Procellator kai Kasalo, Skejo & Cambra 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kasalo, Niko
name: Buzzetti, Filippo Maria
name: Stancher, Gionata
name: Cambra, Roberto A.
name: Skejo, Josip
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tetrigidae
Procellator
Procellator kai

description: Procellator kai Kasalo, Skejo & Cambra sp. nov.   
(Figs 5–7)  
 Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♀ (Fig. 5) collected by Kai Squires, 30.i.2023, deposited at the Museo de Invertebrados G.B. Fairchild, University of Panama (MIUP).   
 Type locality. Panama, Cocobolo Nature Reserve, Ridge Trail, 9.314646, -79.205559.   
 Diagnosis. Inseparable from generic diagnosis until more species are discovered.   
  Description of holotype. Head.  Vertex nearly two times wider than eye. Dorsal view obscured by pronotum, but vertex appears to progressively narrow towards front. Carinae of vertex form U- or V-shapes visible anteriorly. Frontal costa bifurcation at around upper third of eye height. Facial carinae narrow and parallel, forming narrow scutellum. Paired ocelli just below bifurcation. Middle level of antennal grooves at level of bottom margin of eyes.   
 Antennae. 21 visible antennomeres.   
  Pronotum. Lateral view.  Paranota rectangular. Lateral lobes blunt triangular. Large and smooth ventral sinus. Infrascapular area large; widest between posterior and middle femora, progressively narrows up to level of mid-level of hind femora when extended parallel to infrascapular area. Median carina elevated, of complex shape; section above prozona is tallest, slightly sloping down anteriorly and ending in anterior spine; at level of lateral lobes is small hump, caudally of which median carina moderately drops 1 mm down and continues in weakly undulated shape towards apex of pronotum. Entire pronotum bulges at level of small hump (anterior to humeral angles) and at level of first undulation (posterior to humeral angles).   
 Dorsal view. Pronotum covers most of the vertex.Anterior spine long, protruding past eyes by one length of eye as seen in dorsal view. Prozonal carinae long and parallel. Interhumeral carinae approximately as long as prozonal carinae, connected by sulci to median carina and to humeroapical carinae, together of sigmoid shape. Pronotum slightly sulcate, covered in small yellow tubercles. Lateral lobes flaring outwards. Humeral angles blunt. Behind humeral angles, pronotum narrows slightly, but a little more so at about mid-length of hind femora (when extended parallel to pronotum), giving apical region of pronotum shape of wide spine. Pronotal apex pointed. Internal lateral carinae visible from mid-level of infrascapular area; moderately converging towards median carina, forming large lateral area.   
 Wings and tegmina invisible, either absent or reduced and covered by pronotum.   
 Legs. Anterior and middle femora slim and straight, with slightly bulging dorsal margins each carrying deep furrow. Anterior and middle femora carry spine at distal end of dorsal margin; especially prominent on middle femora. Anterior and middle tibiae quadratic in cross-section; smooth with only a few small teeth distally. Anterior tarsi with very long first segment that bears three rounded pulvilli. Hind femora smooth, around 2.5 times longer than wide. Antegenicular tooth small, genicular tooth large. Hind tibiae with teeth along their caudal margins. Pulvilli large and blunt, distal one almost double in size than the other two. Third tarsal segment longer than first.   
 Coloration. Antennae yellowish-brown. Maxillary palpi strikingly white. Rest of body vividly colored. All pronotal carinae with interchanging yellow and black stripes/spots. Base coloration of pronotum yellowish to brownish. Entire pronotum covered with tiny yellow dot-like elevations. In dorsal view, three chevron-shaped markings visible on pronotal disc; anterior one pale yellow, humeral (largest) one grayish-brown, then well-defined thin yellowish one. Posterior to them is rhomboid shape that is dark anteriorly and pale posteriorly, ending in yellow-colored apex of pronotum. Legs striped, interchanging yellow and black irregularly-shaped stripes. Base coloration of ventral side of body brownish-black. Sternites bearing two parallel yellow lines. A living specimens of this species displaying its colors in natural habitat can be seen in Fig. 6.   
 Measurements (all in millimeters). Body length 16.13; vertex width 1.22; eye width 0.70; scutellum width 0.20; pronotum length 18.50; pronotum lobe width 7.54; pronotum height 6.61; infrascapular area height 1.18; infrascapular area length 7.39; fore femur length 4.21; fore femur width 1.02; middle femur length 4.56; middle femur width 1.26; post femur length 11.51; post femur width 3.55; hind tibia length 9.00; first hind tarsal segment length 1.68; third hind tarsal segment length 2.17; ovipositor dorsal valve length 1.94; ovipositor ventral valve length 1.6; ovipositor valve width 0.74.   
 Description of nymph (Fig. 7). Pronotum not fully developed, but sharp elevation in prozona allows identification. Presence of strong genicular teeth. Coloration pattern not fully apparent, but yellow dots present.   
 Habitat (Fig. 8). Many specimens found alongside the forest trail, on or near the pictured palm belonging to the family Arecaceae.   
 Etymology. Named after Kai Squires who originally discovered this genus and species and uploaded the photos to iNaturalist where they were recognized as new to science. Kai took many photographs, collected the holotype, and responded promptly to our requests. We are more than honored to name this amazing species after him. The specific epithet, kai, is a masculine noun in apposition.
description: Published as part of Kasalo, Niko, Buzzetti, Filippo Maria, Stancher, Gionata, Cambra, Roberto A. & Skejo, Josip, 2023, Contribution to the knowledge of Batrachideini (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae): description of two new flightless genera, Naskreckiana and Procellator, and revision of the status of Eotetrix, pp. 279-292 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 63 (2) on page 285, DOI: 10.37520/aemnp.2023.016, http://zenodo.org/record/10134037