Platybinthus Robillard & Tan 2022, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Robillard, Tony
name: Tan, Ming Kai
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Gryllidae
Platybinthus

description: Genus Platybinthus gen. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 31113AC2-ED96-4949-95A5-E8F0879B351B
Type species
Piestodactylus punctatus Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898.
Diagnosis
Among the genera of Lebinthina, species of Platybinthus are average to large sized with a dark brown colouration. Platybinthus is mainly characterised by male genitalia with pseudepiphallus middle part forming a dorsal ovular disk.
General shape close to that of Macrobinthus and Rugabinthus, both mostly from New Guinea. Eyes prominent and large as in Macrobinthus and Rugabinthus. Microptery in both sexes, FWs not reaching mid-length of abdomen. Female FWs shorter than in males, very slightly overlapping, rounded posteriorly as in Macrobinthus and Rugabinthus. Ovipositor nearly as long as FIII; apex faintly denticulate dorsally. Copulatory papilla conical, with a wide basal sclerite and a well-developed apex slightly sclerotized and indented. Male FWs more resemble that of Macrobinthus, from which it slightly differs by main oblique vein partly differentiating a false mirror in harp posterior angle. Likewise, mirror only slightly differentiated, as in Macrobinthus. CuA clearly curved inwards posteriorly, as in Macrobinthus (almost straight in Rugabinthus). Some characters of male genitalia more resemble some species of Rugabinthus in that it is elongated and slender, its basal margin distinctly indented in the middle and the posterior apex spoon-like, without paired lophi.
In contrast, Platybinthus differs from Rugabinthus by the male FWs with a shield-shaped harp (triangleshaped in Rugabinthus) and absence of strong diagonal fold carrying diagonal vein and cell c1, and separating FWs in two distinct areas (characteristic feature of Rugabinthus). The new genus also differs by hind legs distinctly longer (twice as long as body size).
Etymology
Genus named after the old genus name ‘ Platydactylus ’ to which several early described eneopterine species belonged, including the type species, before the name was recognised as an homonym of a genus of Squamata Oppel, 1811. Therefore we use the prefix ‘ Platy ’ (referring to Platydactylus) with the suffix ‘ binthus ’ referring to Lebinthina.
Description
Size medium for the subtribe (Figs 1–2, 4). Dorsum of head rounded, prolonged by rectangular fastigium distinctly wider than long (Fig. 4A–C). Head dorsum uniformly black (Fig. 5A–C). Eyes large and prominent. Head roundly triangular in facial view, almost as wide as high (Fig. 5D–F). Face finely rugulose, colouration usually cream-coloured and with lateral parts dark (Fig. 5D–F). Maxillary palpi with apical and subapical segments cream-coloured (slightly darkened apically), other segments black. Ocelli large, pale-coloured, forming a rather wide triangle; median ocellus rounded, lateral ocelli similar sized and rounded. Scapes small. Antenna with basal segments cream-coloured with tint of black, otherwise dark. Lateral part of head black with a narrow yellow band behind eyes (Fig. 6). Pronotum dorsal disk trapezoidal, on average 1.6 times as wide as long, its anterior margin distinctly emarginated in the middle, posterior margin straight, mostly black. Lateral lobes longer than wide, uniformly black (Fig. 6). Legs (Figs 1–2, 4): TI with two tympana; inner tympanum covered by a flat sclerotized expansion, its membrane visible along a small longitudinal slit only; outer tympanum ellipsoidal, its membrane transversally plicate in dorsal half. TI with two inner and two outer apical spurs. TII with two inner and two outer spurs. Hind legs very long (twice as long as body size); FIII muscular; TIII serrulated on their whole length, with four pairs of subapical spurs and three pairs of apical spurs; inner spurs long and curved, outer spurs shorter and straight. Legs I and II light brown to yellow brown, femora with brown spots and longitudinal patterns, tibiae with rings. TaIII-1 with 4–5 spines on dorsal outer edge and without any on dorsal inner edge. TIIIs and tarsomeres brown with spines and spurs with dark apices. FWs short, barely reaching abdomen mid-length; hind wings absent. Cerci well developed. Abdomen: tergites dark brown, with faint pale spots along posterior margins.
Male
Metanotal glands absent. Dorsal field of FWs slightly shorter than lateral field. FWs 1.4–1.6 times as long as wide, on average 1.7 times as long as pronotum dorsal disk. FW venation (Fig. 7A–B): 1A vein (file) transverse part straight, bisinuate anteriorly to angle, forming a notch in most species. Diagonal vein strong. Harp shield-shaped, with a characteristic fold, longer than wide, occupying approximately half of dorsal field surface, with a strong transverse, bisinuate harp vein, and a secondary one in anterior corner of harp. Cell c1 widened posteriorly. CuA anterior part strong throughout, slightly curved inward near apex. Mirror (d1) little differentiated from other cells of D alignment. Apical field very short, including one cell alignment posterior to mirror. Lateral field with four strong longitudinal veins ventral to Sc; Sc without projection. Subgenital plate elongated, clog-shaped. Epiproct and subgenital plate brown.
GENITALIA (Fig. 8A–F). Pseudepiphallus elongate and slender, its basal margin distinctly indented in the middle; median part of pseudepiphallus forming a dorsal ovular disk dorsally; posterior apex elongated, without paired lophi, forming a median spoon-like expansion shorter than rest of pseudepiphallus. Rami short, shorter than half of pseudepiphallus length. Pseudepiphallic parameres average sized, ventral lobe strongly sclerotized. Ectophallic apodemes parallel and long, usually reaching beyond anterior margin of pseudepiphallic sclerite. Ectophallic arc well sclerotized, curved. Ectophallic fold with two ventral sclerites of variable shapes, extending posteriorly but not reaching posterior apex of pseudepiphallus. Endophallic sclerite comprising a long and straight anterior region, a short median expansion and short lateral arms posteriorly. Endophallic apodeme with well-developed lateral lamellae and a triangular dorsal median crest.
Female
FWs very short, not reaching base of first tergite, very slightly overlapping. Cells of dorsal field brown, dorsal field with strong orange longitudinal veins and very weak yellow transverse ones; lateral field with four longitudinal veins (Fig. 7C–D). Posterior corner between dorsal and lateral fields forming an acute angle. Dorsal field apex oblique.
GENITALIA (Fig. 8G–H). Ovipositor rather short, apex faintly denticulate dorsally. Copulatory papilla conical, with a wide basal sclerite and a well-developed apex slightly sclerotized and indented.
Distribution
INDONESIA: Halmahera Island of Maluka and nearby island of Morotai.
Included species
Platybinthus punctatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov. from Halmahera Island, Indonesia.
Platybinthus striolatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1898) gen. et comb. nov. from Halmahera Island, Indonesia.
Platybinthus sandyi gen. et sp. nov. from Morotai Island, Indonesia.
description: Published as part of Robillard, Tony & Tan, Ming Kai, 2023, Platybinthus, a new genus of Lebinthina crickets (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Eneopterinae) from Maluka, Indonesia, pp. 46-66 in European Journal of Taxonomy 856 (1) on pages 51-56, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.856.2027, http://zenodo.org/record/7544313