Gymnobothrus cruciatus I. Bolivar , 1889

Popov †, George B., Fishpool, Lincoln D. C. & Rowell, C. Hugh F., 2019, A review of the Acridinae s. str. (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Acrididae) of eastern Africa with taxonomic changes and description of new taxa, Journal of Orthoptera Research 28 (2), pp. 37-105 : 72

Gymnobothrus cruciatus I. Bolivar, 1889 Figs 197-203

Gymnobothrus cruciatus I. Bolívar, 1889: 101.

Chortoicetes fallax Karny, 1907 (syn. Dirsh 1966).

Pseudochirista fallax elongata Miller, 1925 (syn. Dirsh 1966).

Pseudochirista meruensis Sjöstedt, 1929 (syn. Uvarov 1953).

Material.

-TANZANIA: Tukuyu vii.1923, N. C. E. Miller (Holotype male and 7 males, 11 female paratypes (some IX.1924) of Pseudochirista fallax elongata Miller); Morogoro; Mpwapwa, Mt. Wilkins 6000' (1830 m); Mkwemi 22 mi. W. Kahama; 60 mi. W. Amani; 6 mi. W. Kibau; 8 mi. S. Chala Mission. UGANDA: Lake George; Kigezi, Kashonji 7000' (2135 m). SOMALIA: Haud. D.R. CONGO: Lake Edward; Kasenyi. ANGOLA: Villa Luso 3000' (915 m), 7.VI.1927, M. Burr (labelled by Uvarov as homotypic with cotype of G. cruciatus I. Bolívar). KENYA: Turkana. ZAMBIA: Kabundi forest at Chingola ( Johnsen 1984).

Description.

-Closely similar to G. longicornis ; similar but of more variable size and of more robust build. Size (in mm): total length males 13-18, females 17-23. Antennae usually thin, barely longer than head and pronotum in male, shorter in female. Frontal ridge broad, narrowly sulcate at medial ocellus, flat or convex elsewhere; margins low and thick, only weakly divergent towards clypeus and constricted at junction with fastigium. Fastigium parabolic; arcuate sulcus near mid position (Fig. 199). Foveolae mostly weak, elongate and narrow, or as series of shallow pits (Fig. 198). Pronotum of rather variable structure; carinae straighter than in longicornis and mostly strong and callose throughout, even between first and second sulci, but becoming obsolete towards rear margin of metazona. Latter longer than prozona and more broadly expanded than in longicornis (Figs 200-202). Epiphallus as in Fig. 197; spermatheca as in Fig. 203.

General coloration brownish, mottled and striped; face often with several alternating horizontal dark and light stripes; occiput and pronotal disc with a pale dorso-medial stripe edged with dark-brown lateral stripes, contrasting with callose ivory-white lateral carinae. Lower posterior part of lateral pronotal lobes with large ochraceous spot; abdomen light brown; tegmina with series of blackish spots in medial area; hind femur uniformly brown, sometimes with a small blackish stripe in middle of upper external area; lower areas brownish or yellowish. Hind tibia brownish with a pale sub-basal ring.

Discussion.

-There is considerable structural, size, and color variation, with some specimens, for instance those from Mt. Wilkins in Tanzania (NHMUK collection), being fairly distinct from others. Subspecies status for them does not, however, seem justified at present. The types of Pseudochirista fallax elongata Miller were examined and are considered conspecific with a specimen of Chortoicetes fallax Karny bearing that author’s name label. A specimen of G. cruciatus I. Bolívar (det. Uvarov) is also a close match with neotype material of I. Bolívar; this confirms the synonymy proposed by Dirsh (1966, 1970), and which is therefore adopted here.

Distribution.

-KENYA, TANZANIA, UGANDA, SOMALIA, D.R. CONGO, ANGOLA, ZAMBIA.