Maeacris chilikuti Cigliano & Pocco & Lange 2011, n. sp.
Creators: name: Cigliano, María Marta
name: Pocco, Martina E.
name: Lange, Carlos E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Acrididae
Maeacris
Maeacris chilikuti

description: Maeacris chilikuti n. sp.   
(Figs 2 A-K; 5A, B; 6A-C; 10)  
 TYPE MATERIAL. — Peru. Ancash, 8 km from Catac to Chavin, 3786 m, 09°45’23.6’S, 77°23.4’48.5’’W, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, holotype ♂, allotype ♀ (MLPA).   
 PARATYPES. — Peru. Ancash, Callejón de Huaylas, 65 km S Huaraz, Puente Ucushaca, 3933 m, 09°59’0.2’’S, 77°20’33.9’’W, 23.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, 2 km from Catac to Chavin, 3571 m, 09°46’49.5’’S, 77°25’08.8’’W, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, 5 km from Conococha on road to Barranca, 3928 m, 10°09’10.6”S, 77°19’05.4”W, 1.III.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (MNHN), 10 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, Pque. Nac. Huascarán, Laguna Querococha on road to Chavin, 4168 m, 09°43’06.3”S, 77°18’55.2”W, 15. V.2004, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♂ (MLPA). — Ancash, 8 km from Catac on road to Chavin, 3786 m, 09°45’23.6’’S, 77°23.4’48.5’’W, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, 17 km S Paso Abra Yanashallash on road to La Union, 09°56’41.6”S, 77°05’28.2”W, 15. V.2004, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, Pque. Nac. Huascarán, Sector Carpa, 5 km before Nevado Pastoruri, 4660 m, 09°53’00”S, 77°12’04.2”W, 14. V.2004, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♂, 10 ♀♀ (MLPA), 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀ (MNHN).   
 OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Peru. Ancash, 8 km from Catac on road to Chavin, 3786 m, 09°45’23.6’’S, 77°23.4’48.5’’W, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 5 ♂♂, 10 ♀♀, 5 nymphs (MLPA). — Ancash, 2 km from Catac to Chavin, 3571 m, 09°46’49.5’’S, 77°25’08.8’’W, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♂, 6 ♀♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, Pque. Nac. Huascarán, Sector Carpa, 5 km before Nevado Pastoruri, 4660 m, 09°53’00”S, 77°12’04.2”W, 14.V.2004, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 nymph (MLPA). — Ancash, 17 km S Paso Abra Yanashallash on road to La Union, 09°56’41.6”S, 77°05’28.2”W, 15.V.2004, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♂, 4 ♀♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, 5 km from Conococha on road to Barranca, 3928 m, 10°09’10.6”S, 77°19’05.4”W, 1.III.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 14 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ (MLPA).— Ancash, Pque.Nac.Huascarán, Laguna Querococha on road to Chavin, 4168 m, 09°43’06.3”S, 77°18’55.2”W, 15.V.2004, Cigliano & Lange, 2 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, Callejón de Huaylas, 65 km S Huaraz, Puente Ucushaca, 3933 m, 09°59’0.2’’S, 77°20’33.9’’W, 23.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 2 ♀♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, 4 km E detour to Chiquian, 4062 m, 10°06’32.1”S, 77°11’08.9”W, 1.III.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♀, 8 nymphs (MLPA). — Ancash, 1 km after Paso Tunel Kawish on road to Chavin from Catac, 4315 m, 09°41’24.2’’S, 77°14’39.8’’W, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 2 ♀♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, Parque Nacional Huascarán, Laguna Querococha, 4045 m, 09°43’44.0’’S, 77°19’53.9’W’, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 1 ♀ (MLPA). — Ancash, Pque. Nac. Huascarán, to Chavin from Catac, Paso Puente Tunel Kawish, 4455 m, 09°41’23.0’’S, 77°15’23.5’’W, 26.II.2008, Cigliano & Lange, 1 nymph (MLPA).   
TYPE LOCALITY. — Peru, Ancash, 8 km from Catac to Chavin, 3786 m, 09°45’23.6’’S 77°23.4’48.5”W.  
 ETYMOLOGY. — “Ch’ilikuti” means small in native Quechua language and it refers to the smaller size of this species compared to Maeacris aptera.   
DISTRIBUTION. — Peru, Ancash (Fig. 10).  
 HABITAT. — In puna grassland areas with bunchgrasses of Festuca and Poa forming tussocks. Spaces around the tussocks filled by numerous cushion and rosette herbs, including non-tussock-forming grasses and sedges, prostrate or low-growing forbs.   
 DIAGNOSIS. — Maeacris chilikuti n. sp. is distinguished from the type species based on characters of the phallic complex (Fig. 2 G-K) and the following characters of the external morphology: smaller size (M. aptera: males: 13-14.3 mm; females: 15,5- 17mm); fastigium more prominent; pronotum not constricted at the middle; male epiproct wider than long; external apical spine absent; ovipositor without pre-apical tooth.   
DESCRIPTION  
 Males   
In addition to the features of the genus, body ground colour variable; both sexes show green-brown varia - tion, with some specimens being mainly greenish on top of the body and others brownish.Body with two longitudinal light coloured bands (cream in green morphs; grey-brownish in brown morphs) extending from the fastigium along the body dorsally.Pronotal lobes with dark green or dark brown post-ocular band, limited by a longitudinal cream stripe. Hind femur with dorsal area brownish (brown morphs) or greenish (green morphs), outer face brown, ventral area cream or yellowish, inner face brownish at upper half and cream at bottom half; hind tibiae light green to cream. Venter of abdomen cream. In some females, the ventral area of hind femur and hind tibia is reddish. Hind tibia without external apical spine. Male epiproct triangular and wider than long, with a pair of distal tubercles (Fig. 2C). Phallic complex (Figs 2 G-K; 6A-C): cingulum widely developed dorsally; arch of cingulum bilobed; valves of aedeagus up curved,obliquely truncated in dorsal view,concave in ventral view; sheath of aedeagus with median deep excision and with a pair of basal lobes.  
Measurements (in mm): body length to apex of hind femur: 11.93 (10.5-13); hind femur length: 6.59 (5.5-7).  
 Females   
Similar to males (Fig. 2E, F), but larger; head with fastigium more prominent; eyes subtrigonal and ovipositor valves long, slender, without pre-apical tooth.  
Measurements (in mm): body length to apex of hind femur: 13.91 (12-16.5) female; hind femur length: 8.40 (7.5-9.5).
description: Published as part of Cigliano, María Marta, Pocco, Martina E. & Lange, Carlos E., 2011, Grasshoppers of the Andes: new Melanoplinae and Gomphocerinae taxa (Insecta, Orthoptera, Acrididae) from Huascarán National Park and Callejón de Huaylas, Ancash, Peru, pp. 523-544 in Zoosystema 33 (4) on pages 532-533, DOI: 10.5252/z2011n4a5, http://zenodo.org/record/5166897