Loveridgacris tectiferus Yetchom Fondjo & Husemann & Nzoko Fiemapong & Missoup & Kenne & Tindo & Hawlitschek & Duressa & Xu & Zhu & Hemp 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yetchom Fondjo, Jeanne Agrippine
name: Husemann, Martin
name: Nzoko Fiemapong, Armand Richard
name: Missoup, Alain Didier
name: Kenne, Martin
name: Tindo, Maurice
name: Hawlitschek, Oliver
name: Duressa, Tarekegn Fite
name: Xu, Sheng-Quan
name: Zhu, Wenhui
name: Hemp, Claudia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Pyrgomorphidae
Loveridgacris
Loveridgacris tectiferus

description: Loveridgacris tectiferus Hemp sp. nov.
Figs 3 A – H, 4 A, B, 5 C, D
Holotype.
Tanzania. • male; Udzungwa Mountains, Mang´ula; in disturbed lowland wet forest at border to National Park; Sep. 2022; Claudia Hemp leg.; Depository: CCH.
Paratypes.
Tanzania. • 2 females; same data as for holotype. Depository: CCH.
Measurements.
(mm) Males (n = 1): Body length: 51.20; Median length of pronotum: 13.60; length of hind femur: 25.00. Females (n = 2): Body length: 47.70–53.60; Median length of pronotum: 21.50–21.70; length of hind femur: 23.90–24.60.
Diagnosis.
Loveridgacris tectiferus sp. nov. can be distinguished from L. impotens by the coloration of the antennae and hind tibiae. In L. impotens, the antennae are light or reddish brown, while in L. tectiferus sp. nov., segments alternate between black and orange (Fig. 4 C, D). Similarly, the hind tibiae are uniformly brown and become darker at their apical parts in L. impotens, but are black with a median dull orange part in L. tectiferus sp. nov. The most noticeable difference between the two species is the shape of the tegmina, which are lobe-like and attached to the abdomen in L. impotens, while tectiform in L. tectiferus sp. nov. Both species are very similar in the overall shape of the head, pronotum, legs, and body, as well as in the tegminal pattern of darker veins on a light brown ground and their size. The epiphallus of both species is also very similar, consisting of hooked lophi and elongate appendices with bulbous end parts. However, in L. tectiferus sp. nov., the lophi are slender, and the hooks are slightly longer than those in L. impotens. Additionally, the appendices of the epiphallus are stouter in L. impotens, and the bridge of the epiphallus is slightly longer than that in L. tectiferus sp. nov. (see Fig. 5 F and 6 C for comparison).
Description.
Male. General coloration. Overall, color brown with antennae with conspicuously black and orange colored segments. Eyes and labrum black. Hind femora ventrally black, hind tibiae black with dull orange middle part (Fig. 4 A). Head and antennae. Antennae thick, rod-like with basal segments black, and then alternating one or two segments orange and black (Fig. 3 A, C). Antennae slightly shorter than head and pronotum together. Fastigium of vertex upcurved, slightly concave in the middle, with acute-angular apex. Frons incurved. Frontal ridge narrow, constricted between antennae (Fig. 3 A). Pronotum and wings. Pronotum in front of first sulcus with large hump, remaining pronotum strongly rugose with elevated ridges and tubercles. Median carina irregular, obtuse, lateral carinae absent. Posterior margin of pronotum with ridge-like tubercles along the edge. Prosternal process low, subpyramidal. Mesosternal interspace wider than long, with deep grooves (Fig. 3 E). Tegmina tectiform, shortened, slightly exceeding abdominal segment 3. Hind wings absent. Abdomen. All abdominal segments with dorsal tubercles. Male supra-anal plate triangular (Fig. 5 A), cerci laterally compressed, black, with blunt apex. Subgenital plate obtusely conical (Fig. 5 B). Internal morphology. Epiphallus typical for Dictyophorini. Lophi of epiphallus strongly sclerotized with well-developed dorsolaterally directed apical hooks. Appendix of the epiphallus with angular externolateral sclerotized processes running parallel to the lophi; apices knob-like with ventral directed dent. Bridge little sclerotized and comparatively narrow.
Female. Larger and stouter than the male, with the same coloration as male; predominantly brown with antennae with black and orange segments, black eyes, and labrum. Underside of hind femora black, hind tibia black with median dull orange part (Fig. 4 B). Antennae, head, and pronotum as male. Supra-anal plate triangular with blunt apex (Fig. 5 C). Cerci laterally compressed, black (Fig. 5 C, D). Ovipositor valves black, straight, rounded, with blunt apices (Fig. 5 C, D).
Etymology.
From Latin: - tectum = roof, because of the tectiform-shaped tegmina.
Habitat.
A geophilous species of lowland wet forest.
Ecology.
In captivity, individuals have the same preference for monocotyledonous plants as observed for Dictyophorus griseus (Rowell et al. 2015). Even when offered various other plants, they preferred to feed on Liliaceae leaves and flowers. Mating took approximately half an hour, and the male sat on top of the female, bending its abdomen under that of the female for copulation (Fig. 5 E). Even when roughly handled, no reflex bleeding was observed, as is common in other Dictyophorini species and also observed in L. impotens (Fig. 1 F).
Nymphs. Unknown but are probably similar to nymphs of L. impotens (Fig. 1 E).
Distribution.
Tanzania, Udzungwa Mountains.
description: Published as part of Yetchom Fondjo, Jeanne Agrippine, Husemann, Martin, Nzoko Fiemapong, Armand Richard, Missoup, Alain Didier, Kenne, Martin, Tindo, Maurice, Hawlitschek, Oliver, Duressa, Tarekegn Fite, Xu, Sheng-Quan, Zhu, Wenhui & Hemp, Claudia, 2024, Integrative taxonomic revision of the grasshopper genera Parapetasia Bolívar, 1884, and Loveridgacris Rehn, 1954 (Orthoptera, Pyrgomorphidae), with description of a new species of Loveridgacris, pp. 265-287 in Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 71 (2) on pages 265-287, DOI: 10.3897/dez.71.125877