Pseudonicsara, Karny, 1912

Ingrisch, Sigfrid, 2009, Revision of the genus Pseudonicsara Karny, 1912 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae: Agraeciini) 2185, Zootaxa 2185, pp. 1-122 : 66-67

Pseudonicsara ( Wasiorana ?) raffrayi ( Brongniart, 1897)

Figs. 7, 11, 32, 43, 91, 148, 256, 296, 353, map 3.

Salomona raffrayi Brongniart 1897 , Bull. Soc. philom. Paris (8)8: 165, fig. 26; Karny 1912b, in Wytsman, Genera Insectorum 141: 33

Pseudonicsara raffrayi C. Willemse 1966 , Publ. natuurh. Gen. Limburg 16: 8 [male only]; Otte 1997, Orthoptera Species File 7:33; OSF online 2009.

Syntypes (2 males): Indonesia, Papua: "Nlle. Guinèe, Raffray, 1878" [pinned male]; "Nlle. Guinèe, Dorey [0° 54' S, 134° 3' E], Raffray, 1878" [male in alcohol] (both in MNHN, Paris) .

Remark: Willemse (1966) gives a detailed morphological description of the pinned male and labelled it as holotype. However Brongniart (1897) writes "Le Muséum possèdes deux individus mâles de cette espèces …". My drawings of the stridulatory file and the titillators are taken from the male in alcohol.

Diagnosis. P. raffrayi differs from other species of the genus by the short but distinct prolongation of the male pronotum covering the base of the stridulatory apparatus ( Fig. 43); even more so than in P. alces . Otherwise the species is characterised by the shapes of the male cerci ( Figs. 148, 256) and the titillators ( Fig. 353).

Description. Fastigium verticis in front of eyes 1.07 mm, from base 1.51 mm; dorsal eye length 1.81 mm; index fastigium verticis from base: eye length 0.83. Fastigium verticis with dorsal margin faintly furrowed. Face rugose with impressed dots but shining ( Fig. 32). Paranota with a small groove at ventro-apical corner. Tegmen little surpassing apex of abdomen ( Figs. 7, 11). Prosternum with two short, acute, bristly spines. Femora with the following number of spines on ventral margins: fore femur 7 external, 5–8 internal; mid femur 6 external, 2 internal near base; hind femur 10–12 external, 6 internal in basal third.

Male ( Figs. 7, 11). Stridulatory file with circa 78 teeth ( Fig. 91). Tenth tergite prolonged behind, apex in middle fissing on dorsal surface, on ventral surface entire ( Fig. 148). Cerci with three internal teeth: two in middle and one at apex; the dorso-median with apex rounded, both others spinose ( Figs. 148, 256). Subgenital plate with styli slightly longer than fissing apical part of subgenital plate ( Fig. 296).

Titillators with basal parts band shaped, but widening and bilobate at base; apical parts oval, forming together with the phallus membrane large, compressed, sacculi fused at base; margin outlined, regular ( Fig. 353).

Female unknown.

Coloration. Light ochre (discoloured due to storage in alcohol). Mandibles black. Head and pronotum with some indistinct medium brown pattern. Tegmen with pattern of light veins and darker cells little distinct. Pro- and mid femur with a medium brown herring bone pattern and spots. Hind femur with three longitudinal brown stripes, dissolved into small parallel strokes towards apex.

Measurements of male: body 35; pronotum 11; tegmen 27; hind femur 18.

Discussion. P.raffrayi is unique within the genus for the distinctly prolonged, rounded hind margin of the male pronotum even if compared with P. (W.) alces that also has the male pronotum with rounded hind margin. In typical Pseudonicsara the hind margin is usually concave while in Cercana it is often faintly convex but truncate in middle. P. raffrayi is provisionally arranged under Wasiorana for the shape of the pronotum. Regarding the prosternal spines, it differs from the subgenus Pseudonicsara but could agree with both Cercana and Wasiorana . The wide dorsal field of the tegmen is reminiscent to Cercana . Considering the bilobate base of the titillators and the apical parts being fused at base, it does not agree with any of the three subgenera of Pseudonicsara . More material including females is necessary to settle the question on the generic affinity of this species.