Nocaracris cyanipes Motschulsky 1846
Creators: name: Ünal, Mustafa
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Pamphagidae
Nocaracris
Nocaracris cyanipes

description: Nocaracris cyanipes (Motschulsky, 1846)
(Figs. 70, 572, 575, 669–670, 845)
Eremoxenus cyanipes, de Motschulsky in lit.: sensu Fischer von Waldheim 1846: 269.
Nocarodes cyanipes Motschulsky: in Fischer von Waldheim 1846: 269.
Nocarodes cyanipes Motsch.: Fieber 1853: 127.
P[amphagus] cyanipes Fisch. W.: I. Bolívar 1878a: 439, under the genus Nocarodes.
Pamphagus (Nocarodes) cyanipes Fisch. W.: Stål 1876: 28, partim.
Nocarodes cyanipes Fischer de Waldheim, 1846: Brunner von Wattenwyl 1882: 189, 190; Jacobson 1905: 200, 298, sensu Bey- Bienko & Mistshenko 1951; Stshelkanovtzev 1909: 45; Kirby 1910: 355, partim; I. Bolívar 1912: 8; I. Bolívar 1916: 25, partim; Stshelkanovtzev 1916: 1, 3; Uvarov 1918: 53, 57.
Nocaracris cyanipes (Fischer de Waldheim, 1846): Uvarov 1928: 150; Tarbinsky 1940: 34, 214; Tarbinsky 1948: 126; Ramme 1951: 411, 427; Bey-Bienko & Mistshenko 1951: 349; Karabağ 1958: 119, partim; Mirzayans 1959: 16; Weidner 1962: 88; Shumakov 1963: 57; Bey-Bienko 1964: 251; Avakyan 1968: 98; Weidner 1969: 160; Mistshenko 1972: 52; Demirsoy 1973: 421; Demirsoy 1977: 75; Salman 1978: 68; Presa & Garcia 1983: 16; Ihsan & Donskoff 1988: 15, 21, 30; Çıplak et al. 1996: 19; Stolyarov 1997: 69; Chernyakhovskii & Ravina 1997: 242, 243; Heller et al. 1998: 60; Satar & Özbay 2003: 117; Hodjat 2012: 266; Mol et al. 2014: 137; Jabbari et al. 2015: 37.
Nocaracris cyanipes cyanipes Fischer-Waldheim, 1846: Otte 1994: 172.
Nocaracris cyanipes ornatus Ramme, 1951: 298, 427; Avakyan 1968: 98, as syn. of N. cyanipes; Presa & Garcia 1983: 17; Otte 1994: 172. confirmed syn.
Nocaracris cyanipes tristis n. subsp.: Ramme 1951: 298, 427. syn. nov.
Nocaracris cyanipes tristis Ramme, 1951: Presa & Garcia 1983: 17.
Nocaracris tristis Ramme, 1951: Otte 1994: 173.
Paranocaracris rubripes tristis (Ramme 1951): Stolyarov 1984: 20; Stolyarov 1997: 69.
Paranocaracris rubripes stristis Ramme 1951: Otte 1994: 183, misspelling of tristis.
Type locality. Armenia (Fischer von Waldheim 1846: 269). Holotype: female (Unspecified host).
Material examined. ARMENIA: Kaucasus, Dshelal ogly, 1♂ (Holotype of Nocaracris cyanipes ornatus), 1♀ (Allotype of Nocaracris cyanipes ornatus), 2♀ (Paratypes of Nocaracris cyanipes ornatus) (ZIN); Armenien, Spasskaja bei Achalkalaky, 25.4.1917, 1♂ (Holotype of Nocaracris cyanipes tristis), 1♀ (Allotype of Nocaracris cyanipes tristis) (MfN); Armenia, circ. lac. Gokča, pr. Šordja, 20.7.1927, 2♂, 1♀; Šordja, 20.6.1928, 6♂, 3♀; Šordja, 14.5.1930, 1♂; Abazan, pr. Jmerlu, 10.8.1930, 2♀; Gokča, Täk-Agač, 9000 ft, 9.5.1930, 6♂, 7♀; m. Alagöz, 10000 ft, 5.8.1930, 2♂, 3♀; Gokča, pr. Ach-bulag, 3000 m, 16.5.1930, 3♂; Val. Araxis, m. Serai-bulag, 8.6.1930, 1♂ (all leg. A. Schelkovnikov); Zangezur, pr. Megry, 1.8.1925, 1♀ (leg. Matadjian) (all in NHMUK); Derbent, 3♀ (leg. Christoph) (det. Br. v.W. as Nocarodes spec.) (NMW); Sevan Reg., 18.6.2013, 1♂ (leg. A. G. Bugrov & I. E. Jetybayev) (AİBÜEM); TURKEY: Ardahan, Posof, 1♀ (A. Koçak & M. Kemal); RUSSIA: N. Caucasia, Teberda, Khatipara, 16.7.1958, 1♂, 2♀; Kinirchat, 2800-3000 m, 16.7.1958, 5♂, 8♀; Khatipara, 16.7.1958, 3♂, 6♀; N. Caucasia, Teberda, 19.7.1957, 1♀ (ZIN).
Distribution. Widely distributed in Caucasia and Transcaucasia: Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Daghestan, N.W. Iran, Azerbaijan, Nakhichevan, N.E. Turkey: Artvin, Ardahan, Ağrı provinces (Fig. 845).
Remarks. The author of this species must be Motschultsky (in Fischer de Waldheim 1846: 269) in the case of Nocaracris rubripes (see the Remarks section of N. rubripes above), but all subsequent researchers gave the author of this species as Fischer von Waldheim except Fieber (1853: 127).
Ramme (1951) in describing the subspecies N. cyanipes ornatus and N. cyanipes tristis distinguished them from the nominotypical taxon only by the coloration of the integument. According to Ramme (1951: 298) morphology of these two taxa is “as the nominotypical subspecies”. The hind leg colors are also the same. The coloration and pattern of the integument cannot be diagnostic characters in this species, as well as most other species of Pamphagidae. I agree with Avakyan (1968: 100) who synonymized Nocaracris cyanipes ornatus Ramme with N. cyanipes for the first time, but it was overlooked by subsequent authors. I also propose Nocaracris cyanipes tristis Ramme, 1951 as a synonym of this species here.
Motschultsky (in Fischer von Waldheim 1846: 269) in describing this species after the female recorded the color of hind leg as greyish-blue. According to Uvarov (1928: 150) the inner side of hind tibia is black or blueblack in both sexes. Subsequent authors gave it as that of the original description and as in Uvarov (1928), but in the rich material of the ZIN the coloration of hind tibia variable from black, dark blue to dark red in both sexes.
Weidner (1962: 88) mentioned the presence of N. cyanipes in N. Iraq and stated that previous identified specimens belong to a Nocarodes species not yet described. In my opinion the presence of N. cyanipes in Iraq is not likely. The previous records may refer to a Paranothrotes species or more likely another Nocaracris species.
This species was recorded by Uvarov (1918) from Urmia; Ihsan & Donskoff (1988) from the Middle East (Syria); by Çıplak et al. (1996) from Malatya Province of Turkey; by Satar & Özbay (2003) from Diyarbakır Province of Turkey; by Jabbari et al. (2015) from Khorasan, E. Iran. It is not so likely to be in those regions, thus they should deserve to be confirmed.
description: Published as part of Ünal, Mustafa, 2016, Pamphagidae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) from the Palaearctic Region: taxonomy, classification, keys to genera and a review of the tribe Nocarodeini I. Bolívar, pp. 1-223 in Zootaxa 4206 (1) on pages 160-162, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4206.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/208260