Conocephalus (Anisoptera) gracilicercus, Li & Shi, 2018

Li, Yanqing & Shi, Fuming, 2018, Notes on the genus Conocephalus Thunberg, 1815 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae) in Southwest China with description of one new species, Zootaxa 4438 (1), pp. 148-158 : 154-158

8. Conocephalus (Anisoptera) gracilicercus sp. nov.

( Figs. 8 , 10 G–H )

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:502857

Description. Male. Body medium. Fastigium verticis cylindrical, apex blunt, width about half 1 st segment of antenna, with a slender median longitudinal furrow; in frontal view, dorsal surface of fastigium verticis slightly broad, gradually narrowing ventrad and connected by frontal verticis. Eyes hemispherical, protruding outwards.

Anterior margin of pronotum slightly arc-shaped, posterior margin rounded; lateral lobes nearly triangular, higher than long, humeral sinus indistinct; the corresponding area of thoracic foramen semitransparent, slightly plump. Prosternum with a pair of long spines.

Procoxae with a long spine; profemora without spines on ventral surface, apices of genicular lobes of profemora with 2 spines on inner margin and 1 spine on outer one; protibiae with 6 spines on internal and external margins of ventral surface separately; tibial tympana with slit-like openings. Mesofemora without spines on internal margin of ventral surface, external margin of ventral surface with 4–6 spines, apices of genicular lobes with 1 spine on inner margin and 2 spines on outer one; mesotibiae with 6 spines on internal and external margins of ventral surface separately. Postfemora with 5–7 spines on internal margin and 11–17 spines on external margin of ventral surface, apices of inner and outer genicular lobes with 2 spines; posttibiae with 20–27 spines on internal margin and 19–29 spines on external margin of dorsal surface, and 5 spines on internal margin and 6–10 spines on external margin of ventral surface; one pair of dorsal apical spurs and two pairs of ventral apical spurs.

Tegmina surpassing apex of abdomen, but not reaching apices of postfemora; basal area slightly broad, gradually narrowing, apices rounded. Cu2 vein of left tegmen robust, straight. Stridulatory area of left tegmen trapezoidal. Hind wings slightly longer than tegmina.

10th abdominal tergite comparatively broad, posterior margin curved downwards, median area with a shallow triangular notch, lateral lobes triangular, apices blunt. Cerci stout, 2/3 basal area cylindrical, 1/3 apical area slightly slender, apices blunt; cerci with two inner teeth nearly the middle area, the dorsal tooth short, directed anteriorly, basal area cylindrical, apex slightly compressed and truncate; the ventral tooth long, conical, directed anteriorly, apex acute. Basal area of subgenital plate slightly narrow, middle area broad, apex narrow, the midline with 1 longitudinal groove, the lateral surface of which plump, the middle of posterior margin with a V-shaped notch. Styli slender and long, inserted on subapical area of inner margins of lateral lobes.

Coloration. Body yellowish green (probably green when alive). Dorsal surface of head with a longitudinal yellowish brown stripe. Disc of pronotum with a broad yellowish brown stripe, the outer margins of which with a yellowish white stripe separately. Protibiae and basal half of postfemora on dorsal surface, genicular areas of postfemora, dorsal surface and basal half ventral surface of posttibia blackish brown. Spines of legs black. Nearly apical area of two teeth of cerci brown. Costal and subcostal areas of tegmina light in color, the other areas light brown.

Female. Appearance is similar to male. The midline of 10th abdominal tergite with a longitudinal groove or split, epiproct tongue-shaped. Cerci conical, apices acute, directed dorso-inwards. Ovipositor longer than postfemur, moderately curved upwards, dorsal and ventral margins smooth, dorsal valvulae longer than ventral ones, apices rounded. Subgenital plate nearly ovoid, median part of posterior margin protruding caudad, the middle of posterior margin slightly concave. Ovipositor brown.

Type material. Holotype: ♂, Lengshuihe, Jinsha , Guizhou, 4– 8 August, 2015, coll. Xiue Zhu, Bin Yan and Yaowen Zhang . Paratypes: 1♂ 1♀, Lengshuihe, Jinsha , Guizhou, 4– 8 August, 2015, coll. Xiue Zhu, Bin Yan and Yaowen Zhang ; 2♀, Hushizhen, Chishui , Guizhou, 22 August, 2017, coll. Jiyuan Feng and Yanqing Li .

Measurements (mm). Body (distance from apex of fastigium verticis to posterior margin of 10th abdominal tergite): ♂ 19.0–20.0, ♀ 21.0–22.5; pronotum (distance from anterior margin of pronotum to posterior margin in midline): ♂ 4.5–5.0, ♀ 4.5–5.5; tegmina (distance from base of tegmina to the apex): ♂ 14.5–15.5, ♀ 15.5–18.0; postfemora (distance from base of postfemora to apices of genicular lobes): ♂ 14.5–15.0, ♀ 14.0–16.5; ovipositor (distance from base of subgenital plate to apex of ovipositor): 23.0–27.5.

Discussion. The new species is similar to Conocephalu s ( Anisoptera ) hainanensis Shi & Wang, 2015, but it differs from the latter in: tegmina distinctly short; apical area of male cercus relatively slender; styli comparatively long.

Etymology. The name of new species is derived from the morphology of apical area of male cercus relatively slender, Latin “ gracil -” means slender, with new Latin “ cercus -” means cercus.

Distribution. China (Guizhou).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Conocephalus (Anisoptera) gracilicercus sp. nov.: A–B, D–E. pronotum: A, D. dorsal view; B, E. lateral view; C, I–K. apex of abdomen: C. dorsal view; I. ventral view; K. lateral view; J. inner teeth of cerci in apico-dorsal view; F. subgenital plate in ventral view; G. postfemur in lateral view; H. ovipositor in lateral view; A–C, I–K: male; D–H: female.

FIGURE 10. Habitus lateral view of Conocephalus pp. A–B. Conocephalus (Conocephalus) bidentatus Shi & Zheng, 1994; C–D. Conocephalus (Conocephalus) emeiensis Shi & Zheng, 1999; E–F. Conocephalus (Conocephalus) sulcifrontis Xia & Liu, 1992; G–H. Conocephalus (Anisoptera) gracilicercus sp. nov.; scale bars: 10mm.