Melanogryllus chopardi Bey-Bienko 1968
Creators: name: Wang, Ning
name: Huang, Huateng
name: Ma, Li-Bin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Gryllidae
Melanogryllus
Melanogryllus chopardi

description: Melanogryllus chopardi Bey-Bienko, 1968
Chinese name: Ḃṯḡē
Figs. 1; 2E; 4A; 5
Melanogryllus chopardi Bey-Bienko, 1968: 66; Ingrisch, 1990:164
Materials examined. China: 1 male and 1 female, Gyirong County, Xizang, 3-v-2023, Libin Ma coll. (SNNU).
Description. Male. Medium-sized body for Gryllinae, relatively wide. Vertex broad and flattened; occiput flattened and covered with a few short hairs. Eyes slightly protruding; lateral ocelli larger and ovoid, median ocellus shaped as a triangular. The frontal rostrum broad, about three times wider than the antennal scape. Anteclypeus trapezoidal with significant grooves; postclypeus narrowly banded, extending to low parts of antennae socket. Labrum shaped as a shield. The apical margin slightly rounded. Labial palpus three, the length of the third segment equal to the length of the first two segments. Maxillary palpus five, the length of the end section significantly longer than the third section. Pronotum broad with anterior and posterior margins straight. Four oblique veins, slightly curved; three chord veins and the inner two curved, and a transverse vein between the inner chord vein and the diagonal vein. Diagonal vein straight. The mirror obliquely rectangular, and dividing vein absent. Inner tympanum small, hardly visible; outer tympanum elongate-oval. The posterior femora developed, longer than the abdomen; each side of the posterior tibiae armed with six dorsal spurs. The inner apical spurs three with the ventral one 1/3 length of the other two; the outer apical spurs three with the middle one longest. The cercus equal to the length of the abdomen.
Male genitalia. Genital apparatus with a large spermatophore sac. The lateral view of the epiphallus almost lamellate and more curved. The epiphallus large and U-shaped in dorsal view; the middle lobe degenerate and its anterior with a large notch; the posterior of the epiphallus curved and broadly rounded. The lateral lobe narrowed and the middle expanding to the sides. Ectoparamere forming two branches, the outer branch lamellar and wider, the inner branch relatively long and curved.
Female. Resembles the male. Ovipositor developed, longer than the abdomen.
Coloration. The posterior margin of the eyes having a yellow elongate spot. Ocelli and forewings brownish yellow. Other parts black.
Measurements. Male (n=1). BL 14.64, HL 2.48, HW 4.94, PL 3.54, PW 5.28, FWL 8.62, HFL 11.71. Female (n=1). BL 16.60, HL 3.37, HW 5.07, PL 4.02, PW 5.51, FWL 5.71, HFL 12.13.
Remarks. M. chopardi was first discovered in China. This species has a wider body than the M. desertus and M. bilineatus, and the head and pronotum are covered with fewer short hairs than M. bilineatus. The following features of the forewings also allow us to distinguish this species: the apical field of the forewing is wider, and the mirror lacks dividing veins. Not only do males differ in these characteristics, but the female has short wings and the longest ovipositor, which can also be used as valid taxonomic characters to help us in species identification.
description: Published as part of Wang, Ning, Huang, Huateng & Ma, Li-Bin, 2023, Redescription of two species and a new distribution record for China of the genus Melanogryllus Chopard, 1961 and a report of one new species of the genus Velarifictorus Randell, 1964 (Orthoptera: Gryllidae; Gryllinae), pp. 269-278 in Zootaxa 5360 (2) on pages 274-275, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5360.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/10085067