2 dorsal brown areas, one subbasal and one basal; TIII with a dorsal area near the knee and a brown ring below the knee and at the level of each pair of subapical spurs; FIII with 3 brown rings, one apical and 2 subapical, the most basal not complete, 2 more basal brown areas, covering the inner and dorsal sides, and a light brown elongated area on outer side. Basitarsi III yellow with a basal dorsal brown area and a brown apical ring. Spurs all yellow, with brown apex; median and dorsal inner apical spurs of TIII with an additional brown line on their outer face. Cerci brown.

Male

Metanotum and abdomen without evident glandular structures, but the scutum lateral reliefs with long golden setae. HWs slightly longer than FWs. FW venation ( Fig. 8F ) coherent with genus definition; harp with 10 veins; mirror crossed by 2 veins, its anterior angle wide; stridulatory file with 88 teeth (n = 1), located on 1A outer four-fifths (no stridulatory teeth on 1A inner part); CuA bifurcated 4 times in apical field; lateral field similar to that of P.chopardi n. comb., but with 26 bifurcations of R. FWs brown, shining, densely covered with very short golden setae; yellowish spots along the plectrum, 3A and the chords; harp veins slightly lighter. Subgenital plate short, its apex wide and straight.

Male genitalia. Small and wide, compared to that of P. chopardi . Pseudepiphallic sclerite broadly triangular, slightly concave and hardly sclerotized ( Fig. 9A ); the two arms close to each other and converging apically ( Fig. 9A ); lophi small and membranous, separated by a roughly rectangular, small indentation; pseudepiphallic arms flat ( Fig. 9C ), partly sclerotized dorsally and laterally; dorsal lobe of pseudepiphallic parameres spiny and located between the arms, their ventral lobe located ventrally to the arms. Rami connected to pseudepiphallic sclerite, enlarged over the posterior two-thirds of their length and crossed at about mid length by transverse inner crests ( Fig. 9C ). Ectophallic fold visible just below the lophi, sclerotized both ventrally and dorsally ( Fig. 9A, B ), but without free ectophallic parameres; rami long and thin ( Fig. 9A ); ventral valves well developed, hemicircular. Endophallic sclerite very small, more or less U-shaped ( Fig. 9B ), without a well-developed apodeme; no dorsal cavity.

Female Wings slightly longer than FWs (see Table 9); brown, their veins yellowish. FW venation: 3 anal veins, CuP and CuA bifurcated twice each ( Fig. 8G ); MP close to CuA on lateral field, and R bifurcated 8 times; transverse veins numerous, as strong as longitudinal veins, but fainter between anal veins.

Subgenital plate quite large, its distal margin more or less indented ( Fig. 8H ). Ovipositor much longer than in P.offensa (about 7.2 mm versus 4.2 mm in the latter); apex ornamentation as in the other species of the genus ( Fig. 8I, J ). Colouration: FWs brown with some indistinct, yellowish flecks; veins brown, CuA and CuP ochre.

Female genitalia. Copulatory papilla shorter and wider than in P. chopardi n. comb.; continuously sclerotized dorsally, but membranous distally; apical margin sinuated ( Fig. 8K, L ).

Measurements

See Table 9.

VARIATION

The colouration of the female paratype is very light, but with the specific pattern of brown and yellow spots.TIII serrulation: spine number variable within all examined specimens.

Figures

FIG. 7. — Phaloria walterlinii n. sp., holotype ♂. Scale bar: 5 mm.

FIG. 8. — Phaloria walterlinii n. sp.: A, B, tibia I, inner (A) and outer (B) apical spur,tympanum and the depression below the tympanum (dashed line), brown areas marked with dots; C, colour pattern on the face; D, dorsal disc of pronotum; E, pronotum lateral lobe; F, male dorsal field forewing venation; G, female forewing dorsal field venation; H, female subgenital plate; I, J, female ovipositor, ventral (I), lateral (J) views of right valves,ventral valves marked with grey;K, L, female copulatory papilla, dorsal (K), lateral (L) views. Scale bars: A-H, 1 mm; I-L, 0.2 mm.

FIG. 9. — Phaloria walterlinii n. sp., male genitalia, in dorsal (A), ventral (B) and lateral (C) views. Abbreviations: see text. Scale bar: 1 mm.