Cestromoecha laeglae, Massa, Bruno, 2015

Massa, Bruno, 2015, Taxonomy and distribution of some katydids (OrthopteraTettigoniidae) from tropical Africa, ZooKeys 524, pp. 17-44 : 29-32

Taxon classification Animalia Orthoptera Tettigoniidae

Cestromoecha laeglae sp. n. Figs 50-54, 55-57

Material examined and depository.

Ivory Coast, Tuba, Biémasso (441 m), 8°04'00.09"N, 7°32'59.96"W (UV trap) 9.VII.2014, P. Moretto (♂ holotype) (MSNG); same locality, 7-11.VII.2014, P. Moretto (♂ paratype, ♀ allotype); same locality, 9.VII.2014, P. Moretto (♂ paratype) (BMCP).

The genus Cestromoecha Karsch, 1893 is related to Poreuomena Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878, which also lives in central-western Africa and differs from it chiefly in the shape of the male tenth tergite, being slightly bilobate or rounded, in the male sub-genital plate, being deeply bilobate, and in the shape of the cerci. Styli are absent. Five species are known, Cestromoecha crassipes (Karsch, 1890), Cestromoecha tenuipes (Karsch, 1890), Cestromoecha mundamensis Karsch, 1896, Cestromoecha longicerca Massa, 2013 and Cestromoecha magnicerca Massa, 2013. Here a sixth species is described.

Colour.

Brown or green, stridulatory area of left tegmen and area below it black. Small black spots are present on posterior margins of tegmina. Two longitudinal parallel dark lines are present on outer surface of hind femora.

Description.

Male. Diagnostic characters of the genus. Eyes round (Fig. 52), fastigium of vertex triangular, sulcate. Fore coxae armed, fore and mid femora with 4-5 very small spines2, fore tibiae with 3 ventral spines + 1 spur on each side, mid tibiae with 6-7 ventral spines + 1 spur on each side, hind tibiae with 3 spurs on each side. Ventral margins of hind femora with 2 small basal spines. Tegmina narrow, stridulatory area of left tegmen black and straight (Fig. 50); stridulatory file down-curved with ca. 50 teeth, distal part with asymmetrical and widely spaced teeth (Fig. 54). Tenth tergite slightly bilobate. Cerci stout, long and in-curved, with basal part rounded and apical part flattened and pointed; in middle with a well-developed flattened large inner spine, blackish at tip. Sub-genital plate concave, triangular and long, with a deep concavity, processes rather parallel (Figs 55-57).

Female. As male, but without blackish markings and with only brown spots (Fig. 51). Ovipositor up-curved and provided with small denticles on the upper and lower margins (Fig. 53).

Measurements.

Males. Body length: 18.5-19.4; pronotum length: 4.0-4.2; pronotum height: 3.4-3.6; hind femur: 18.2-20.7; tegmina: 26.4-27.5. Female. Body length: 21.7; pronotum length: 4.0; pronotum height: 3.4; hind femur: 20.8; tegmina: 29.4; ovipositor: 6.1.

Diagnosis.

Cestromoecha laeglae sp. n. is related to Cestromoecha magnicerca . The cerci of the male are stout, long and in-curved, with the basal part rounded and the apical part flattened and pointed; a wide flattened inner spine arises from its middle; in Cestromoecha magnicerca the cerci have trifid apices. The sub-genital plate is concave, but not long, with parallel processes, very similar to those of Cestromoecha magnicerca . The stridulatory file of Cestromoecha laeglae sp. n. is also similar to that of Cestromoecha magnicerca with distal part with less and more widely spaced teeth than the proximal part (see Massa 2013).

Etymology.

Laegla is the nickname of Giovanna Varrica, to whom this species is dedicated.