Eurepa bifasciata ( Chopard, 1951 ) Robillard & Su, 2018

Robillard, Tony & Su, You Ning, 2018, New lineages of Lebinthini from Australia (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Eneopterinae), Zootaxa 4392 (2), pp. 241-266 : 245-246

Eurepa bifasciata ( Chopard, 1951) n. comb.

( Figs 3 , 4 )

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:500993

Lebinthus bifasciatus Chopard, 1951: 482 . Chopard 1968: 354. Otte & Alexander 1983: 308. Robillard & Desutter-Grandcolas 2004: 291. Cigliano et al. 2017 ( Orthoptera Species File Online).

Type material. Male holotype: Australia, Northern Territory, Daly River , H. Wesselman ( SAM) [not examined]. Female allotype , Australia. N.T. [Northern Territory], G.H. Hill, Mary Riv [er], syntype ♀ T10780, photographed specimen (QM) [examined] . Northern Territory, Port Darwin , 1♂ ( SAM) [not examined].

Additional materials examined. Australia, Tindal , 8 mi ESE of Katherine, NT [Northern Territory], 14.31S 132.22E, 6.xii.1967, 1♂ ; 5.xii.1967, 1♀, W. J.M. Vestjens ( ANIC). 5 mi. NW of Adelaide River (town) NT, 31.x.1965, 1♂, A . Mesa & R. Sandulski ( ANIC). Kapalga ( CSIRO Research Site ), NT, 12.40S 132.24E, 1.xi.1991, 5♂, 2♀, D . C.F. Rentz stop 61 ( ANIC 14-008552 - 14-008556 ) ( ANIC, MNHN). Pethericks Rainforest Reserve, Litchfield Park NT, 13.07S 130.40E, 29.x.1991, 3♀, D . C.F. Rentz stop 56 ( ANIC Database NO.14-008558, 14- 0 0 8661, 14-008662) ( ANIC).

Discussion. Close examination of the type series revealed that this species also belongs to the tribe Eurepini , based on the definition of the eneopterine tribes and the key of Robillard (2006). The following characters were examined to support this transfer as for L. miripara : inner tympanum absent, membrane of outer tympanum smooth, male FW venation with CuP extending posteriorly beyond file level, male subgenital plate without swellings on dorsal margin; male genitalia with ramal plates, lateral arms of endophallic sclerite directly prolonged by sclerotization of ectophallic fold, apex of ventral valve of female ovipositor entirely covered by dorsal valves. In addition, the epistomal suture on face is interrupted between the tentorial insertions, with a transversal furrow underlying the median ocellus, which is only found in Eurepini genera.

As for the previous species, the attribution of the species to one of the five Eurepini genera is very speculative. Male FW venation with a small mirror, not rounded, points toward Salmanites and Arilpa . The female type has no wings ( Chopard 1951; Figs. 3A,B,E ). However female non-type specimens all show wings reaching abdomen midlength ( Fig. 3F ), which may indicate that the species is winged but that Chopard’s allotype lost its wings; it remains compatible with Salmanites and some Eurepa species, which include winged and almost apterous species ( Otte & Alexander 1983).The large size of the ovipositor (2.5 longer than FIII) would exclude Eurepella and Arilpa , and is compatible with Eurepa and Myara . The general shape of the male genitalia and in particular the shape of the pseudepiphallic parameres with anterior projections is however clearly a characteristic of Eurepa . In conclusion, the species could either correspond to a new genus, given the original combination of characters, or to a very diverging species of Eurepa or Salmanites . In a conservative way, we consider the species as Eurepa bifasciata n. comb., but this hypothesis will have to be tested in a forthcoming revision of the Eurepini genera and with molecular evidence.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Eurepa bifasciata (Chopard, 1951) n. comb.: female allotype in dorsal (A) and lateral (B) views; male in dorsal (C) and lateral (D) views; base of abdomen of female paratype (E); dorsal view of female FWs (non type) (F); face (G); male FW in dorsal view (holotype) (H). Scale bars: A-D, G, H, 5 mm; E-F, 1 mm. Photos A, B, E © Queensland Museum, Geoff Thompson.

FIGURE 4. Eurepa bifasciata (Chopard, 1951) n. comb.: male genitalia in dorsal (A), ventral (B), lateral (C), dorso-lateral (D) and ventro-lateral (E) views. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.