Mimicogryllus splendens Tan & Gorochov & Wahab & Japir & Chung 2019, new species
Creators: name: Tan, Ming Kai
name: Gorochov, Andrei V.
name: Wahab, Rodzay Bin Haji Abdul
name: Japir, Razy
name: Chung, Arthur Y. C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Haglotettigoniidae
Mimicogryllus
Mimicogryllus splendens

description: Mimicogryllus splendens Tan, Gorochov & Wahab, new species
(Figs. 2, 3)
Mimicogryllus sp., Tan & Wahab, 2018a: 127 and Fig. 9 F–I
Material examined. Holotype (male, KB.17.73), Brunei Darussalam, Temburong District, Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre, along Ashton Trail, ridge dipterocarp forest, N4.54590, E115.15696, 121.1± 7.1 m, 26 July 2017, 1827 hours, on leaf litter, coll. M.K. Tan (UBDM).
Paratype: 1 female (BRU.19.46), Brunei Darussalam, Belait District, Wasai Wong Kadir Recreational Park, N4.34177, E114.44603, 46.3± 8.9 m, 1 March 2019, 1834 hours, on leaf litter, coll. M.K. Tan & H. Yeo [collected as a juvenile and raised to adulthood] (ZRC).
Diagnosis. The new species differs from all known species of Mimicogryllus by the distinctly longer (about as long as the rest of the genitalia) posteroventral epiphallic lobes.
Description. Male. Body small, dorsoventrally compressed, with head and pronotum densely punctuated and having very fine and short hairs (Figs. 2A, 2B). Head in dorsal view transverse (2.9 times wider than long), with four non-punctuated smooth stripes stretching from the posterior part of the head to the rostrum and slightly raised above the punctuated parts; head rostrum 1.3 times as wide as scapus, with apex truncated (in dorsal view) (Fig. 2A); scapus rounded, distinctly wider than pedicel; antennae relatively short, with about 37 long segments (not including scapus and pedicel) (Fig. 2A); eyes distinctly oblong, clearly projected laterally; head in anterior view with clypeal suture distinct and straight, wider than high (Fig. 2C); median and lateral ocelli positioned behind antennal scapus; median ocellus wider than long and located slightly before lateral ocelli; lateral ocellus more rounded, located between scapus and anterior margin of eye; maxillary palpi fairly stout, with apical (fifth) segment elongated, obliquely triangular (but its apex truncated) and slightly longer than third and subapical (fourth) segments; fourth segment also obliquely (but less elongate) triangular; third segment of subequal length and more cylindrical (Fig. 2D). Pronotal disc 1.1 times as long as wide, generally punctuated but with some lateral swellings which are smooth; disc with longitudinal groove which is slightly swollen at the posterior part; a pair of smooth swellings located laterally from this posterior part; anterior margin of disc slightly concave; posterior one clearly straight; lateral carina obvious (Fig. 2A). Pronotal lateral lobe 2.1 times as long as high, with dorsal half punctuated (although less densely than pronotal disc), and ventral margin irregularly sinuous (Fig. 2B). Fore tibia without inner tympanum but with a large elongated outer tympanum; fore and middle legs generally very pubescent, with a few stout setae located usually along ventral margin; their tarsus with a row of stout setae on ventral surface; inner and outer margins of hind tibia with four stout articulated spurs (also known as movable spines) on each dorsal side, with 3–5 inner and 6–8 outer much smaller basal spines, with two long dorsal and one short ventral inner apical spurs, and with one short dorsal and two long ventral outer apical spurs; hind basitarsus with about two inner and five outer denticles. Tegmen shiny, extending to abdominal apex; dorsal field longer than lateral field; mirror large, wider than long, with anterior margin angular, with posterior margin curved and separated by a curved dividing vein, and with anal area small and having apex obtusely truncated (Fig. 2A); lateral field with six longitudinal veins (Fig. 2B). Anal plate tongue-shaped, smooth, with apex subtruncate; subgenital plate elongated, triangular, smooth but with sparse short and fine hairs, with subacute apex. Male genitalia as shown in Fig. 2 E– 2I: epiphallus (ep) divided into a pair of large lateral sclerites which connected with each other by a narrow bridge; each of these sclerites strongly and transversally folded forming posterodorsal and posteroventral lobes; posterodorsal epiphallic lobes moderately elongate and having thin lateral arms articulated with rami; posteroventral ones (p.ep) very long and slender, di- rected backwards but with distal parts somewhat widened in profile and slightly curved upwards, weakly tapering in the basal half, slightly curved inwards after the middle, and with rounded apices; ectoparameres (ec) lamellar, in ventral view elongate, rectangular and with roundly truncated apex, in lateral view with ventral surface slightly convexly curved, and with small (narrow) mesal lobule fused with main body of ectoparamere at the inner anterior corner of the latter as well as curved backwards and having an acute apex (this lobule not reaching connecting bridge of epiphallus); endoparameres (en) fused with each other anteriorly characteristics of the subfamily; formula (f) (= mould of spermatophore attachment plate) flattened, semi-sclerotized and heart-shaped; rami (r) in dorsal view very straight, not fused together by the anterior ends.
Female (Fig. 3). Body structure similar to that of male but with following differences: tegmen strongly shortened, glossy, slightly surpassing posterior margin of third abdominal apex; its dorsal field flat, with six to seven longitudinal veins joined by net of cross veins; its lateral field with four longitudinal veins; anal plate triangular with obtuse apex. Subgenital plate small, parallelogram in shape, with apex truncated. Ovipositor relatively short, barely surpassing apex of cercus, straight, with apex obtuse; dorsal and ventral valves dorsoventrally flattened in the apical part; external margin of this part in each dorsal valve with one distinct lateral denticle.
Colouration. Generally black (Figs. 2A, 2B, 3). Head and pronotum metallic black (Fig. 2A, 2B, 3); scapus and pedicel brown; flagellum with 10 basal segments black, 11 th– 26 th segments white, and more distal ones black; gena, maxillary palpi and clypeus iridescent black (Fig. 2D). Tegmen completely black (Figs. 2A, 2B, 3). Foreleg with coxa black dorsally and brown to pale ventrally, with femur mostly black but having knee area slightly whitish, with tibia also black; middle leg with coxa white, colouration of femur similar to that of foreleg, and tibia brown; hind femur mostly black, but with red brown mark near knee; hind tibia red brown at the base, black thereafter and brown apically; hind tarsus yellow brown (Figs. 2A, 2B, 3). Thoracic segments black; abdominal tergites and sternites, including anal and subgenital plates, black but not metallic; cerci dark brown.
Measurements (in mm). Male holotype BL = 7.5; HL = 1.4; PL = 2.4; PW = 2.5; TL = 4.7; TW = 3.4; HFL = 5.1; HTL = 4.1. Female paratype BL = 7.7; HL = 1.4; PL = 2.1; PW = 2.1; TL = 2.1; TW = 1.3; HFL = 5.0; HTL = 3.1; OL = 3.9.
Etymology. The species name refers to the shining appearance of the cricket (from Latin, spendens = bright, shining, splendid).
Natural history. This species is probably an opportunistic detrivore, being a leaf-litter dweller. In captivity, the female survived on a variety of waste/ rotten fruits.
description: Published as part of Tan, Ming Kai, Gorochov, Andrei V., Wahab, Rodzay Bin Haji Abdul, Japir, Razy & Chung, Arthur Y. C., 2019, New taxa of crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Gryllinae, Phaloriinae and Pteroplistinae) from northern Borneo (Belait and Sandakan), pp. 101-117 in Zootaxa 4661 (1) on pages 103-105, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4661.1.4, http://zenodo.org/record/3378552