Gryllotalpa permai Tan & Kamaruddin, new species
Creators: name: Tan, Ming Kai
name: Kamaruddin, Khairul Nizam
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Lathiceridae
Gryllotalpa
Gryllotalpa permai

description: Gryllotalpa permai Tan & Kamaruddin, new species
(Figs. 1–4)
http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:473462
Material examined. Holotype: male (LAR.15.114), Peninsular Malaysia, Perak, Taiping, on Bukit Larut, N4.85710, E100.80245, 1234± 6.4 m, calling underground, shaded forest, on herbs near road, 19 June 2015, 1110 h, coll. M. K. Tan, K. N. Kamaruddin, S. T. Toh, I. Abdul Rani (ZRC).
Paratype: male (LAR.15.219), Peninsular Malaysia, same locality as holotype, circa N4.86364, E100.79122, 1006± 6.3 m, calling underground, near stream, with rocks, boulders and logs, 21 September 2015, 1040 h, coll. M. K. Tan (ZRC).
Diagnosis. This small species differ from all known species of Asiatic Gryllotalpa by head and pronotum orange, abdomen velvety black abdomen and legs orange.
Discussion. This species is similar to Gryllotalpa fulvipes Saussure, 1877 in general size and colouration (velvety black abdomen and orange legs). It differs by having the head and pronotum orange (instead of black in G. fulvipes); tegmen venation, stridulatory file (more than 45 teeth compared to around 30 teeth in G. fulvipes). This species has genitialia that distinguishes it from G. fulvipes in the following: apex of transverse sclerite (ats) with dorsal branch triangular and short (more slender and elongated in G. fulvipes); distal margin (dmp) of epiphallus with proximal margin with two lateral fairly acute processes (absent in G. fulvipes); shape of basal plate (Bp) of paramere (Par); internal prolongation (Ip) pointing with apex acute (instead of blunt in G. fulvipes). This species also differ to G. fulvipes by male calling song of a higher pitch and lower pulse rate.
Description. Habitus typical of this genus (Fig. 1). Ocelli convex and medium (Figs. 2 A & 2B). Pronotum (Fig. 2 B) oval, about 1.18 (n=2) times longer than wide; with longitudinal medial furrow; anterior margin concave; posterior margin roundly smooth; inferior margin of lateral lobe roundly triangular at about 90 º. Anterior trochanter with process with convex ventral and straight dorsal margins; apex acute (Fig. 2 C). Dactyls of anterior tibiae moderately long, decreasing in size from dorsal to ventral dactyls; ventral dactyl substraight, others slightly curved; apices fairly acute (Figs. 2 C & 2D). Anterior tibiae with internal tympanum slit-shaped (Fig. 2 C). Hind wings reduced, completely covered by tegmina. Hind femur about 1.66 (n=2) times longer than hind tibia. Hind tibia armed with 2 internal subapical spines.
Male. Tegmen about 1.29 (n=2) times longer than wide, reaching end of the 5th abdominal tergite. Venation on left and right tegmina not different. Right tegmen (Fig. 2 E): harp (enclosed by CuA+CuPa, CuPb, c and CuPaβ; = discoidal cell) broad at base, narrowing in the basal third area (c curved and CuA+CuPa straight), with distal margin narrowly rounded, with diving vein closer to CuA+CuPa than c. Cell 1 (enclosed by c, c’ and CuPaβ) broad internally; with c and c’ parallel thereafter; laterally (or externally) truncated with c and c’ both forming right angles with CuPaβ. Cell 2 (enclosed by CuPaβ and CuPaα2) small, elbowed in the middle, CuPaβ bent and CuPaα2 gently curved; radius vein not diverged into RA and RP (denoted as RA+ RP). Veins CuPb and CuPaα2+CuPaβ do not fuse at the apex. Stridulatory file about 2.8 mm (n=2) substraight, slightly bent in the middle, with 49 (n=2) fairly evenly distributed and widely-spaced teeth; teeth are larger in the middle (Fig. 2 F).
Genitalia as shown in Fig. 3. Epiphallus (Epi): transverse sclerite (Ts) more of a ‘L’ shape (Figs. 3 A, 3B). Base of transverse sclerite (bts) narrow, gently widening towards the apex (Fig. 3 B). Apex of transverse sclerite (ats) with a pair of branches; dorsal branch triangular, short, with rounded to subtruncated apex; ventral margin broadly curved; ventral branch elongated, slightly curved into an acute apex (Figs. 3 A, 3B). Median prolongation of epiphallus (MP) broad; base (bmp) broad, then narrow slightly before widening again towards the apex (amp) (Fig. 3 A). Apex of median projection (amp) with dorsal surface spear-shaped; distal margin (dmp) truncated, proximal margin with two lateral fairly acute processes (Fig. 3 D). Ectophallus (Ect): basal plate (Bp) of paramere (Par) with small subacute lobe on latero-posterior margin (Fig. 3 C). Latero-basal plate (Lbp) transverse, gently curved along ventral margin (Figs. 3 A, 3B). Anterior-apical process (Aap) stout and rounded; internal prolongation (Ip) pointing distally with apex acute (Fig. 3 A).
Female. Unknown.
Colouration. Head dark orange, with frons slightly darkened. Maxillary palp orange with apex and base slightly darkened. Scapus black basally, orange at apical third; antennae dark basally, orange after basal third. Pronotum orange. Abdominal tergite and tegmen velvety black, abdominal sternites orange; cercus mostly black and pale orange at the apex. Legs generally orange; dactyls in the anterior tibiae black apically.
Measurements. See Table 1.
Etymology. This species name (noun in apposition) refers to the Malay word, Permai, meaning lovely. It reflects the colouration, rather unique among species of Gryllotalpa. The holotype was also collected near the Permai View Bungalow on Bukit Larut.
Calling song. One specimen was recorded in-situ at night (1945 hours). Calling song is a series of relatively high-pitch thrilling within a shallow burrow. Each thrill is consistently about 0.36 s (thrill rate about 2.79 s -1). Pitch peaks at a frequency of about 3.27 kHz and pulse rate consistent of 53.2 s -1 (Fig. 4).
description: Published as part of Tan, Ming Kai & Kamaruddin, Khairul Nizam, 2016, A new species of Gryllotalpa mole cricket (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae: Gryllotalpinae) from Peninsular Malaysia, pp. 552-560 in Zootaxa 4066 (5) on pages 554-557, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4066.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/261002