Platycaedicia sp.

Hugel, Sylvain, 2009, Gryllacrididae and Tettigoniidae (Insecta, Orthoptera, Ensifera) from Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, Zoosystema 31 (3), pp. 525-576 : 553

Platycaedicia sp.

( Fig. 12 )

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Vanuatu. (5 ♀♀), Sanma Province, Espiritu Santo Isl., Luganville, Collège maritime, en ville, attiré par la lumière, Exped. Santo 2006, 28.X.2006, coll. S. Hugel, 1 ♀ (SH-049) (MNHN-ENSIF2201).

Luganville, site du CTRAV, habitations, 15°27’00”S, 167°12’26”E, 10 m alt.,nuit, Exped.Santo 2006, 31.X.2006, coll. S. Hugel, 1 ♀ (SH-050) (MNHN-ENSIF2202).

Penaoru, camp de base, Exped. Santo 2006, X-XII.2006, 3 ♀♀ (SH-051, SH-052, SH-053) (MNHN-ENSIF2203, 2204, 2205).

d V v V

SGP

HABITAT AND LIFE HISTORY TRAITS. — We observed this species in anthropized areas where it is attracted by habitation lights.

REMARKS

Five Platycaedicia sp. female specimens have been collected during SANTO 2006 biological survey. The following characters attest their generic identity ( Hebard 1922): open tympana on both TI sides, TI flat dorsad, pronotum disk widening caudad, pronotum lateral lobes width less than pronotum lateral lobes depth, FW broader than pronotum length.

Santo specimens are distinctly smaller than P.hospes , P. major and P. obiensis ; ovipositor valves are thin and regularly narrowing ( Fig. 12 ), unlike P. obiensis . Although not fitting with the species currently considered as belonging to Paracaedicia, Santo specimens are possibly belonging to a species already described under Caedicia Stål, 1874 . Indeed, among the 37 species currently considered as Caedicia , some if not many are likely to belong to Paracaedicia as defined by Hebard (1922). A revision and perhaps a redefinition of both Caedicia and Paracaedicia , as well as male descriptions would be required to identify Santo specimens.

Figures

FIG. 12. — Platycaedicia sp., right side view of female terminalia. Abbreviations: see text. Scale bar: 1 mm.