Amyttopsis palmulicerca Naskrecki, 2008, n. sp.
Creators: name: Naskrecki, Piotr
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Amyttopsis
Amyttopsis palmulicerca

description: Amyttopsis palmulicerca n. sp.
(Figs. 1A–E; 4B, L; 5B; 6A–C)
Differential diagnosis. This species is diagnosed by the unique combination of long, paddle-shaped cerci of the male and the presence of a partially sclerotized epiphallus, which is evenly covered with tiny denticles and has a pair of large, dorsal tubercles. A. palmulicerca seems to be most closely related to A. vinculata Beier, from which it can be distinguished by the shape of the cercus (cercus with sides nearly parallel in A. vinculata, distinctly narrowing towards apex in A. palmulicerca). From A. podicealata Beier it differs in the development of the basal part of the cercal lobe (with a nearly rectangular projection in A. podicealata, smoothly rounded in A. palmulicerca).
Description.
General. Body small, slender; macropterous (Fig. 6 A–C).
Head. Fastigium of vertex triangular, blunt apically, not reaching apex of antennal sockets, flat dorsally; antennae about twice as long as body; frons flat, vertical; eyes circular, weakly protruding.
Thorax. Lateral lobe of pronotum higher than wide; humeral sinus of pronotum present (Fig. 6 A); anterior margin of pronotum flat; metazona flat; posterior edge of metazona narrowly rounded.
Legs. Legs slender. Front tibia unarmed dorsally, with 5 spines on posterior and 4 on anterior ventral margin; tympanum bilaterally open; genicular lobes of front femur unarmed; front femur unarmed ventrally. Mid tibia unarmed dorsally; thickened in proximal 3/4. with 4 spines on posterior and 5 on anterior ventral margin; mid femur unarmed ventrally; genicular lobes of mid femur unarmed. Hind femur unarmed ventrally; genicular lobes of hind femur unarmed.
Wings. Tegmen narrowly rounded, surpassing apex of hind femur; anterior margin straight; hind wing slightly longer than tegmen. Costal field not dilated at base; veins Sc and R slightly diverging towards apex of tegmen; vein Rs branching off before middle of tegmen, with 3 apical branches; right stridulatory area with small but well developed mirror; left stridulatory area with small, roughly rectangular mirror (Fig. 4 L). Stridulatory file elevated on thickened vein, straight, with 94 teeth, 0.84 mm long, 0.04 mm wide (Fig. 4B).
Abdomen. Tenth tergite with posterior, lower corners forming pair of elongate, apically flattened projections (Fig. 1B); epiproct small, triangular. Cercus unarmed, strongly dilated and extended apically, paddlelike; apex strongly flattened dorso-ventrally, narrower than base of cercal lobe (Figs. 1A, C); paraprocts unmodified; epiphallus evenly covered with minute denticles, with pair of large tubercles basally (Fig. 5B). Subgenital plate unmodified. broadly trapezoidal; with deep, triangular incision; styli cylindrical, about 3 times as long as wide (Fig. 1B). Female subgenital plate broadly trapezoidal, with very shallow apical incision (Fig. 1D).
Ovipositor. Ovipositor slightly curved, shorter than hind femur (ratio femur/ovipositor 1.13); apex pointed, with both valvulae smooth, dorsal edge of upper valvula parallel to lower valvula (Fig. 1E).
Coloration. Coloration light green; antennae concolorous; eyes uniformly colored; face without darker markings; occiput without markings; pronotum without markings; prozona green; tegmen without markings; without any markings; hind wing hyaline; hind legs uniformly colored; abdominal sterna and subgenital plate without markings.
Measurements (5 males, 2 females). body w/wings: male 21–23 (22±1), female 21–23 (22±1.4); body w/o wings: male 12–15 (13.5±1.4), female 17.5–18.5 (18±.7); pronotum: male 4–4.3 (4.1±.1), female 3.5–4 (3.8±.4); tegmen: male 18–19 (18.5±.5), female 16.5–19 (17.8±1.8); hind femur: male 9.5–10 (9.8±.4), female 9; ovipositor: 7.5–8 (7.8±.4) mm.
Material examined. GHANA: Eastern Region, Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve, elev. 300–320 m (6°22'2.3''N, 1°1'58''W), 26–30.viii. 2006, coll. P. Naskrecki, V. Awotwe-Pratt and M. Bakowski (Camp 1) – male holotype (ANSP), 2 females, 4 males (paratypes) (ANSP, MCZ); Atewa Range, Asiakwa (South), elev. 690 m (6°15'44.3''N, 0°33'18.8''W), 11–16.vi. 2006, coll. P. Naskrecki (Camp 2) - 1 male (paratype) (MCZ).
Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin word “palmula”, or the blade of the oar, with respect to the paddle-like shape of the male’s cercus.
description: Published as part of Naskrecki, Piotr, 2008, New species of arboreal predatory katydids from West Africa (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae), pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 1732 on pages 6-7, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.181351