Pharmacus concinnus Hegg & Morgan-Richards & Trewick 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Hegg, Danilo
name: Morgan-Richards, Mary
name: Trewick, Steven A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Rhaphidophoridae
Pharmacus
Pharmacus concinnus

description: Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 2582DF14-FB0D-4F8B-A393-6F731907EB8B
Figs 1–2, 6, 8I, 9G, 11D–F, 13D–F, 15D, 17A, 18F
Diagnosis
A mid-sized cave wētā known only from the alpine regions of the Eyre Mountains south of Lake Wakatipu; it is the largest of all Pharmacus species. Body colour is dark, nearly black.
It shares the habitat with Talitropsis chopardi and Macropathus sp. The former has lighter colour, shorter legs and fewer, larger spines on the hind tibiae, and unarmed hind tarsi; the latter has uniform brown colour and much longer legs, which give the insect a very slender appearance.
The species cannot be reliably differentiated from Pharmacus cochleatus comb. nov. without an examination of the terminalia. The two species however are not sympatric.
Etymology
‘ Concīnnus ’ is Latin for ‘pleasing’, ‘elegant’, also ‘symmetrical’, after the Symmetry Peaks in the Eyre Mountains where it was first discovered. Pharmacus concinnus means ‘elegant sorcerer’.
Material examined (see also Supp. file 1: Table S9)
Holotype NEW ZEALAND • ♂, adult; Otago Lakes (OL), Symmetry Peaks, Eyre Mountains; 45.27797° S, 168.59113° E; 1500 m a.s.l.; 12 May 2018; D. Hegg leg.; on rock tor; night search + insect net; NMNZ AI.052298 (prev. MPN CW3853).
Paratype NEW ZEALAND • 1 ♀, adult; same collection data as for holotype; NMNZ AI.052299 (prev. MPN CW3843).
Other material
NEW ZEALAND – Otago Lakes (OL) • 1 nymph; same collection data as for holotype; GenBank: OM293707; MPN CW4023A • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 4 nymphs; same collection data as for holotype; MPN CW3842, CW3852, CW4023B to CW4023E • 1 ♀; Eyre Peak, Eyre Mountains; 45.33260° S, 168.47225° E; 1500 m a.s.l.; 16 Feb. 2019; D. Hegg leg.; on rock bluffs; night search + insect net; GenBank: OM293722; MPN CW4477 • 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 1 nymph; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4367, CW4476, CW4478 to CW4483 • 1 ♀; Mt Dick, Eyre Mountains; 45.26572° S, 168.69083° E; 1550 m a.s.l.; 16 Mar. 2019; D. Hegg leg.; on rock bluffs; night search + insect net; GenBank: OM293721; MPN CW4472 • 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 2 nymphs; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4473 to CW4475, CW4501 to CW4504, CW4592, CW4593 • 1 ♀; Billy Creek, Eyre Mountains; 45.30540° S, 168.45460° E; 1400 m a.s.l.; 23 Feb. 2020; M. Thorsen leg.; on rock bluffs; casual find; GenBank: OM293727; MPN CW4874 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; MPN CW4873.
Description
MEASUREMENTS. See Table 1.
HEAD. As per generic description. Eyes grey or brown. Antennae brown or black.
THORAX. As per generic description.
LEGS. Variegated colour, occasionally dark or almost black; hind tibiae black above. Hind tibiae approximately as long as body, or just under, in both males and females. Fore femora armed with one prolateral spine at the apex in four out of twelve females and one out of ten males examined. Mid femora armed with one retrolateral spine at the apex; prolateral apical spine absent. The first hind tarsus segment is armed with a variable number of linear spines above (up to ten); the second hind tarsus segment is only rarely armed with dorsal linear spines.
ABDOMEN. Tergites glabrous or sparsely tomentose; colour chequered yellow/black in adults (Fig. 15D), the black being predominant and giving the insect a dark look. A thin, pale median line along the whole length of the insect is generally present.
MALE TERMINALIA. Subgenital plate deep when seen from the side; shaped like a spoon when seen from above, broader at the vertex and less constricted at the neck compared to the subgenital plate of Pharmacus cochleatus comb. nov. Paraprocts large and swollen, bristled on the inside, glabrous on the outside (Fig. 11D–F).
FEMALE TERMINALIA. Subgenital plate bilobed, the incision between the two lobes sutured (Fig. 13D), a trait not found in any other Pharmacus species. Ovipositor long and straight, just under three quarters of body length; lower valve with 6 to 8 teeth below at the apex (Fig. 13E–F).
description: Published as part of Hegg, Danilo, Morgan-Richards, Mary & Trewick, Steven A., 2022, High alpine sorcerers: revision of the cave wētā genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the description of six new species and three new subspecies, pp. 1-58 in European Journal of Taxonomy 808 (1) on pages 43-44, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.808.1721, http://zenodo.org/record/6419368