Paralethus rowelli Cadena-Castañeda & Monzón, 2014

Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J. & Monzón-Sierra, José, 2014, Studies in Guatemalan Caelifera: New grasshoppers and monkey grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Caelifera: Acridoidea & Eumastacoidea) and an updated checklist, Zootaxa 3857 (3), pp. 379-411 : 384

Paralethus rowelli Cadena-Castañeda & Monzón , new species

( Figs. 1–7 , 66–67 )

Diagnosis. Ten antennal segments. Subgenital plate with three undulations at apical border, medial undulation simple without projection between cerci. Ectophallus U-shaped without basal projections, ectophallic sclerites rounded, lophi laterally flattened, apex blunt or rounded.

Holotype. ♂ Guatemala, San Marcos, Camino Fraternidad a Bojonal, 1600 m, 22 May 2012. Latitude: 14.9459 Longitude: -91.8806. J. Monzón & F. Camposeco leg. (MUD).

Paratypes. 2 ♂, same data as holotype.

Description. Male: Coloration mostly dark brown, sternites grayish blue with black and yellow spots. Head. Antennae with ten flattened segments, fastigium slightly pronounced in the middle of the eyes in lateral view, dorsally vertex fastigium conical and crossed by a groove from apex to the base of the vertex, eyes ovoid, frons pronounced smoothly in a groove which harbors the central ocellus in the middle of the antennal base. Thorax: Pronotum rectangular, medial carina elevated. Apterous. Legs characteristic of the genus, posterior femora and anterior and medial tibiae ventrally armed by small spines, posterior tibiae with 17 pairs of dorsal spines. Abdomen progressively curving upwards to the terminal region. Epiproctus triangular, wider than long, cerci curving towards interior margin from mesal portion. Subgenital plate dome shaped and thin, apex with three undulations: two lateral and one medial without projecting. Phallic complex: usual for the genus, flattened and wider. Subepiphagic sack absent, dorsal shield short, contiguous to ectophallus and smoothly bifurcated. Ectophallus well sclerotized, dorsal and ventral ectophallic sclerites present with rounded apex and no spines, rest of ectophallus elongated and U shaped, without basal end modification. Epiphallus with thin disc, almost inconspicuous, lophi projecting on lateral border of the phallic complex, laterally flattened and slightly curving inwards, apex rounded.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. Named for Hugh Fraser Rowell, author of the genus and great Acrididologist, who has done important work on the Central American Orthoptera fauna.

Measurements (mm). Tl: 11, P: 2, Hf: 7, Ht: 8, Sp: 1.5.

Commentary. External morphology very similar to P. insolitus Rowell & Perez-Gelabert, 2006 except for the medial projection in the subgenital plate, which projects upwards between the cerci in P. insolitus but is absent in P. rowelli sp. nov., which is the main external morphological character that distinguishes them.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Paralethus rowelli n. sp. 1. Habitus. 2. Head and pronotum in dorsal view. 3. In lateral view. 4. Frons. 5 – 7. Terminalia. 5. Ventral. 6. Axial. 7. Lateral.

FIGURES 66 – 73. Monkey grasshoppers in live condition. 66 – 67. Paralethus rowelli (male). 68. Lethus carbonarius (male). 69 – 70. Episactus schusteri n. sp. (male). 71 – 73. Episactus brunneri. 71 and 72. Female. 73. Male.