Capnogryllacris (Capnogryllacris) sakaerat subsp. toxica Ingrisch 2018, ssp. nov.
Creators: name: Ingrisch, Sigfrid
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Gryllacrididae
Capnogryllacris
Capnogryllacris sakaerat
Capnogryllacris (c.) sakaerat toxica

description: Capnogryllacris (C.) sakaerat toxica ssp. nov.
Figs. 47 K–L, 48N, 50 E, 51E–F, 100E, 101A
Material examined. Holotype (male): Thailand: Phetchabun, Nam Nao, elev. 1000 m (16°47'N, 101°27'E), 13– 14.ix.1989, leg. S. Ingrisch
Other specimens studied: same data as holotype— 3 females (paratypes) (Bonn ZFMK).
Diagnosis. The new subspecies is close to C. s. sakaerat Dawwrueng et al., 2015 in Gorochov, Dawwrueng & Artchawakom (2015a). It differs in both sexes by markedly shorter wings. The apical spines of the male ninth abdominal tergite with swollen base followed by a long acute spine is similar in both taxa but crossing in C. c. toxica; slight differences might be due to individual variation. The male subgenital plate has the apical margin only slightly concave in C. c. toxica instead of deeper and more angularly excised in C. s. sakaerat, and the styli in C. c. toxica are stout at base and distinctly conical while in C. s. sakaerat they appear of equal width and little curved. The female of C. c. toxica differs from that of C. s. sakaerat by the seventh abdominal sternite having the apical margin slightly concave in middle instead of roundly projecting, the basal groove of the subgenital plate is without stiffened rim, and the apical lobes of the subgenital plate are shorter and more distant from each other than in C. s. sakaerat.
Description. Medium sized species. Head: Face ovoid; forehead in middle with fine riffles, laterally nearly smooth; fastigium verticis distinctly wider than scapus; ocelli distinct; fastigium frontis separated from fastigium verticis by a very fine suture; subocular furrows shallow (Fig. 48N). Abdominal tergites two and three with few largely reduced, indistinct, not easily visible stridulatory pegs.
Wings: Tegmen strongly shortened, surpassing tip of first abdominal tergite but not reaching tip of second tergite (Fig. 47 K–L). Tegmen: venation strongly reduced. Legs: Fore coxa with a spine at fore margin; fore and mid femora unarmed; fore and mid tibiae with four pairs of large ventral spines and one pair of smaller ventral spurs; hind femur with 2–6 external and 3–7 internal spines on ventral margins; hind tibia with spaced spines on both dorsal margins, ventral margins without pre-apical spines, only with 3 apical spurs on both sides.
Coloration. Strikingly colored; dorsally with alternating black and yellow bands and red head; legs medium brown, on underside yellow brown (Figs. 100E, 101A). Face uniformly red brown, ocelli and a spot on clypeus yellow. Tegmen black with a yellow spot at base; a small circle in mid-length and at tip yellowish semi-transparent; hind wing shorter than and hidden under fore wings.
Male. Eighth abdominal tergite not much longer than seventh. Ninth abdominal tergite globular, black, with a light brown furrow in midline, at apex on both sides of furrow with a small yellow swelling followed by a long, black, compressed, acute spine (Fig. 50E). Paraproctes forming extended plates from base of cerci, narrowing and overlapping each other in midline. Subgenital plate wider than long with a slight depression in middle, lateral margin convex, apical margin concave; stout, conical and slightly curved styli inserted at apico-lateral angles.
Female. Seventh abdominal sternite of normal shape but with apical margin faintly concave in middle. Intersegmental membrane between seventh sternite and subgenital plate strongly prolonged; sclerotised part of subgenital plate forming an elevated half-ring with hind margin concave in middle, only laterally it extends as a small band along to about half of that membranous area (Fig. 51E). With a small sclerite before base of ovipositor. Ovipositor elongate, substraight, with slightly converging margins; before tip margins more strongly narrowing, tip subobtuse (Fig. 51F).
Measurements (1 male, 3 females).—body w/o wings: male 30, female 31–33; pronotum: male 5.5, female 6.0–6.5; tegmen: male 7.5, female 7–9; hind femur: male 16.5, female 16.5–17.0; antenna: female 80; ovipositor: female 19.5–22.0 mm.
Discussion. When found, the specimens were sitting free at the roadside in low vegetation during the daytime. This seemed to be a strange behavior as Gryllacridinae are usually nocturnal and hidden during the daytime and very difficult to find. On collecting the individuals were kept separately in rather large glass jars for transport. But a check after less than one hour revealed that they all had died. Opening the jars, a light smell of bitter almonds appeared. They had obviously poisoned themselves as reaction of the previous handling. Thus we may conclude that the conspicuous color of their body is a warning coloration to announce their unpalatability against potential predators.
Etymology. The new subspecies is named for its toxicity.
description: Published as part of Ingrisch, Sigfrid, 2018, New taxa and records of Gryllacrididae (Orthoptera, Stenopelmatoidea) from South East Asia and New Guinea with a key to the genera, pp. 1-278 in Zootaxa 4510 (1) on page 151, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4510.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10072806