Melanogryllus desertus ( Pallas, 1771 )

Wang, Ning, Huang, Huateng & Ma, Li-Bin, 2023, Redescription of two species and a new distribution record for China of the genus Melanogryllus Chopard, 1961 and a report of one new species of the genus Velarifictorus Randell, 1964 (Orthoptera: Gryllidae; Gryllinae), Zootaxa 5360 (2), pp. 269-278 : 271-272

Melanogryllus desertus ( Pallas, 1771)

Chinese name: ẈÎḡē

Figs. 1 ; 2A, B, D, F–K

Gryllus desertus Pallas, 1771: 468 ; Chopard, 1960: 392

Melanogryllus desertus, Chopard, 1961: 276 ; Gorochov, 2001: 115

Materials examined. China: 6 males and 10 females, Beitun, Fuhai , Xinjiang, 9-viii-2014, Libin Ma coll. ( SNNU) ; 4 males and 1 female, Wuerhe, Kelamayi , Xinjiang, 12-viii-2014, Libin Ma coll. ( SNNU) ; 2 males and 3 females, Jijihu, Qitai , Xinjiang, 7-viii-2014, Libin Ma coll. ( SNNU) ; 9 males and 3 females, Shihezi , Xinjiang, 23-vii-2007, Lingde Xie coll. ( SNNU) .

Description. Male. Body narrow and sized medium for Gryllinae . Vertex flattened and broad; occiput bend and armed with slight hairs. Eyes significantly convex; lateral ocelli ovoid, median ocellus narrowly banded. The frontal rostrum wide, about twice wider than the antennal scape. Anteclypeus trapezoidal, ventrally narrower than the dorsal parts, postclypeus narrowly banded, and labrum shaped as a shield. Labial palpus three, slightly expanded at the end; maxillary five, the third and fourth segments equal in length, both of them shorter than the fifth. Pronotum broad, posterior margin slightly prominent, surface covered with short hairs. Forewings not reaching the abdominal end; four oblique veins, the inner three veins intersecting each other at the base; three chord veins, the innermost one curved. The mirror shaped as pentagonal and divided into several irregular cells. Tympana on both sides and ovallike. The length of the posterior femora equal to 2/3 length of the abdomen. Both inner and outer posterior tibiae with five dorsal spurs. The length of superior-internal apical spurs equal to half of the other two; the outer apical spurs three, with the dorsal one about twice as long as the other two.

Male genitalia. Genitalia well developed, black. The epiphallus shaped like a funnel, the anterior of the middle lobes of the epiphallus with large and shallow notch; and the posterior of the middle lobe of the epiphallus with a dorsal carina. The lateral lobe of the epiphallus broad, and the posterior margin armed with small protuberances. Ectoparamere bifurcated, V-shape with a narrow lamella on the inner side and a broader lamella on the outer side, and with small central protuberances.

Female. Similar to males; the outer apical spurs three and the medium one longest. The length of the ovipositor equal to the abdomen.

Coloration. Ocelli and forewings brownish yellow; all other parts black.

Measurements. Male (n=23). BL 15.93–20.9, HL 2.16–2.67, HW 4.06–4.51, PL 2.43–2.94, PW 4.54–4.99, FWL 9.00–10.00, HFL 8.03–9.10. Female (n=17). BL 18.46–22.00, HL 2.25–2.65, HW 3.85–5.26, PL 2.62–3.51, PW 5.43–4.26, FWL 11.34–14.06, HFL 9.00–10.63.

Remarks. By comparing the specimens of the three species of the genus Melanogryllus distributed in China, we found that except for the similarity in body color, other anatomical features are different. We can easily distinguish these three species by their appearance. Compared to M. bilineatus and M. chopardi , M. desertus has a more slender and longer body and its head is covered with denser hair. The forewings of M. desertus do not reach the abdominal apex, and the apical field is longer than those of the other two species. In addition, the phenotypic characteristics of females differed among the three species. For example, the ovipositor of M. desertus is longer than that of M. bilineatus and shorter than that of M. chopardi .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distributions of the known Chinese species of Melanogryllus and Velarifictorus yuanilandrevus sp. nov.

FIGURE 2. Body and genitalia. A. male body of M. desertus; B. female body of M. desertus; C. ovipositor of M. bilineatus; D. ovipositor of M. desertus; E. ovipositor of M. chopardi; F–H. male genitalia of M. desertus (F. dorsal view; G. lateral view; H. ventral view); I–K. drawing of the male genitalia of M. desertus (I. dorsal view; J. ectoparamere; K. lateral view). Scale bars: 10 mm (A, B); 3 mm (C–E).