Oaxaca (Paraoaxaca) ottei N, Gómez-Tapia, Mariño-Pérez, Song, Vázquez-Reyes & Sanabria-Urbán, 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Aguilar-Rolda ́ N, César Antonio
name: Gómez-Tapia, José David
name: Mariño-Pérez, Ricardo
name: Song, Hojun
name: Vázquez-Reyes, Leopoldo D.
name: Sanabria-Urbán, Salomón
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Acrididae
Oaxaca
Oaxaca ottei

description: Oaxaca (Paraoaxaca) ottei sp. nov. Aguilar-Roldán, Gómez-Tapia, Mariño-Pérez & Sanabria-Urbán
DIAGNOSIS AND MORPHOLOGICAL AFFINITIES. Males of this species are distinguished from other Paraoaxaca species by their strongly reduced furcula with rounded tips pointing sidewards (Fig. 9A), in combination with a subtriangular subgenital plate with rounded posterior border pointing dorso-posteriorly (Fig. 9C–D); or by their paddle-shaped lophi of epiphallus (Fig. 13A–B), in combination with short dorsal aedeagal valves with laterally flattened and bilobulated apices (Fig. 13C–D). Further comparisons are made in Table 2. Interestingly, the lophi in ottei sp. nov. approaches the shape seen in tlapaneca sp. nov. (Fig. 16A–B), but the curvature of the bridge of epiphallus notably differs among them, being only slightly curved in ottei sp. nov. Moreover, these two species occupy opposite ends of the subgenus range (ottei sp. nov. in the north, tlapaneca sp. nov. in the south; Fig. 6). While ottei sp. nov. also shares the short dorsal aedeagal valves with cohni sp. nov. and cuitlateca sp. nov. (which are regionally closer), the forms of these structures are unique among the taxa (Table 2; Figs. 13–15, C–D).
SPECIES DESCRIPTION. Coloration (Fig. 4C–D) and general morphology (Fig. 7A–D): similar in variation as described for the subgenus, except for the coloration of central and dorsolateral light stripes of the dorsal surface of the body that in this species ranges from white to ivory. Male terminalia (Fig. 9A–D): supra-anal plate triangular with rounded apex. Furcula nearly touching dorsally and strongly reduced with rounded tips pointing sidewards (Fig. 9A). Cerci conical and straight, tapering gradually towards the apex, nearly as long as the supra-anal plate (Fig. 9A–B). Subgenital plate subtriangular in dorsal view (Fig. 9C) with rounded posterior border pointing dorso-posteriorly and ventral border slightly concave (Fig. 9D). Female terminalia (Fig. 9E–F): supra-anal plate triangular. Furcula not developed. Cerci conical, nearly one-half the length of the supra-anal plate (Fig. 9E). Dorsal valves of ovipositor lanceolate with tips curved dorsally (Fig. 9F). Ventral valves of ovipositor with a ventral tooth projecting posteriorly and tips curved ventrally (Fig. 9F). Male genitalia (Fig. 13A–D): epiphallus well sclerotized, bridge slightly curved anteriorly (Fig. 13A); ancorae short, triangular, and curved ventrally (Fig. 13A–B); anterior projections curved inwards with rounded apices (Fig. 13A–B); lophi prominent, paddle-shaped and developed posteriorly with anterior-internal tooth moderately developed dorsally in lateral view (Fig. 13A–B). Endophallus with dorsal valves short (barely surpassing the sheath of ectophallus) with apices laterally flattened and bilobulated (Fig. 13C–D); the dorsal and ventral lobules are slightly curved backwards or forwards, respectively (Fig. 13D). Ventral valves conical and nearly slightly shorter than the dorsal valves in lateral view of endophallus (Fig. 13D).
EXTERNAL VARIATION (in mm). Males (n = 15): body length: 13.74–16.96 (15.34 ± 0.83), pronotum length: 2.63–3.88 (3.21 ± 0.4), prozona length: 1.86–2.67 (2.27 ± 0.28), metazona length: 0.59–1.19 (0.89 ± 0.19), metazona/prozona ratio: 0.25–0.61 (0.39 ± 0.09), and hind femur length: 8.02–9.34 (8.65 ± 0.36). Females (n = 16): body length: 15.08–19.87 (18.29 ± 1.36), pronotum length: 3.97–4.7 (4.25 ± 0.23), prozona length: 2.7–3.39 (3.01 ± 0.18), metazona length: 0.87–1.63 (1.16 ± 0.18), metazona/prozona ratio: 0.31–0.56 (0.39 ± 0.07), and hind femur length: 8.46–10.84 (10.05 ± 0.59).
TYPE MATERIAL. Holotype male (Fig. 7A, C): México, Colima, Desviación a Ixtlahuacán, ca. mina de yeso, Tecomán; Selva seca caducifolia, 17-IX- 2021, 481 masl, 19.074017º N, -103.774991º W, S. Sanabria-Urbán & R. Mariño Pérez L 36.2021 (locality L08), CAFESI (specimen #45). Additional type material: allotype female (Fig. 7B, D) and 21 paratypes (10♂ and 11♀) with same data as holotype, CAFESI; 8 paratypes (4♂ and 4♀) from: Mexico, Colima, 11.3 mi. SW. Colima (on HWY. 110); 26-IX- 1959, 396 masl, 19.076056º N, - 103.775051º W, I.J. Cantrall & T. J. Cohn #192 (locality L07), ANSP.
DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT AND TEMPORAL OCCURRENCE. This species has been only collected in two geographically closed (less than 10 km apart) and lowland (L08 and L07, 396–481 masl) localities around central Colima within the Pacific lowlands biogeographic province. So far, ottei seems to be allopatrically distributed in the most septentrional portion of the subgenus range. Adults (Fig. 4C–D) and mating pairs (Fig. 17A) of this species have been found at the end of the rainy season in different years (in September 1959 and 2024) in weedy-bushy ruderal habitats at the edge of tropical deciduous forests (Fig. 17 A–B).
ETYMOLOGY. The specific epithet is a patronym in honor of Daniel Otte for his great contributions to the taxonomy of Melanoplinae grasshoppers in Mexico, including some of the material revised here was collected by him.
description: Published as part of Aguilar-Rolda ́ N, César Antonio, Gómez-Tapia, José David, Mariño-Pérez, Ricardo, Song, Hojun, Vázquez-Reyes, Leopoldo D. & Sanabria-Urbán, Salomón, 2024, Studies in Mexican grasshoppers: four new species of the genus Oaxaca Fontana Buzzetti & Mariño-Pérez, 2011 with the erection of the subgenus Paraoaxaca (Caelifera: Acrididae: Melanoplinae), pp. 499-538 in Zootaxa 5486 (4) on pages 509-517, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5486.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/13210402