Morphopoides, trib. nov. [Leaf-like Cladonotinae of Madagascar]

Deranja, Maks, Kasalo, Niko, Adzic, Karmela, Franjevic, Damjan & Skejo, Josip, 2022, Lepocranus and Valalyllum gen. nov. (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae, Cladonotinae), endangered Malagasy dead-leaf-like grasshoppers, ZooKeys 1109, pp. 1-15 : 1

Tribe Valalyllini trib. nov. [Leaf-like Cladonotinae of Madagascar]

Figs 1 , 2 , 3

Cladonotini (partim): Tumbrinck et al. (2020): 336 (tentatively assigned to Cladonotinae : Cladonotini ).

Type genus.

Valalyllum gen. nov., herein described (see below), type species V. folium sp. nov., also described herein.

Composition and distribution.

Two monotypic genera, Lepocranus (including only L. fuscus ) and Valalyllum gen. nov. (including V. folium sp. nov.). Lepocranus fuscus is endemic to the rainforests east of Mahavelona (Foulpointe) ( Danielczak et al. 2017), while V. folium sp. nov. is endemic to northern Malagasy rainforests around Sambava and Andapa. Lepocranus folium sp. nov. lives 350 km more northerly than L. fuscus .

Descriptive diagnosis.

Members of Valalyllini ( Lepocranus , Valalyllum gen. nov.) are very similar to and thus most likely closely related to Asian Cladonotini (genera Misythus Stål, 1877, Hymenotes Westwood, 1837, Holoarcus Hancock, 1909) and Caribbean Choriphyllini ( Choriphyllum Serville, 1838 and Phyllotettix Hancock, 1902). Head, pronotum and legs in these three tribes show remarkable similarity and are regarded as homologous. Superficially, the leaf-like morphology of Valalyllini trib. nov. also resembles that of leaf-like Xerophyllini , but detailed comparisons reveal no homologous parts.

Antenna shorter than hind femur; vertex very wide; vertex slightly and obliquely elevated above the compound eyes; vertex without horns; upper margin of the antennal grove in the level of the lower margin of a compound eye; pronotal tip of the pronotum projected above the head, but not before the eyes or before the face; transverse pronotal veins weak, almost unrecognizable; pronotal tip obliquely bilobate in dorsal view; legs smooth, only with weak (small) undulations and triangular projections, not toothed or sawed. Found only in Madagascar.

Table 1 shows a comparison between leaf-like Caribbean Choriphyllini ( Choriphyllum Serville, 1838 and Phyllotettix Hancock, 1902), Asian Cladonotini ( Hymenotes Westwood, 1837, Misythus Stål, 1877, Holoarcus Hancock, 1909 and Dolatettix Hancock, 1907), and African Xerophyllini ( Xerophyllum Fairmaire, 1846, Trypophyllum Karsch, 1890, Acmophyllum Karsch, 1890). The leaf-like Tetrigidae were visually compared by Skejo et al. (2019). For comparison and elucidation of the mentioned characters, the reader is urged to refer to the abovementioned publication.

Figures

Figure 1. Lepocranus fuscus Devriese, 1991 A head detail in frontal view B habitus in right lateral view C habitus in frontal view D habitus in light lateral view E habitus in dorsal view F labels. Photo: J. Skejo and MNCN Madrid.

Figure 2. Valalyllum folium gen. et sp. nov. from Madagascar, male holotype, deposited in MNHN Paris. A habitus in left lateral view B head in frontal view C habitus in frontal view D habitus in dorsal view. Photo J. Skejo and MNHN Paris.

Figure 3. The diversity and the distribution of the tribe Valalyllini trib. nov. (Valalyllum folium gen. et sp. nov. in the north, and Lepocranus fuscus in the south), the Malagasy dead-leaf-like Cladonotinae. Both species are endemic to small areas and are likely endangered because of deforestation. Both species most probably inhabit rainforest leaf litter.