Platybinthus striolatus ( Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898 ) Robillard & Tan, 2022

Robillard, Tony & Tan, Ming Kai, 2023, Platybinthus, a new genus of Lebinthina crickets (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Eneopterinae) from Maluka, Indonesia, European Journal of Taxonomy 856 (1), pp. 46-66 : 58-61

Platybinthus striolatus ( Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov.

Figs 2–3 , 4A–D , 5B, E , 6B , 7A, C , 8A–C, H

Paraeneopterus striolatus Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898: 279 .

Lebinthus striolatus – Kirby 1906: 88. — Karny 1915: 68. — Shiraki 1930: 233. — Chopard 1968: 354. — Hsiung 1993: 26. — Ichikawa et al. 2000: 275.

Diagnosis

Platybinthus striolatus gen. et comb. nov. differs from P. punctatus gen. et comb. nov. by smaller size and by female copulatory papilla with apex narrowed and obtusely rounded. It also differs from Platybinthus sandyi gen. et sp. nov. by male genitalia with pseudepiphallus dorsal disk smaller, margins at the apex tapering (instead of straight) and by pseudepiphallic parameres with ventral lobe cylindrical (instead of appearing triangular and flattened).

Material examined

Holotype INDONESIA – Maluka • ♂ (juvenile); Halmaheira [ Halmahera Island ]; W. Kükenthal leg.; Brunner v. W. det.; DORSA FG; #Orth.57; SMFD.

Additional specimens INDONESIA – Maluka • 1 ♀; Halmaheira [= Halmahera Island ]; 1894; W. Kükenthal leg.; 21.852; MNHN-ENSIF1449 • 1 ♂; prov. Maluka Utara [northern Maluka], Halmahera Island , env. of vill. Subaim to S from vill. Lolobata (not far of it) near coast of Wasile Bay; 27 Jan.–1 Feb. 2011; A. Gorochov leg.; molecular sample L81-Lpc1; GenBank accession: OP684788 and OP686542 ; ZIN.

Remarks

The type (holotype) specimen in SMFD is a male juvenile. It is the only known specimen of the species, and probably the only specimen examined by Brunner von Wattenwyl (1898), according to the measurements that he provided. Given the general shape and colouration pattern on the legs, we hypothesise here that this juvenile belongs to the same species as the adult specimens from Halmahera found in MNHN and ZIN, and differing from the type of the species P. punctatus gen. et comb. nov. Although the evidence is weak, and not being able to sequence the old type juvenile, we refrained from describing a new species from these adult specimens; instead we propose to stabilise the name P. striolatus gen. et comb. nov. by redescribing the species based on them.

As a consequence of the very brief original description and limited characters available on the type specimen, the name Lebinthus striolatus has been mentioned multiple times in databases, books and publications based on erroneous identifications of specimens of other species of Lebinthus from Taiwan (e.g., Shiraki 1930; Ichikawa et al. 2000). Those specimens and records probably correspond to one of the two species of Lebinthina documented in Taiwan, Lebinthus lanyuensis Oshiro, 1996 or Falcerminthus yaeyamensis (Oshiro, 1996) , which were wrongly identified as Lebinthus striolatus based on their colouration matching the evocative ‘striolated’ name.

Redescription

Size small for the genus ( Fig. 4A–D ). Vertex and fastigium very dark brown; dorsum of head at posterior end with three longitudinal pale bands ( Fig. 5B ); back of eyes with a cream-coloured band. Scapes white, with some dark patterns (more in the ventral). Antennae orange brown. Fastigium verticis and frons dark grey-brown ( Fig. 5E ). Mouthparts whitish, mandibles grey-brown mottled with white; clypeus and labrum white; maxillary palpi with segments white with some dark stripes (more prominent on external surface) ( Fig. 5E ). Gena grey with a triangular white spot beneath eyes and two small white spots nearer to mouthparts. Lateral parts of head dark brown behind eyes ( Fig. 6B ). Pronotum dorsal disk yellow mottled with dark brown, anterior and posterior margins straight; lateral lobes very dark brown ( Fig. 6B ). Legs: FI–II pale with numerous dark brown spots and incomplete ring near apices, knee area dark brown; TI–II pale with three broad dark brown rings; tarsomeres 1 and 3 of each leg yellow basally then brown; FIII brown finely mottled with yellow and dark brown, knees dark brown; TIII homogeneously dark brown, spurs lighter brown with dark tips. Abdominal tergites dark brown with faint dark and light spots. Cerci brown with faint apical rings.

Male

FW reaching apex of third tergite. FW colouration ( Fig. 7A ): dorsal field cells mostly brown, plectrum area and basal area darker, with two faint pale spots at the basal and apical end of Cu and M; veins whitish or cream-coloured; M yellow brown, R orange brown. Lateral field cells dark brown in dorsal half and whitish in ventral half; longitudinal veins red brown with cross-veins cream-coloured. FW venation: harp vein bordering false mirror strongly sinuous. Anal area of dorsal field extending beyond apex lateral field, apex of dorsal field obliquely rounded.

GENITALIA ( Fig. 8A–C ). Pseudepiphallus elongate and slender, its basal margin distinctly indented in the middle, posterior apex rounded, slightly swollen at the apex. Rami short, shorter than half the pseudepiphallus length. Pseudepiphallic parameres with ventral lobe cylindrical. Ectophallic apodemes parallel and long, slightly reaching beyond anterior margin of pseudepiphallic sclerite. Endophallic sclerite with long anterior region not reaching anterior margin of pseudepiphallic sclerite and a short median expansion and small lateral arms posteriorly. Endophallic apodeme with lateral lamellae curved and pointing anteriorly.

Female

FWs reaching middle of fourth tergite, faintly overlapping. Cells of dorsal field dark brown, not translucent, with strong orange longitudinal veins and weak yellow transverse ones; with 9 longitudinal veins on dorsal field, 4 on lateral field ( Fig. 7C ). Dorsal field apex truncated, lateral field posterior margin oblique.

GENITALIA. Ovipositor as long as FIII, apex slightly denticulate dorsally. Copulatory papilla rounded; basal sclerite forming a semi-circular ring with a small basal plate; apex narrowed and obtusely rounded ( Fig. 8H ).

Measurements

See Table 1 .

Ecology

Unknown.

Distribution

INDONESIA: Maluka: Halmahera Island.

Type locality

INDONESIA: Maluka: Halmahera Island.

Calling song

Unknown.

Figures

Fig. 2. Platybinthus striolatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov., holotype, ♂ juvenile (SMFD). A. Dorsal view. B. Lateral view. C. Specimen label. Scale bar = 10 mm. Images obtained from Orthoptera Species File online (Cigliano et al. 2022).

Fig. 3. A. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree based on concatenated sequences of eight molecular markers.Values under branches indicate bootstrap values;bootstrap value> 99 is indicatedwith an asterisk (*). B. Close-up view of the maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree showing the relationships among species of Platybinthus gen. nov. and with Macrobinthus Robillard & Dong, 2016. C. Morphological comparison of the males (habitus, genitalia and FW) between Platybinthus and Macrobinthus. The red arrows indicate diagnostic characters for Platybinthus. Scale bar (for habitus) = 10 mm.

Fig. 4. Habitus. A–D. Platybinthus striolatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov. (♂ ZIN; ♀ MNHN-ENSIF1449). E–H. Platybinthus sandyi gen. et sp. nov. (♂ holotype MZB.ORTH.1786; ♀ paratype MZB.ORTH.1787). A–B, E–F. ♂♂. C–D, G–H. ♀♀. Scale bar = 1 cm.

Fig. 5.Head in dorsal view (A–C) and face in anterior view (D–F). A, D. Platybinthus punctatus(Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov., syntype, ♀ (MNHN-EO-ENSIF1448). B, E. Platybinthus striolatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov., ♂ (ZIN). C, F. Platybinthus sandyi gen. et sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (MZB.ORTH.1786). Scale bar = 2 mm.

Fig. 6.Body in lateral view. A. Platybinthus punctatus(Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov., syntype, ♀ (MNHN-EO-ENSIF1448). B. Platybinthus striolatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov., ♂ (ZIN). C. Platybinthus sandyi gen. et sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (MZB.ORTH.1786). Scale bar = 2 mm.

Fig. 7. FWs. A–B. ♂♂. C–D. ♀♀. A, C. Platybinthus striolatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov. (♂ ZIN; ♀ MNHN-ENSIF1449). B, D. Platybinthus sandyi gen. et sp. nov. (♂ holotype MZB.ORTH.1786; ♀ paratype MZB.ORTH.1787) Scale bar = 2 mm.

Fig. 8. Genitalia. A–F. ♂♂. G–H. ♀♀. A–C, H. Platybinthus striolatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov. (ZIN). D–F. Platybinthus sandyi gen. et sp. nov., holotype (MZB.ORTH.1786) G. Platybinthus punctatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov., syntype (MNHN-EO- ENSIF1448). Scale bars: A–F = 1 mm; G–H = 0.5 mm.