Pizacris zefai Mews & Sperber 2010, n. comb.
Creators: name: Souza-Dias, Pedro G. B.
name: Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure
name: Pereira, Marcelo Ribeiro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Phalangopsidae
Pizacris
Pizacris zefai

description: Pizacris zefai (Mews & Sperber, 2010) n. comb.
Figures 1–3, 7
Mellopsis zefai: Mews et al. (2010): 164; de Mello et al. (2013): 92
Diagnosis. Within the genus, P. zefai n. comb. can be recognized by the following characters: TI bearing only the internal tympanum; male FWs coriaceous, reaching the first tergite, lustrous, and slightly pubescent; with rounded posterior margin and without stridulatory file or specialized veins. Male genitalia with a pair of phallic vesicles, ventrally visible; ventral part of pseudepiphallic sclerite less than half size of dorsal pseudepiphallic paramere (PsP2—see Discussion below); ventral pseudepiphallic paramere (PsP1) smaller than PsP2; PsP2 longer than wide in lateral view, rounded; endophallic sclerite long, reaching the basis of PsP1 and visible in ventral and dorsal views.
Type locality. Brazil, Minas Gerais State, Viçosa municipality, Mata da Biologia.
Type material. Neotype (preserved in ethanol 85%): 1 male, labeled “ Brazil, Minas Gerais, Viçosa, Mata da Biologia, 03.ix.2007, Pereira leg. (MZSP).
Non-type material (topotypes): 2 males, labeled “ Brazil, Minas Gerais, Viçosa, Mata da Biologia, 17.vi.2013, Fabiene M. Jesus leg. (2 males) (MZSP); 4 females, labeled “ Brazil, Minas Gerais, Viçosa, fragmento P4, 16.xii.1993, P4B1 #2969, Sperber leg. (2 females) (MZSP); “ Brazil, Minas Gerais, Viçosa, Mata da Biologia, 17.vi.2013, Fabiene M. Jesus leg. (2 females) (MZSP).
Other specimens examined (non-type material). 1 male, labeled “ Brazil, Espirito Santo, Santa Teresa, Estação Biológica Santa Lúcia, 17.vi.2013 —coleta ativa. Marcelo R. Pereira, Thiago G. Kloss, Fabiene M. de Jesus, Gabriel L. de Oliveira leg.”; 1 female, same data as the other non-type specimen.
Redescription. In addition to the characters of the genus:
Head: head densely pilose, dark brown in dorsal view (Fig. 2 C). Occiput dark brown with a pair of central, triangle-like yellowish brown stripes (Fig. 2 C). Vertex and median part of fastigium dark brown (Fig. 2 C); fastigium with thick bristles on median part, below vertex level and separated from vertex by a yellow brown line, not a transverse furrow, this line surrounding lateral ocelli (Figs. 2 C–E); fastigium wider than scape (Figs. 2 C, E); median part of fastigium laterally surrounded by a yellow brown stripe and a dark brown stripe on inner side of scape (Fig. 2 E). Antennal scape and pedicel medium brown (Fig. 2 C); antenomeres lighter than scape, with interspersed dark brown antenomeres. Gena and frons dark brown, uniform (Fig. 2 E) or with a medium brown stripe in posterior margin of gena (present in some specimens) (Fig. 2 D). Mandibles dark brown. Clypeus light brown, anterior margin dark brown; labrum light brown. Maxillary palpi: first and second joints dark brown on ventral part, light brown on dorsal and whitish in apex; third joint longest, same color as previous ones; 4 and 5 joint whitish, with a small dark brown stripe on ventral part; fifth joint curved, apex rounded (Fig. 2 E).
Thorax: Pronotum dark brown, uniform, densely pilose (Figs. 2 A, C, D). Disk of pronotum, lateral borders and lateral lobes dark brown, uniform; cephalic margin almost straight; caudal margin slightly convex (Figs. 2 A, C, D, E). Metanotum without glandular structures.
Legs: Legs I and II medium brown, with sparse dark spots; apex of TI and TII dark brown; TI with elliptical tympanum, with two ventral apical spurs; TII with four apical spurs, the inner largest; tibiae I, II and III medium and yellow brown, marbled; FIII light brown, inflated on basis, without longitudinal dark brown stripe, with dark transverse striae. Subapical spurs: 4/4. Apical spurs: the inner longer than outer; inner apical spurs: dorsal (iad) and median (iam) equal in length (Fig. 2 J); outer apical spurs: the median (oam) longer (Fig. 2 I). Basitarsus III elongated, bearing a double file of small spines.
Abdomen: Abdomen pubescent; tergites dark brown, uniform (Figs. 1 A, B, 2A); tergal gland on third tergite visible in distended specimens. Sternites light brown, the distal darker as subgenital plate. Cerci medium brown. Supra anal plate shield-shaped, pubescent, dark brown; proximal margin straight; distal margin rounded, wide, without extended angles (Fig. 2 K). Subgenital plate elongated, pubescent, dark brown; proximal margin concave; median portion of distal margin broadly convex, with extended angles, resembling an open “W (Fig. 2 N).
Male. Male FWs coriaceous, dark brown, reduced, reaching the first tergite, lustrous and slightly pubescent (Figs. 1 A, B, 2 A, C); presence of bristles on its ventral face, probably glandular; posterior margin rounded; without stridulatory file or specialized veins for sound production; apex of FWs black, on both faces (Figs. 2 F, G).
Male genitalia. Pseudepiphallic sclerite transverse, composed by a median part, visible in dorsal and ventral view (Figs. 3 A–D); pseudepiphallic arms small, thin, ventrally-oriented and presenting a small ventral projection next to the phallic vesicle (Figs 3 C, D); pseudepiphallic arm clearly separated ventrally from the median part of the pseudepiphallus (Figs. 3 C, D), this separation more or less visible laterally (Figs. 3 E, F). Dorsal pseudepiphallic parameres (PsP2) longer than wide in lateral view, the ventral part of its apex elongated (Figs. 3 E, F), highly sclerotized, and uncovered (Figs. 3 A–D); ventral pseudepiphallic parameres (PsP1) smaller than PsP2 (Figs. 3 C, D). A pair of phallic vesicles, ventrally visible, located near the ventral projection of pseudepiphallic arms (Figs. 3 C, D). Rami elongated, longer than the ectophallic apodemes (Figs. 3 A–F). Ectophallic apodemes elongated (Figs. 3 A–F); ectophallic arc located anteriorly to the median part of pseudepiphallic sclerite (Figs. 3 A, B). Endophallic sclerite longitudinal, elongated, reaching the basis of the PsP1 and visible in ventral and dorsal views (Figs. 3 A–D); endophallic apodemes laterally expanded, robust, well developed (Figs. 3 A–D).
Female topotype: Larger than male; general appearance and coloration similar to male: body dark brown, almost uniform, densely pilose (Figs. 1 B, 2B). Presence of a pair of median, yellow brown spots from third to sixth tergite (Fig. 2 B). Female FWs reduced to a very small scale (Fig. 2 H). Supra anal plate densely pilose, proximal margin slightly concave and distal rounded (Fig. 2 L). Subgenital plate small, distal margin bilobate (Fig. 2 M). Ovipositor longer than FIII and TIII. Female genitalia. Copulatory papilla longer than wide, apex pointed, with convex basis in ventral view (Figs 3 G–I).
Measurements (mm). Male neotype: Hw, 2.38; iod, 1.54; Lpron, 1.73; awpron, 2.34; pwpron, 2.69; wpron, 3.08; LFW, 1.60; wFW, 1.45; LFIII, 8.85; wFIII, 2.26; LTIII, 9.09; LtarsI–III, 2.30.
Habitat. The species of this genera seem to be restricted to forest habitat, occurring on leaf litter but not found in trunks of living trees.
Notes on reproductive behavior (Figs. 7 A–C). During a field trip, after being collected, two individuals of P. zefai n. comb. started to perform the reproductive behavior. Although it was not possible to see the entire reproductive behavior since the courtship was not observed, and only one copulation event was observed, we could get some information about the mating behavior. The copulatory position in P. zefai n. comb. is female-above (Alexander & Otte, 1967), with male showing its raised FWs (Figs. 7 A–C); this position is widespread among Luzarinae and described in all Brazilian species studied so far (see de Mello & dos Reis, 1994; Prado, 2005; Zefa et al., 2008). During mating, the female touches the dorsum of male’s head and pronotum with the maxillary palpi, and the ventral surface of male’s FW with labial palpi, while the female copulatory papilla is everted and attached to male phallic complex by the pseudepiphallic parameres (Figs. 7 A, B). Then, the female begun to touch the ventral surface of male’s raised FW with mandible, indicating that she possibly feeds on secretions produced in the ventral surface of male’s FW, which is covered by very small bristles (Fig. 7 C). In Guabamima, a close genus, the male’s FW have a glandular area on ventral surface, also covered by bristles; its reproductive behavior, however, is unknown. The position female-above was maintained during the entire mating process; the same position was observed in an undescribed species of Endecous and in Eidmanacris meridionalis Desutter-Grandcolas, 1995 (Souza-Dias, unpubl. data). Prado (2006) and Zefa et al. (2010) reported that in Eidmanacris corumbatai Garcia, 1998, and Adelosgryllus rubricephalus Mesa & Zefa, 2004, respectively, an end-to-end position is performed at the final stage of copulation, indicating that different final mating positions may occur between Luzarinae, even in a same genus as in Eidmanacris.
description: Published as part of Souza-Dias, Pedro G. B., Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure & Pereira, Marcelo Ribeiro, 2015, Pizacris: a new genus and two new species of Luzarinae cricket close to Guabamima de Mello, 1992 and Mellopsis Mews & Sperber, 2010 (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Luzarinae), pp. 374-388 in Zootaxa 3956 (3) on pages 382-384, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3956.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/238600