Gibbotettix vallis Zha and Wen, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Zha, Ling-Sheng
name: Wen, Ting-Chi
name: Yu, Feng-Ming
name: Hyde, Kevin D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tetrigidae
Gibbotettix
Gibbotettix vallis

description: Gibbotettix vallis Zha and Wen sp. nov.
(Figures 2 (a – d), 3(a – g))
Female. Body stout, size moderate, its surface very coarse and covered with numerous granules and many tubercles (Figure 2 (a – c). Vertex wide and short, 3.2 times as wide as one eye; mid keel very inconspicuous in anterior half and absent in posterior half; anterior margin straight and very low, not protruding beyond level of anterior margins of eyes; anterior part of lateral margin folded upward and surpassing top of eyes; in profile vertex together with frontal ridge forming into a slope, frontal ridge between antennae large triangularly protruding; in frontal view longitudinal furrow of frontal ridge between antennae slightly wider than width of first segment of antenna (about 1.2 times) (Figure 3 (a – c)). Antenna filiform, 16-segmented, inserted far below lower margins of eyes, length of middle segments (VIII – VI) 9 – 10 times their width (Figures 2 (b), 3(a, c)). Eyes globose, protruding but not above level of anterior margin of pronotum; lateral ocellus situated little below lower margins of eyes (Figure 3 (a)). Anterior margin of pronotum truncate, in middle with an angled protrusion forward; anterior part of pronotum distinctly uplifted on both sides of mid keel, which results in anterior part of pronotum being gibbous; mid keel interrupted into many parts which are lamellate and erected, in profile, anterior part of upper margin arcuate (only 1 concavity at the beginning, but 2 concavities present in male!), then slightly undulating backward; lateral keels of prozona contracted backward, not conspicuous in anterior half while conspicuous and erected in posterior half; humeral angles obtusely angled and not conspicuous; at level of humeral angles, pronotal disc distinctly concave on both sides of mid keel, and lateral margins of pronotum distinctly folded upwards; pronotal disc behind shoulders with 4 – 5 tubercules on each side of mid keel; hind process wide and short, nearly reaching top of hind femur, middle of posterior margin with a deep triangular concavity; posterior angle of lateral lobe of pronotum extending outwards, apex rounded-truncate; posterior margin of each lateral lobe with one concavity (Figures 2 (a – c), 3(b, c)). Tegmen and wing absent. Upper margin of fore femur with 2 lamellate protrusions, lower margin with 3; upper and lower margins of mid femur with 3 lamellate protrusions respectively, but distal protrusions small; hind femur stout, 2.3 times as long as wide, outer side with 2 big tubercles, upper mid keel with 3 lamellate protrusions before antegenicular denticle, antegenicular denticle isolated and large triangular, genicular denticle large and apex obtuse; outer side with 6 – 7 spines (6 in male), inner side with 6 spines (5 – 7 in male); first segment of hind tarsus 1.35 times as long as second plus third, first and second pulvilli small while third large, all apices obtuse (Figure 2 (a – c)). Ovipositor: upper valvulae 3.0 times as long as their width, outer margins of upper and lower valvulae with small, saw-like teeth (Figure 3 (d)). Subgenital plate: length equal to width, posterior margin truncate and middle triangularly protruding which is slightly folded inward (Figure 3 (e)).
Body dark brown; antennae: junctions of two adjacent segments yellow, distal segments yellow; fore and mid femora with 3 obscure yellowish brown rings; all tibia with 3 yellowish brown rings (all distal rings small) (Figure 2 (a – c)).
Male. Body size distinctly smaller than female (Figure 2 (d)). Antenna 15-segmented. In profile, anterior part of upper margin of pronotum with 2 concavities (Figure 2 (d)). The basal protrusion of lower margin of mid femur very small. Subgenital plate short coneshaped, apex bifurcate, not bidentate (Figure 3 (f, g)). Other characters same as female.
Measurements. Length of body (mm): ♂ 9.5, ♀ 15.5; length of pronotum: ♂ 9.5, ♀ 11.0; length of hind femur: ♂ 5.8, ♀ 7.0.
Type Material. Holotype: ♀, China, Guizhou, Jinsha County, Lengshuihe Natural Reserve, Yuanyanggu (valley name), 27°54 ′ N, 106°00 ′ E, 770 m altitude, 5 August 2015, collected by ZHA Ling-Sheng. Paratype: 1♂, 9 August 2015, other data same as holotype.
Diagnosis. Gibbotettix vallis sp. nov. is similar to G. cristata (Liang 1995) (Liang 1995; Zheng and Fu 2003), but it differs in: (1) mid keel of vertex very inconspicuous in anterior half, in profile vertex together with frontal ridge forming into a slope; (2) lateral keels of prozona distinctly contracted backward; (3) humeral angles obtusely angled; (4) middle of posterior margin of hind process with a deeply triangularly concavity.
Biology and ecology. Specimens of Gibbotettix vallis sp. nov. were collected in low shrubs in a humid valley (Figure 4 (b)). They can jump more than 1 m away.
Etymology. The new species epithet ‘vallis’ is derived from ‘ valley ’, which means it was collected in Yuanyanggu, a small deep valley isolated by high surrounding mountains and a narrow river (Figure 4 (a, b)).
Distribution. China (Guizhou).
description: Published as part of Zha, Ling-Sheng, Wen, Ting-Chi, Yu, Feng-Ming & Hyde, Kevin D., 2016, A taxonomic review of the genus Gibbotettix with description of one new species (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae), pp. 2389-2397 in Journal of Natural History 50 on pages 2393-2396, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2016.1193651, http://zenodo.org/record/3993183