Pixibinthus Robillard & Anso, 2016

Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, Anso, Jérémy & Jourdan, Hervé, 2016, Crickets of New Caledonia (Insecta, Orthoptera, Grylloidea): a key to genera, with diagnoses of extant genera and descriptions of new taxa, Zoosystema 38 (4), pp. 405-452 : 446

Genus Pixibinthus Robillard & Anso, 2016

Pixibinthus Robillard & Anso in Anso et al., 2016b: 12.

TYPE SPECIES. — Pixibinthus sonicus Anso & Robillard, 2016 , by original designation.

ILLUSTRATIONS. — Habitus: Fig. 15F . Male genitalia: Anso et al. 2016b: fig. 4. Calling song: Anso et al. 2016b: fig. 7.

DIAGNOSIS. — After Anso et al. (2016b). Size very small, smaller than all previously described species of Lebinthus from the Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu. As in Lebinthus and Agnotecous, FW short and HWs absent in both sexes, but: body stocky; head shape more rounded in front view; eyes small, representing about 35 % of head width in dorsal view; fastigium as wide as three times scape width; ocelli very small. Coloration: Body mostly brown to dark brown, slightly contrasted, with lighter legs; cheeks entirely shiny black; FW mostly gray to dark brown with pale basal area; veins orange brown; dorsal part of lateral field whitish.

Male. Genitalia: Pseudepiphallic sclerite triangular; apex elongate without paired lobes and forming a wide gutter; rami short; ectophallic fold long, with elongate lateral sclerites forming a “)(“ pattern; its apex triangular and membranous; ectophallic apodemes parallel and long, their apex lamellate; ectophallic arc well sclerotized, wide and slightly cuved posteriorly, with a small medio-posterior expansion.

Female. FWs as long as in males, unlike in most Lebinthus species; slightly overlapping.

CALLING SONG. — Short trill emitted at a dominant frequency of about 28 kHz ( Anso et al. 2016b).

DISTRIBUTION. — Endemic to New Caledonia; known from maquis vegetation in the South of Province Sud.

HABITAT. — After Anso et al. (2016b), Pixibinthus is a straminicolous, nocturnal species.

Figures

FIG. 15. — New Caledonian Euscyrtinae Gorochov,1985 (A), Oecanthinae Blanchard,1845 (B) and Eneopterinae Saussure,1874 (C-F) (Gryllidae):A, Proturana sp., from Sarramea, by day (Photo PG); B, Oecanthus rufescens Serville, 1839, from Col des Roussettes, by night (Photo JA); C, Cardiodactylus novaeguineae (de Haan, 1842), from Lifou (Loyalty Islands), by night (Photo PG); D, Agnotecous sp., from Col de Mouirange, by day (Photo LDG); E, Lebinthus lifouensis Desutter- Grandcolas, 1997, from Lifou, by day (Photo PG); F, Pixibinthus sonicus Anso & Robillard, 2016, from Col de la Madeleine, by day (Photo JA). Scale bars: 2 mm.