Lophotettix Hancock, 1909

Silva, Daniela Santos Martins, Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J., Pereira, Marcelo Ribeiro, Domenico, Fernando Campos De & Sperber, Carlos Frankl, 2019, Review of Lophotettix, the sole member of the subfamily Lophotettiginae Hancock 1909 (Insecta: Orthoptera: Caelifera: Tetrigidae), Zootaxa 4686 (3), pp. 346-360 : 348

Lophotettix Hancock, 1909

Type species: Lophotettix brevicristatus Hancock, 1909

Etymology of Lophotettix: Derived from the Greek λóφος (pronounced lófos): crest, ridge.

Diagnosis. Facial carinae arched (lateral view), fusiform and forming broad scutellum (frontal view); antennae flattened but not foliaceous, laterally expanding from the base to the apex having a incrassate shape ( Fig. 1 ), with 11 segments (with a distinguishable acute apical segment) and the latter segment is pale; pronotum not towards the front of the head, compresso-cristated median carina or a leaf-like crest ( Figs. 2A , 3A , 4A , 5A , 6A ), in some species translucent, punctate when held against the light; fore and middle femurs carinated; hind femur robust, carinated and/or with lappets.

Composition. The subfamily has only one genus with five species: Lophotettix alticristatus Hancock, 1909 ; L. brevicristatus Hancock, 1909 ; L. hancocki ( Bruner, 1910) ; L. unicristatus Hancock, 1909 and L. zumbadoi Barranco, 2010 .

Comparative notes. There are other tetrigids that share two characters occurring in this Neotropical subfamily: (i) flattened but not foliaceous antennae, laterally expanding from the base to the apex having an incrassate shape and (ii) the median carina compresso-cristated or a leaf-like crest. However, in the first case, Tripetalocerinae can be distinguished from Lophotettiginae by the number of antennae segments and the shape of each segment (see Discussion section). Regarding the shape of median carina, some cladonotines taxa share morphological similarities with Lophotettiginae but also can be easily told apart by: (i) the anterior margin of median carina not surpassing the fastigium in Lophotettiginae ; (ii) the filiform antennae in cladonotines and (iii) the facial carinae fusiform (in frontal view) in Lophotettiginae .

Figures

FIGURE 1. General scheme of antennal segment morphology present in Lophotettix species, highlighting the incrassate shape and the apical last segment.

FIGURE 2. Lophotettix alticristatus Hancock, 1909 female holotype (A) habitus in left lateral view, (B) habitus in dorsal view, (C) frontal view and (D) labels. Scale bar = 2 mm. Photo of type: Museum of Oxford University/James Hogan, photo of label: Josef Tumbrinck.

FIGURE 3. Lophotettix brevicristatus Hancock, 1909 female holotype (A) habitus in left lateral view, (B) habitus in dorsal view, (C) frontal view and (D) labels. Scale bar = 2 mm. Photo of type: Museum of Oxford University/James Hogan, photo of label: Josef Tumbrinck.

FIGURE 4. Lophotettix hancocki (Bruner, 1910) male holotype. (A) habitus in left lateral view, (B) habitus in dorsal view, (C) frontal view and (D) labels. Scale bar = 5 mm. Photo of type: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia/ Daniela Silva and Marcelo Pereira.

FIGURE 5. Lophotettix unicristatus Hancock, 1909 female holotype. (A) habitus in left lateral view, (B) habitus in dorsal view, (C) frontal view and (D) labels. Scale bar = 1 mm. Photo of type: Museum of Oxford University/James Hogan, photo of label and frontal view: Josef Tumbrinck.

FIGURE 6. Lophotettix zumbadoi Barranco, 2010 right lateral view of holotype. Photo of type: Pablo Barranco.