Protogryllinae Zeuner, 1937

GOROCHOV, ANDREI V. & CORAM, ROBERT A., 2023, New and little known taxa of the order Orthoptera (Insecta) from the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic of England, Palaeoentomology 6 (2), pp. 198-204 : 199

Subfamily Protogryllinae Zeuner, 1937

Remarks. The generic composition of this subfamily is unclear, because its type genus, Protogryllus Handlirsch, 1906 , is poorly understood. Designation of the type species of this genus ( Gryllus dobbertinensis Geinitz, 1880 from the Lower Jurassic of Germany) was made by Zeuner (1939) based only on an inadequate description and picture by Geinitz (1880: fig. XXII, 6), i. e., without restudy of its male holotype. At the same time and later, several other specimens, included in this species, were described and illustrated; however, they probably belong to several different species. The two males from the type locality have a rather long harp area and weakly arcuate chords in the tegmina ( Zeuner, 1939: figs XXXIX, 1 and LVIII, 2) whereas the other male from the same locality ( Zeuner, 1939: p. 193 and fig. LXXII, 3) and two males from another German locality of the same age ( Ansorge, 1996: fig. 14A, B) have a distinctly shorter harp area and more strongly curved chords in the tegmina. Two further males from the latter locality also have a short harp area, but have less strongly curved chords with a clearly wider area between them and the anterior part of the diagonal vein (moreover, the areas between the chords as well as between the chords and CuA2 differ in shape in these additional males, which may therefore also belong to separate species; Ansorge, 1996: fig. 14C, D).

Synonymy of Protogryllus cantans Handlirsch, 1939 and P. muzicus Handlirsch, 1939 with P. dobbertinensis is not evident, because the first species has male tegmina more or less similar to those of the males with strongly curved tegminal chords mentioned above, but the male tegmina of the second species have less strongly curved chords (very similar to some other males attributed to P. dobbertinensis ). Synonymy of this Early Jurassic genus with the enigmatic genus Achaetites Handlirsch, 1906 , based on a female from the Early Cretaceous, Acheta sedgwicki Brodie, 1845 ( Zeuner, 1939: p. 188), is almost undoubtedly erroneous. Differences of Protogryllus from the other genera of this subfamily ( Archaegryllodes Haughton, 1924 and Bacharogryllus Gorochov, 1984 ) are also rather problematic: Archaegryllodes was described based on a Triassic male tegmen from South Africa having a long and rather wide lancet-like area with only one crossvein in the apical part; Bacharogryllus was based on male tegmina of two species from the Middle Jurassic of Mongolia which have a clearly smaller (shorter and narrower) lancet-like area with two or more crossveins; in the diverse European males from the Lower Jurassic, usually attributed to Protogryllus , this lancet-like area is often unknown or rather long and narrow (but sometimes rather wide) as well as without distinct crossveins. Numerous species from the Lower Jurassic of Europe, included in Protogryllus , are not suitable for generic taxonomy (if they are described after female tegmina which do not provide suitably good characters) or are in need of restudy and may belong to more than one genus.

Thus, the male tegmen considered below, having the lancet-like area somewhat different from that of the taxa discussed above, most probably belongs to a new genus.