Discotettix (Discotettix) doriae Bolívar, 1898

Skejo, Josip, Pushkar, Taras I., Kasalo, Niko, Pavlović, Marko, Deranja, Maks, Adžić, Karmela, Tan, Ming Kai, Rebrina, Fran, Muhammad, Amira Aqilah, Abdullah, Nurul Ashikin, Japir, Razy, Chung, Arthur Y. C. & Tumbrinck, Josef, 2022, Spiky pygmy devils: revision of the genus Discotettix (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) and synonymy of Discotettiginae with Scelimeninae, Zootaxa 5217 (1), pp. 1-64 : 30-33

Discotettix (Discotettix) doriae Bolívar, 1898 stat. resurr. ( Fig. 18 )

Vernacular name: Mentawai Unicorn Pygmy Devil

Discotettix doriae Bolívar, 1898: 80 [original description, type locality: Mentawai: Sipura]; Hancock 1907a: 6 [listed in the catalog]; Kirby 1910: 2 [listed in the catalog]; Willemse 1930: 207 [listed in the catalog]; París 1994: 236 [data on type series]; Muhammad et al. 2018: 20 .

Discotettix selysi (partim): Günther 1938: 302 [synonymized D. doriae with D. selysi ; it is not accepted here]; Blackith 1992: 46 [listed in the catalog]; Yin et al. 1996: 866 [listed in the catalog]; Otte 1997: 32 [listed in the catalog].

Type locality. Indonesia: Sumatra: Mentawai: Sipura Island

Material examined.

Type material. LECTOTYPE ( Fig. 18 ) 1♀ Mentawei: Sipora, Sereinu [= Indonesia: Mentawai : Sipura island] V.–VI.[18]84. Leg. E. Modigliani ( MCSN) ; PARALECTOTYPE 1♀ Mentawei: Sipora, Sereinu [= Indonesia: Mentawai : Sipura island] V.–VI.[18]84. Leg. E. Modigliani ( MNCN) .

Distribution. This species inhabits the rainforest of the small island of Sipura (845 km 2), the smallest of the four large islands of the Mentawai Archipelago, west of Sumatra. Only two females of this species have been known hitherto.

Diagnosis. This species is morphologically similar to D. selysi from Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula and to D. aruanus sp. n. from the Aru Islands because of the presence of low projections, or absence of the high ones, flat dorsum of the pronotum, and coloration. It seems to be closely related to D. selysi , but can be easily recognized from the latter by the following set of characters: (1) FM small and narrow, covering vertex only partially (in D. selysi it is large, long, and covering entire vertex), (2) smaller body size (females have a slightly shorter body and pronotum than the ones of D. selysi ), (3) shorter and stouter antennae with swollen 6 th, 7 th and 8 th antennal segments (no swollen segments in D. selysi ), and (4) stronger teeth of the fore and mid femora. From D. aruanus sp. n. from Aru Island, which also seems related to D. selysi and D. doriae , D. doriae can be easily told apart by the much smaller FM (large and reaching in front of the head in D. aruanus sp. n.), and much stouter and more armed fore and mid femora (less armed in D. aruanus sp. n.). From D. sumatrensis sp. n. inhabiting neighboring Sumatra, the species can be separated by (1) dark antennae with stouter antennomeres, (2) lower projections, especially FM and MMs, (3) larger body size (approximately 2 mm longer), and (4) stouter femora. For comparison with other species ( D. belzebuth and D. kirscheyi from Borneo and D. scabridus from the Philippines), please consult the diagnosis of D. selysi , where a comparison to all the species of the genus Discotettix has been given, as well as the detailed diagnoses of D. scabridus and D. belzebuth containing comprehensive comparisons.

Redescription. ( Fig. 18 )

General features. Medium-sized (about 15 mm), robust species. Body finely granulated; pronotum rugose, with numerous small tubercles and net-like elevations, in parts smooth and without tubercles, anterior part of the pronotum bearing a few larger protuberances ( Fig. 18 ). Macropronotal.

Coloration. Body dark brown. Carinae and projections darker than the rest of the body. Median pronotal carina with orange patches. Antenna dark brown, without pale colored parts. Maxillary palpi dark brown. The visible part of the tegmen dark brown and without any pale spots. Legs brown except for the pale rings on tibiae and tarsi. The body probably covered with epizoic symbionts, just as in other species, giving an animal greenish camouflage when alive, after preservation in alcohol and/or drying the green color disappears.

Head. In dorsal and frontal view, vertex 2.21–2.36 times as wide as the eye. Lateral carinae raised and granulated. Fossula deep. Lateral ocelli situated just below the level of the lower margin of the compound eye. Antennal groove significantly below the lower margin of the compound eye. In frontal view, frontal costa bifurcated into facial carinae, forming a scutellum with narrow and parallel borders, bifurcation just above the level of lateral ocelli. Antennal groove slightly wider than frontal costa. Antenna 13-segmented, all segments robust in comparison to other species of the genus: scapus (1 st antennomere) and pedicel (2 nd antennomere) massive; basal segments (3 rd to 5 th) robust, less elongated than in other species of the subgenus Discotettix , and circular in cross-section; basal segment 6 th widened and swollen; central or subapical segments (7 th and 8 th) strongly widened, pennate and swollen, 8 th being the widest antennal segment (about 2.6 times as long as wide); apical segment 9 th elongated and pennate, but smaller than the subapical and much larger than the rest of the apical segments; apical segments 10 th to 13 th reduced, very small, and borders between them barely visible. Antennomeres 3 rd to 9 th bearing saw-like margins, but weaker than in the other species of the subgenus ( Fig. 18C ).

Pronotum. Pronotum rugose, granulated, with numerous tubercles and net-like elevations, somewhere smooth and without tubercles (some parts of the pronotal disc and parts of the median carina of the pronotum). The anterior margin of the pronotum bearing a medium-sized FM, smaller than in the other species of the subgenus Discotettix . The posterior process of the pronotum surpassing the hind knees for at most a half-length of a hind femur. Disc of the pronotum with a small depression between the tegminal bases, then slightly elevated again. Caudad, pronotum gradually descending backward. Net-like elevations of omnipresent on the pronotal disc, all along the median carina of the pronotum and connecting it to all other carinae and the projections of the dorsal surface of the pronotum. Netlike elevations very distinct in the interhumeral region of the disc. The median carina of the pronotum continuous from the anterior margin to the pronotal apex, undulated irregularly because of the projections. The median carina of the pronotum bearing four unpaired projections of variable size: medium-sized digitate FM, directed upwards and forwards and covering the fastigium of the vertex (but not completely); PM small and triangular; MM1 large and triangular; MM2 and MM3 evident, but decreasing in size caudad, MM4 reduced. Prozona subsquare. Prozonal and extralateral carinae in prozona distinct, surpassing anterior margin of pronotum as dentiform FL1 and FL2, with FL2 more distinct. FL3 dentiform, small, and weak. Among the mediolateral projections PML1 more or less distinct; PML2 very small; MML1 small; MML2 large; MML3 v ery small; MML4 and MML5 wanting. PL1 and PL2 present as small triangular tubercles forming posterior elongation of the extralateral carinae in the line joining the humero-apical carinae. Humeral angle obtuse with pointed apex. ML present, but reduced. Pronotal apex narrow, shallowly excised. The lower part of the lateral pronotal lobe with serrate anterior and posterior margins, elongated as spine-like VL, directed strongly outwards and backward ( Fig. 18A, B ).

Wings. Tegmina and alae present and visible. The visible part of tegmen elliptical, granulated, and tuberculated. Hind wing not reaching apex of pronotum, a few millimeters of length are lacking to touch the tip.

Legs. Fore and mid femora robust, compressed laterally, dorsal and ventral margins serrated; with genicular tooth on the knees and additionally with two to three sharp teeth on the dorsal and ventral margin. Mid femora with stronger teeth than the fore femora. Hind femur with lappets, and a small protuberance situated on the ventral external carina. The genicular tooth large, while the antegenicular one small. Both sides of the dorsal margins of the hind tibia finely serrated, with 3–4 outer and 1–3 inner large teeth.

Abdominal apex. Female subgenital plate in ventral view with a triangular protrusion in the middle of the posterior margin. Ovipositor robust, dorsal valvae robust, ventral slender, and serrate. Cerci robust, hairy, with a long tip.

Measurements (♀♀ only). BL 14.51–14.79 mm; PnL 16.06–17.01 mm; PnW 8.45–8.61 mm; AnL 6.88– 7.01 mm; TL 1.93–2.11 mm; TW 0.75–0.91 mm; fFL 3.86–4.01 mm; fFW 0.78–0.82 mm; mFL 3.47–3.61 mm; mFW 0.86–0.93 mm; hFL 7.59–8.01 mm; hFW 2.68–2.73 mm; OvL 1.62–1.71 mm; AnL/fFL 1.75–1.81; VW 1.18–1.23 mm; EW 0.51–0.55 mm; VW/EW 2.21–2.36; SW 0.26–0.31 mm; AgW 0.31–0.34 mm; ScW 0.21–0.27 mm; SW/AgW 0.67–0.81; SW/ScW 1.19–1.24; As–L/ W 2.59–2.63; PrzW 3.44–3.51 mm; PrzL 2.22–2.38 mm; Prz–W/L 1.47–1.60; TL/TW 2.57–2.90; mFW/TW 1.08–1.09; fFL/fFW 4.03–4.12; mFL/mFW 4.01–4.51; hFL/ hFW 2.91–3.22; T1L/T3L 1.02–1.04.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Female lectotype of Discotettix doriae Bolívar, 1898, nom. resurr. from Metawai Island. Lectotype is deposited in MCSN. A. Dorsal view, B. Lateral view, C. Frontal view, and D. Labels, pronotum length 16.19 mm. Photographs by Josef Tumbrinck.