Platycleis Fieber, 1853

Jaiswara, Ranjana, Shah, Muzamil Syed, Ali, Ahsan & Usmani, Mohd Kamil, 2022, A new species of the genus Platycleis Fieber, 1853 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from the Western and Trans Himalayas, India, Zootaxa 5100 (1), pp. 89-104 : 91-92

Platycleis Fieber, 1853

Head large, pronotum depressed with median keel distinct at metazona. Lateral lobes of pronotum with distinct or indistinct white stripe. Ventrally hind tibia with four apical spurs, inner two shorter. Fore tibia with three spines dorsally on outer margin. Tegmina mostly fully developed with a broad apex and with dark spots; transverse veins light coloured. Female subgenital plate bilobate, separated by shallow to deep sulcus. Ovipositor is bright brown, compressed laterally, regularly curved, and usually longer than length of the pronotum. VI-VIIth female sternites modified or unmodified, male last tergite with two processes. Apex of the male cercus blunt, with a single inner tooth.

Distribution. Europe, the Mediterranean region, North Africa, temperate Asia as far as China, Nepal, Kashmir and the north of Pakistan.

Key to Indian Platycleis species

1. Male tenth tergite with an oval depression, hind margin with a parabolic excision and triangular, slightly decurved lobes ( Fig. 5A ); cercus thick, broad apex, outer-lateral surface constricted subapically. Ovipositor stout and thicker at base ( Fig. 7A ); 7 th sternite with two sub lateral tubercles ( Fig. 6B ( Fig. 2 ( Uvarov, 1930))................ Platycleis kashmira ( Uvarov, 1930)

• Male tenth tergite with hind margin bearing broad median sulcus ( Fig. 5B ); cercus narrower, narrow apex, outer-lateral surface concave. Ovipositor slender, sharply pointed and upcurved ( Fig. 7B ); 7 th sternite with three tubercles arranged in triangular form ( Fig. 6A, D )............................................... Platycleis rahmoiensis Jaiswara & Shah sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Platycleis rahmoiensis sp. nov. (A) dorsal view, (B) lateral view of dry preserved specimen and (C) lateral view of alive male.

FIGURE 5. Male anal tergite of (A) Platcyleis kashmira (Uvarov, 1930) (image adapted from OSF database) and (D) P. rahmoiensis sp. nov.; (B) anal cerci, (C) supra-anal plate, (E) titillators in situ and (F) dissected titillators of Platycleis rahmoiensis sp. nov.

FIGURE 6. Sternites of female (A) Platycleis rahmoiensis sp. nov. and (B) P. kashmira (image adapted from Uvarov, 1930) fig. 2. page no. 402), (C) anal tergite and (D) lateral view of sternites of Platycleis rahmoiensis sp. nov. Arrows indicate tubercles on sternites.

FIGURE 7. Ovipositor of female in lateral view: (A) Platycleis kashmira (Uvarov, 1930) (image adapted from OSF database) and (B) P. rahmoiensis sp. nov.