Natula matsuurai Sugimoto

Mal, Jhabar, Nagar, Rajendra & Swaminathan, R., 2014, Record of Natula matsuurai Sugimoto (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Trigonidiinae) and other sword-tailed crickets from India, Zootaxa 3760 (3), pp. 458-462 : 459-460

Natula matsuurai Sugimoto

The Genus Natula was erected by Gorochov, 1987 based on the Type species: Anaxipha pravdini Gorochov, 1985 (type locality: Southern China, Fuchien and India). Unlike the genus Anaxiphia, Natula is unicolourous, straw yellow, vertex without lines or bands, likewise the hind femur also lacks a band/strip.

Diagnosis. Body unicolorous, bright single-tone; head wider than anterior margin of pronotum, but narrower than hind margin of pronotum. Pronotum with roundly convex anterior margin. Male tegmina narrower, speculum longer than wide; stridulatory apparatus present. Female tegmina feebly convex. Fore tibia with large inner and outer tympana. Male genitalia rather asymmetrical; epiphallus with broadly truncated hind margin, without median incision; hind lateral lophi of epiphallus with widely separated projection at apex; ventral side of hind lateral lophi forming parameres. Six species are known from the Old World [Plates I (a) and (b)].

Materials examined (2 specimens): India, 1 male, coll: R. Swaminathan, 0 2 September, 2007 and 1 female, coll: Lekha, 22 June, 2007 from Udaipur, Rajasthan at L 24o–34 NA 73o–42 E, and 582.17 MSL.

Description of species: General: Body and all appendages of abdomen orange yellow in colour; lower margin of eyes with a blackish spot, but upper part brownish in colour, epistomal suture (beneath both eyes) with a transverse dark strip.

Male: Head wider than anterior margin of pronotum, but narrower than hind margin of pronotum. Last segment of palpi hatched-shaped. Fastigium as wide as horizontal diameter of antennal sockets. Pronotum with roundly convex anterior margin and lateral lobe of pronotum as deep as pronotal length. Tegmina narrower, speculum (mirror) longer than wide; stridulatory apparatus present, macropterous, covering whole abdomen. Harp vein one, within mirror same as rounded short vein present. Hind wing present, lateral side of tegmina with two longitudinal veins and lateral file deeper than lateral lobe of pronotum. Apical area vestigial or absent. Fore tibia with oval-shaped outer and inner tympanum. Hind femur without strip; hind tibia with three pairs of dorsal spines on both sides; largest inner apical spur as long as half of basitarsus. Second segment of tibia or second basitarsus heart-shaped. Cercus longer than half of hind femur. Subgenital plate longer than wide, its hind margin narrowly truncated, with a small projected medial lobe.

Female: Female tegmina feebly convex, with distinctly raised longitudinal veins and weakly netted cross veins. Cercus as long as ovipositor; sub-genital plate two times wider than long, its hind margin roundly triangular in shape and two styli present on lower part of sub-genital plate. Ovipositor strongly up curved, half as long as hind femur, from base rather widened and bumpy, with a dorsal groove. Apex of ovipositor with a small tooth-like structure.

Distribution. India and S.E. Asia.