Genus Phonarellus Gorochov, 1983

Phonarellus Gorochov, 1983: 323; Yin and Liu 1995: 194; Ma and Zhang 2011: 31.

Type species.

Gymnogryllus minor .

Distribution.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, China, Gabon, India, Japan, Kenya, Mali, Sierre Leone, Vietnam.

Diagnosis.

Ocelli positioned in an almost straight line. Antenna ornamented with white ring-like pattern. Scapus conspicuously narrower than the half-width of the rostrum. Apical field shorter than mirror or slightly longer. Both tympana present. Hind tibiae shorter than half the length of hind femur. Epiphallus with large lateral lobes but without median lobe. Cerci usually dark with light proximally. We regard all species as belonging to Phonarellus, whose characters are as follows: ovipositor well developed and rather long; ectoparamere short.

Remarks.

Four species of this genus have been reported from China ( P. ritsemae, P. minor, P. flavipes, and P. zebripes). Phonarellus flavipes has been described for its yellow hind legs and the interval between the anterior of the first and second oblique veins. But these characters can also be found in P. minor living side by side with P. flavipes . Studying a large number of specimens of these three taxa from Yunnan and Guangdong, we tested whether the color of hind legs is a valid trait for species delimitation, and provided a description of P. ritsemae .