Rombophora, Yong, 2019

Yong, Sheyla, 2019, Three new genera and four new species of katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Cuba and Hispaniola, Greater Antilles, Ecologica Montenegrina 20 (2019), pp. 222-256 : 229

Rombophora new genus

Figures 4–6 , 16 , 20c–d , 23 . Table II

Type species: Rombophora sierramaestrae n. sp., by present designation.

Diagnosis (Based mostly on females). Body stout and medium-sized for the subfamily (18–19 mm). Both sexes macropterous; tegmina rhomboidal, sexually dimorphic (shorter, wider and more angulose in male), surpassing tip of abdomen (male), but not reaching tip of ovipositor (female); hind wings fully developed. Head with smooth tegument, lacking any keels. Fastigium very large, sharp and slightly curved downwards, upper surface with minute denticles in basal half, base of fastigium with a very large tooth, vertically separated by a deep notch from a large frontal tooth. Eyes small and spherical. Pronotum almost as long as wide; dorsal disk strongly projected, paraboloid; longitudinal sulcus inconspicuous. Legs slender and ventrally armed with minute spines; genicular spines very long and sharp. Female cerci unmodified, broadly conical. Ovipositor moderately short (but longer than abdomen), slender, straight and entirely smooth.

Etymology. The generic epithet is an arbitrary combination of letters, which mixes the Spanish word ''rombo'' (meaning "rhomb" and alluding to tegmina shape) with the final syllables of Copiphora Serville, 1831 (its putative closest relative). It is declared here feminine in gender.

Comparisons. Rombophora n. gen. most closely resembles Copiphora , Acantheremus Karny, 1907 (both Neotropical) and Pyrgocorypha Stål, 1873 (native to Asia and America).

From both Copiphora and Acantheremus , the new genus can be separated as follows: 1) Size smaller. 2) Prosternum with a pair of conical spines. 3) Base of fastigium narrower than scapus. 4) Genae lacking lateral carinae. 5) Mesotibia dorsally unarmed. 6) Ovipositor moderately short with smooth apex. In the other two genera, size is larger, prosternal spines are absent, fastigium base is wider than scapus, genae have moderate to strong lateral carinae, mesotibia is dorsally armed with spines (always in Copiphora , usually in Acantheremus ), and ovipositor is remarkably different (much to exaggeratedly longer in Copiphora , longer and with apex minutely serrate in Acantheremus ).

Last, Rombophora n. gen. can be separated from Pyrgocorypha by: 1) Size smaller. 2) Tegument mainly smooth and glossy, on pronotum feebly punctate. 3) Base of fastigium narrower than scapus. 4) Fastigium dorsally with minute denticles in basal half and apically not hooked. 5) Meso- and metasternum lacking lateral basisternal lobes. 6) Ovipositor shorter and slightly curved upwards. In Pyrgocorypha size is larger, the tegument is moderately granulose in a reticulate pattern, fastigium base is wider than scapus, fastigium shape is different (dorsally lacking denticles and apically hooked), meso- and metasternum possess lateral basisternal lobes and ovipositor is longer and straight.

Distribution (fig. 23). Monotypic genus, known only from the high peaks (1,000 –1,752 m. a.s.l) of the Sierra Maestra. From the scarce data available, the single species is endemic to these mountains, but widespread across its two main sections: the western Turquino Range and the eastern Gran Piedra Range.

Figures

Figure 4. Adult female holotype of Rombophora sierramaestrae n. gen., n. sp., full-body views: a) dorsal; b) lateral; c) ventral. Scale bar in millimeters.

Figure 5. Adult female holotype of Rombophora sierramaestrae n. gen., n. sp., close-up views: a) head and pronotum, dorsal; b) head and pronotum, lateral; c) head, frontal; d) apex of abdomen, dorsal; e) apex of abdomen, ventral; f) Sternites; g) apex of abdomen and ovipositor, lateral.

Figure 6. Adult females of Rombophora sierramaestrae n. gen., n. sp., from FZ collection.

Figure 16. Live habitus of Rombophora sierramaestrae n. gen., n. sp., in natural habitat: a) adult male from Aguada de Joaquín; b–c) adult female paratopotypes; d) juvenile female paratopotype. Photo a credit Eladio Fernández, modified from Navarro (2010: 304).

Figure 20. Habitat of Anacaona bellatrix n. gen., n. sp. (a–b) and Rombophora sierramaestrae n. gen., n. sp. (c–d): a) Los Tres Charcos; b) road from Cabral to Polo; c) Aguada de Joaquín; d) La Gran Piedra. Photos a–c courtesy of Rolando Teruel.

Figure 23. Geographical distribution of the genus Rombophora n. gen. and its single species Rombophora sierramaestrae n. gen, n. sp.: type locality (red symbol), additional localities (yellow symbols). Image frame = 500 x 220 km, inset = 20 x 13 km.