Melanoplus ferrarius Woller, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Woller, Derek A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Acrididae
Melanoplus
Melanoplus ferrarius

description: Melanoplus ferrarius sp. nov. Woller, Kelly, and Orfinger
(Figs. 1, 2C, 4B–D, 5E & F, 12–14)
General Description
A full list of unique anatomical components that separate this species from the other two new ones described here are found in Table 3. However, the primary character that separates this species from both the other new species and other congeneric species is the shape of its ventral valves of aedeagus (see Fig. 15 for a comparison of all three new species), which, in dorsal and lateral views, resembles the forceps used by village blacksmiths to extract teeth in the 17th and 18th centuries since blacksmiths were also commonly dentists (the origin of its name, see Etymology section). Described from 38 specimens total (adult male holotype, adult female allotype, and 36 paratypes): 17 males, 16 females, and 5 nymphs.
Detailed Description
Note that the descriptions for each body region below are for adults of both sexes unless otherwise noted.
General Body Coloration (Figs. 5E & F, 12): Males usually light to medium brown (medium to light brown in females) with some occasional yellow mixed in, usually on legs, and often with some lateral black striping and scattered splashes of black (less-so in females), although darker variations exist; in males, integument of pronotum’s dorsum, tegmina, and anterior abdominal areas slightly darker occasionally.
Head, Pronotum, and Thorax (Figs. 5E & F, 12): Antennae filiform and composed of 22 segments. Fastigium not overly pronounced, eyes very prominent and of variable coloration: usually yellow, red, brown, or a combination of these. Median carina obvious and raised slightly, intersected by three obvious sulci, one within the prozona’s posterior portion and the other two continuing on from the lateral sulci that delimit the meso/metazona. Prosternal process subconical and prominent, often extending ventrally enough to be in line with the sternum. An often-faint, thin black stripe emerges from just behind the midpoint of the eye and crosses onto the lateral sides of the pronotum where it darkens greatly and initially doubles (at least) in width, sometimes reaching the anteroventral edge, and then immediately narrows again diagonally, typically ending at approximately the same width it began. This stripe then often continues on through the metazona, although at the same width or, more narrowly, along the dorsolateral edge, and crosses over onto the pleurites, either fully or partially (splotches), and then onto the abdomen after passing behind the tegmina. In females, the overall striping is less common and less obvious in general, particularly behind the eye, but, when present, most obvious on the pronotum and often ending at the posterior edge of the mesozona. When viewed in isolation, the female’s pronotal stripe roughly resembles a right-angled trapezoid (the right angle being the anterodorsal corner of the prozona). This black stripe (now more abstract and less stripe-like) emerges again at its full width on the pleurites just beyond the pronotum, passes behind the tegmen, and extends onto the abdomen.
Abdomen, Tegmina, Legs (Figs. 5E & F, 12): Both sides of abdomen’s anterior regions with the black stripe-like pattern that began on the thorax and head, typically ending at the posterior edge of tergite 2, with occasional black splashes beyond, mostly on tergites 3 and 4, and mostly on the anterior or posterior edges. In females, this pattern is less common and less obvious overall. Tegmina appear narrow, being moderately compressed dorsoventrally, and most often reaching at least the first quarter of tergite 2; covered in dense, raised reticulations. Fore and midfemora (most common) with occasional black splotches, mainly on dorsal side; hind femora quite variable, with assorted black splotches on dorsal side (almost always fewer in size and number compared to midfemora) and/or sometimes along the medial area (if present, usually more homogenous than splotchy). In females, outer ventral edge of hind femora often reddish, rarely bleeding upwards onto the medial area. Hind tibiae ventral coloration most often muted purple, but occasionally yellow.
Terminalia:
Male, external (Fig. 13 A & B): Furculae short and rounded strongly at apices. Supra-anal plate triangular to subtriangular with rounded apex and shallow, median groove that extends apically for approximately 1/3 to 1/2 the total length. Cerci shape approximately twice as wide at the base and tapering gently upwards towards a rounded apex, often nearly reaching the apex of the supra-anal plate or, more rarely, reaching it or even extending slightly beyond. Subgenital plate, semi-conical with a rounded apex in posterior view; pallium embedded slightly beneath inner edge.
Male, internal phallic complex (Fig. 13C–K): Overall, typical for a melanopline, particularly Puer Group sensu lato species, with the unique characters described below for the epiphallus, ectophallus, and endophallus, many of which are shared by M. amphora sp. nov. and M. spiracor sp. nov., with the sheath of aedeagus and ventral valves of aedeagus being the two most unique structures for each of the three species (Fig. 15, Table 3):
Epiphallus (Fig. 13J & K): Ancorae subtriangular, relatively elongate, bent slightly ventrally, and curving slightly inwards; lophi prominent, subrectangular, fairly narrow (laterally compressed), and covered in raised microstructures; anterior projections generally rounded with no defined shape; posterior projections, in dorsal view, either obscured by the lophi or slightly extending beyond posterior edges of lophi.
Ectophallus (Fig. 13C–F): Apodemes of cingulum elongate and zygoma shelf-like, meaning both resemble all other Puer Group species. Rami prominent, extending posteriorly at about a 45° angle and curving inwards slightly, with final 1/3 rd bent at a 90° angle that curves slightly upwards and usually running parallel to the ventral valves of aedeagus, terminating at approximately the midpoint of the valves, and tapering to a fairly sharp apex; when viewed laterally, the ramus resembles an upside-down scythe. Sheath of aedeagus taking the form of two halves that do not meet, each consisting of an apical lobe that arises from the apical, “scythe blade” region of the rami, which extend dorsally at a 45° angle, and usually terminates with a third of its length above the dorsum of the ventral valves of aedeagus. These lobes are obvious and robust, oblong in shape, and laterally compressed moderately, with apices more bulbous and occasionally appearing to almost touch in dorsal view; covered in raised microstructures.
Endophallus (Fig. 13G–I): apodemes of endophallus large and rounded like all other Puer Group species; arch of aedeagus well-developed. Dorsal valves of aedeagus do not meet flexures, are about 1/2 the length of ventral valves, with basal ½ more robust, and fused and fairly flat for almost entire length except for final ¼, which has a y-shaped cleft, each half terminating obviously and bluntly near the apices of the lobes of the sheath of aedeagus. Ventral valves of aedeagus meet flexures, are twice as long as the dorsal valves, with basal third more robust, and the remaining 2/3 forming a unique rigid pattern. When viewed dorsally (with valve apices oriented north, Fig. 13 I-1), the general pattern is as follows: although quite difficult to see, each valve essentially resembles a stretched-out corkscrew that rotates at least one full 360° revolution (right valve spirals clockwise, left valve spirals counterclockwise); high magnification and steady eyes are often required, with the effect often easier to see on dried, pre-KOH-cleared specimens (Fig. 13C & D). With this in mind, the valves begin simultaneously bowing outwards (obviously to strongly, but not known to go beyond the midpoint of the apices of the lobes of sheath of aedeagus) just prior to the apices of the lobes of the sheath of aedeagus, and then gently inwards again, usually almost meeting at the start of the final 1/4 th, then curving gently outwards or pointing posteriorly and terminating that way; final 1/4 th resembling curved hooks and typically crossing (or looking as if they are about to), both right over left and the inverse; overall, the dorsal shape strongly resembles the forceps used by historical village blacksmiths for tooth extraction or, perhaps, a pair of garden shears with overly long, bowed handles. When viewed laterally (Fig. 13G), the corkscrew effect is essentially invisible and the valves simply look like they curve downwards about 45° to about the midpoint of the lobes of the sheath of aedeagus, after which they bend almost 90° and extend posteriorly for a short distance, with the apices usually curved slightly ventrally; overall, the two valves are poorly parallel and both valves can often be seen to some degree up in lateral view. When viewed posteriorly, the ventral valves look the same as they do in dorsal view.
Female, external (Fig. 14 A & B): Supra-anal plate subtriangular; cerci relatively small and subconical, not extending beyond posterior edges of paraprocts; subgenital plate similar in appearance to abdominal sternites. In lateral view, dorsal valves of ovipositor curved deeply upwards while ventral valves of ovipositor moderately curved downwards with small tooth at anteroventral edge, thus resembling a shallow claw.
Male measurements (in mm) (n = 14, including holotype): Body length 10.14–13.14 (average 12.13 ± 0.76); pronotum length 2.43–3.14 (average 2.92 ± 0.18); pronotum width 2.14–2.57 (average 2.31 ± 0.14); tegmina length 1.86–2.43 (average 2.19 ± 0.19); and hind femur length 7.29–8.86 (average 7.85 ± 0.49).
Female measurements (in mm) (n = 16, including allotype): Body length 14.00–20.14 (average 16.95 ± 1.67); pronotum length 3.29–4.00 (average 3.71 ± 0.17); pronotum width 3.00–3.71 (average 3.50 ± 0.19); tegmina length 1.86–3.43 (average 2.71 ± 0.40); and hind femur length 8.43–10.43 (average 9.66 ± 0.54).
Geographic Distribution (Fig. 1): This species is currently only known from a single location in southeastern Florida within Martin County: Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which is along the east coast between the middle and southern sections of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge. Within the park, this species has been collected so far from four subsites (Fig. 2C). Of the other Puer Group sensu lato species, only M. indicifer Hubbell, 1933 (Table 1) has been collected in the same location, suggesting similar habitat preferences. No other Puer Group sensu stricto species are yet known to overlap with this species, with M. amphora sp. nov. being the closest to the north (Fig. 1A). Despite this, M. kissimmee (Table 1) strongly resembles this new species at first glance, particularly the internal genitalia, but there are differences (Fig. 17, Table 5).
Known Habitat (Fig. 4B–D): Collected from classic pine flatwoods, most likely south Florida slash pine (P. elliottii var. densa) in fairly dense understory of scrubby oaks (Quercus spp.) and wiregrass (Aristida stricta Michx.), but with some open swaths and scattered gopher apple (L. michauxii) patches. All specimens collected by DAW and colleagues (Table 2) were in the latter.
Etymology: M. ferrarius sp. nov. is named after the Latin word for “blacksmith” because its ventral valves of aedeagus in both dorsal and posterior view strongly resemble the forceps used by village blacksmiths to extract teeth in the 17th and 18th centuries since blacksmiths were also commonly dentists (Fig. 13 I-2). Note that “forceps” was briefly considered for the specific name since the aedeagal shape obviously resembles the tool itself, but we decided this might be confusing since “forceps” are sometimes used as a synonym for grasshopper cerci, plus we think the chosen name sounds more interesting.
Holotype: Male (Fig. 12A and B). U.S.A.: FL: Martin Co., Jonathan Dickinson State Park, just SE of Park Rd. and an unnamed road, [27.005278, -80.140278] (Figs. 2C, 4B–D), 16-V-2015, coll. D.A. Woller, S.L. Kelly, & A.B. Orfinger, Field #PG201-1-C, pine flatwoods (possibly Pinus elliottii var. densa) Deposited in the UCFC with the unique identifier UCFC 0 577 327. Measurements (mm): Body length 12.71; pronotum length 2.86; pronotum width 2.14; tegmina length 1.86; and hind femur length 7.29.
Allotype: Female (Fig. 12C & D). Same locality info as holotype (Figs. 2C, 4B–D). Deposited in the UCFC with the unique identifier UCFC 0 577 329. Measurements (mm): Body length 15.14; pronotum length 3.57; pronotum width 3.29; tegmina length 2.43; and hind femur length 8.71.
Additional Type Material: 36 paratypes: 16 males, 15 females, 5 nymphs. See Table 2 for locality details and other information.
description: Published as part of Woller, Derek A., 2025, Three new grasshopper species in the Florida Melanoplus Puer group (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Melanoplinae), pp. 269-307 in Zootaxa 5631 (2) on pages 297-305, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5631.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/15370580