Tropidauchen escalerai Bolivar 1912
Creators: name: Ünal, Mustafa
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Pamphagidae
Tropidauchen
Tropidauchen escalerai

description: Tropidauchen escalerai Bolívar, 1912 comb. rev.
(Figs. 38, 265, 324, 328–329)
Tropidauchen marginatum Bolívar, 1912 syn. nov.
Material examined. IRAN: Persia, Gotvand, Rhau Sefid., 1♂, 4♀ (Syntypes); Perse, Gotvand, 4–5.1899, 1♂, 5♀ (Syntypes); Gotvand, Chinbar [Chindaar], 5♂, 3♀ (Syntypes); Persia, Kaemenogra, Haut Karoum, 5.1899, 8♂, 2♀ (leg. Escalera) (MNCN); Perse, Gotvend, 4–5.1899, 1♂, 1♀ (Syntypes) (leg. Escalera) (NHMUK); Gotvend, Chinbar, 1♂ (Syntype), Gotvend, 1♀ (Syntype) (leg. Escalera) (NMW); Persia, Chagajor, Haut Karoum, 8.1899, 1♂, 1♀ (Syntypes of T. marginatum) (leg. Escalera) (NHMUK); Persia, Chagajor, Haut Karoum, 8.1899, 2♂, 1♀ (Syntypes of T. marginatum) (leg. Escalera) (MNCN); Chagajor, 1♂ (Syntype of T. marginatum) (leg. Escalera) (MNCN); Gotvend, 4–5.1899, 1♂, 1♀ (det. as T. marginatum); Gotvand, Rhau Sefid., 3♂, 10♀ (det. as T. marginatum) (leg. Escalera) (MNCN); Persia, Kaemenogra, Haut Karoum, 5.1899, 7♂, 1♀ (leg. Escalera); Gotvand, Chinbar [Chindaar], 7♂, 3♀ (det. as T. marginatum) (MNCN); Buschir, März 1938, 2♂ (MfN); Schiras, Taschteba, ende April 1938, 2 ♀ (MfN); Iran, Schiraz, 5500 ft, 21.4.1950, 1♂, 1♀ nymph (E. P. Wiltshire) (NHMUK); Shiraz, Dasht-i-Bam, 4000 ft, 5.5.1950, 1♂, 1♀ (NHMUK); Schiraz, Kuh Qalat, 2.6.1943, 1♀; Schiraz, 24.7.1950, 1♀ nymph (E. P. Wiltshire) (NHMUK); Persia, Kaemenogra, Haut Karoum, 5.1899, 1♂, 1♀ (leg. Escalera) (MfN).
Remarks. Mistshenko (1951b: 739) included this species within the genus Saxetania Mistshenko because of its frontal ridge, the vertex not strongly vertical as in Tropidauchen and the hind femur. Dirsh (1952) synonymizing the genus Saxetania transferred it to Tropidauchen, but all subsequent authors followed Mistshenko (1951b) up to the present date. I have separated both genera mainly by the male genitalia. The male genitalia of this species undoubtedly agree with that of Tropidauchen.
Mistshenko (1951b) gave T. escalerai and T. marginatum in different genera, but Dirsh (1952) distinguished them only by the narrow or wide undulation of the ventral margin of hind femur. The coloration of hind legs and the ventral margin of hind femur are variable even in specimens collected from the same place. Both species T. escalerai and T. marginatum were identified from the same locality, but I cannot see any important difference between those specimens. Therefore I consider that they are synonyms. On the other hand according to Uvarov (1922: 364) “This species differs from T. securicollis Sauss. by unimportant characters and is, probably, only a geographical form of the latter species”. As I stated in the Remarks section of T. securicolle above, I also think that this species may be a synonym of T. securicolle.
In the NMW, specimens were labelled as paratypes, but they cannot possibly be paratypes, and are syntypes.
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 page 84, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4206.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/208260