Catoptropteryx lineata, Massa, 2021

Massa, Bruno, 2021, Orthoptera Tettigoniidae as indicators of biodiversity hotspots in the Guinean Forests of Central and West Tropical Africa, Zootaxa 4974 (3), pp. 401-458 : 430-431

Catoptropteryx lineata n. sp. ( Figs. 34a–f )

Material examined. Liberia, Sinoe County, Krahn-Bassa Reserve, Juboe River , 7.5 km SW Pellokon town, 14- 21.I.2018 ( MV Light Trap), M. Geiser, S. Safian, G. Simonics (1♂ holotype) ( ANHRT) .

Description. Male. Colour. Green, abdomen and legs brown; dorsal margins of pronotum black and yellow, tegmina with a deep black line that covers all its posterior margin ( Fig. 34a ); cerci orange-blackish ( Fig. 34b ). Head and antennae. Eyes moderately large, globose, prominent. Fastigium of vertex narrower than scapus, not contiguous with the fastigium of frons. Face smooth. Thorax and legs. Anterior margin of pronotum just incurved, posterior margin rounded. Fore coxae armed. Fore femora unarmed, fore tibiae with open tympana, sulcate above, with 3 outer and inner ventral spines + 1 apical spur on each side, and 1 outer dorsal spur. Mid femora with 2 small spines on outer ventral margin, mid tibiae with 8 outer and inner ventral spines + 1 apical spur on each side and 1 inner dorsal spur. Hind femora with 7 spines on outer and inner ventral margins, hind tibiae with many outer and inner dorsal and ventral spines + 3 apical spurs on each side. Wings. R 1 with 2 branches, Rs bifurcate, archedictyon denser and with smaller cells along centre of each area, MA unbranched. Tegmina 5.6 times longer than wide, with fore and hind margins more or less parallel, the fore margin only apically rounded. Stridulatory area of the left tegmen just raised, mirror on the right tegmen oval ( Fig. 34a ), stridulatory file under the left tegmen arched and consisting of ca. 40 regularly spaced teeth ( Fig. 34d ). Abdomen. Cerci decreasing in size, incurved and pointed ( Fig. 34c ); subgenital plate long and narrow, styli absent ( Fig. 34b ).

Measurements (mm). Male. Body length: 16.4; pronotum length: 4.1; pronotum height: 3.7; length hind femur: 19.0; tegmina: 26.5; tegmina width: 4.7.

Etymology. After Latin lineatus (= striped).

Affinities. Catoptropteryx lineata n. sp. could be misidentified as an atypical C. punctulata Karsch, 1890 without the characteristic black spots on the tegmina, but between the two species there are other differences, namely the shape of male cerci (compare Figs. 34b and 34e ) and the stridulatory file which in C. punctulata has very few acuminate teeth (compare Figs. 34d and 34f ). The key to the species by Huxley (1970) should be modified before the dichotomy ‘11’ as follows:

11a. Cerci of ♂ sinuose viewed in plane of principale curvature. 11

- Cerci of ♂ not sinuose viewed in plane of principal curvature, only incurved. Catoptropteryx lineata n. sp.

Distribution. Presently C. lineata n. sp. is known only from Liberia.

Figures

FIG. 34. Catoptropteryx lineata n. sp.: a) dorsal view of the male holotype; b) ventral view of the male subgenital plate and cerci; c) dorsal view of male cerci; d) stridulatory file under the male left tegmen; Catoptropteryx punctulata Karsch, 1890: e) ventral view of male subgenital plate and cerci; f) stridulatory file under the male left tegmen.