Turanogryllus pandajhirensis Jaiswara, Swaminathan, Monaal & Meena 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Meena, Ashok Kumar
name: Gulati, Harsh
name: Swaminathan, Rajamani
name: Jaiswara, Ranjana
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Gryllidae
Turanogryllus
Turanogryllus pandajhirensis

description: Turanogryllus pandajhirensis Jaiswara, Swaminathan, Monaal & Meena sp. nov.
Table 2; Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 (A–C), 9(A–C), 10(A&B), 11B, 12(D–F)
Type locality: India, Madhya Pradesh, Damoh, Pandajhir ~ 377 m a.s.l., N 23° 21.580, E 079° 35.295.
Type material.
Holotype, ♂, PU-OR-ENSIF 01, INDIA: Madhya Pradesh, Damoh, Pandajhir ~ 377 m a.s.l., N 23° 21.580, E 079° 35.295. Hand picking, 10.07.2022, Coll. Monaal. Allotype, ♀, PU-OR-ENSIF 02, same data as holotype. Paratypes, 2♂ (PU-OR-ENSIF 03 & PU-OR-ENSIF 04), INDIA: Rajasthan, Barmer, Baytu ~ 164 m a.s.l., 25°54’0’’N, 71°45’6’’E. Light trap, 05.07.2022, Coll. A K Meena and 2♂ (PU-OR-ENSIF 05 & PU-OR-ENSIF 06) same data as holotype.
Distribution. Known from type locality in Madhya Pradesh and its distribution in Rajasthan, India.
Etymology. The species name is named after the type locality Pandajhir of Madhya Pradesh.
Habitat. T. pandajhirensis sp. nov. is currently known from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, India.
In Madhya Pradesh, the crickets were found in shrubs and open grasslands with no canopy cover. These habitats are characterized by direct sunlight and very less overhead vegetation, creating open and exposed environments. In Rajasthan all specimens of new species were collected in the CFL light at evening time.
Diagnosis: Size larger than T. pakistanus; blackish brown with DD rufous-brown patch (Fig. 5 & 6). Pronotum strongly narrows anteriorly (Fig. 5C). FW mirror divided by a curved vein; diagonal vein curved; harp with four Sshaped oblique veins; apical field composed of relaxed reticulation and 4 cell alignment (Fig. 5G). Pseudepiphallus with a very short median lobe; lateral lobes converging towards each other, pseudepiphallic apodeme distinctly long; ectophallic fold thick and sclerotized not reaching the posterior margin of pseudeiphallic epiphallus, ectophallic apodeme long and very high in lateral view (Fig. 8A–C).
Description: Head. Head globose, shining black above, occiput without any yellow lines (Fig. 5A). Eyes large and globular (Fig. 5C & D). Face pale yellow, longer than wide in frontal view (Fig. 7C). Median ocellus oval (Fig. 7C). Fastigium is slightly curved in the dorsal view and is 2 times wider than scape. Maxillary palpi long, pale yellow (Fig. 6F); 3 rd and 4 th segment subequal; 5 th segment longest, obliquely truncated from one-third of length. Pronotum. Pronotum black mottled with chestnut brown; narrowing anteriorly, anterior margin slightly concave (Fig. 5C), posterior margin straight LL pale yellow, lateral margin straight (Fig. 5D). Legs. TI with oval tympanum present on both sides; outer tympanum much larger than inner. TI with 3 unequal apical spurs. TII with 4 apical spurs. TIII not serrulated; with 6 outer and 5 inner sub-apical spurs and 3 pairs of apical spurs. Basitarsomeres III higher than wide, furrowed dorsally; with two rows of strong dorsal spines, getting stronger toward apex. Males. FWs either slightly shorter than abdomen or slightly extending beyond abdomen; mirror almost twice wider than longer, divided by a curve vein anterior and posterior angle obtuse; harp traversed by 4 oblique veins, diagonal vein curved (Fig. 5G). Chord veins well separated; stridulatory file with approximately 220 teeth (Fig. 10A), apical field variable. Lateral field whitish, with 7–8 longitudinal veins. HWs when present extended beyond the abdomen (Fig. 7A). Genitalia. Supra-anal plate yellowish-brown (Fig. 5H), almost as wide as long, narrowing posteriorly, posterior margin slightly concave. Subgenital plate deeply notched posteriorly upto one-third of length (Fig. 5E), as long as high in lateral view (Fig. 5F). Genitalic parts are heavily sclerotized. Pseudepiphallus with a very short median lobe, posterior end of lateral lobes bear stout styli, converging towards each other in dorsal view, in lateral view styli directed upwardly; inner side of lateral lobes and styli bears long setae. Anterior margin of pseudepiphallus convex. Pseudepiphallic apodeme distinctly long. Pseudepiphallic paramere divided apically into long and short processes, in lateral view long processes is slightly longer than styli, with broad apical end and bears a small projection directed dorsally; short process inner lobe with denticulated apical ends, meeting each other; outer lobe longer and minutely serrated. Ectophallic fold thick and sclerotized not reaching the posterior margin of pseudeiphallic epiphallus. Ectophallic apodeme long and very high in lateral view (Fig. 8B). Endophallic cavity distinct. Rami bifid on posterior end, bend on mid length.
Female. Head, pronotum and legs as in males. FW separated and very short, limited up to the first abdominal segment (Fig. 6C), dorsal field blackish brown with 5 longitudinal veins (Fig. 6C); lateral field light brown with 4 longitudinal veins (Fig. 6F). G enitalia. Subgenital plate elongate, posterior margin deeply notched (Fig. 6G). Copulatory papilla strongly sclerotized compared to T. pakistanus.
Bioacoustics
The calling song of Turanogryllus pandajhirensis sp. nov. is trill type, composed of a continuous sequence of equally spaced syllables (Fig. 12D). At 28.5°C, the average syllable period (SP) is 32±1ms, syllable duration (SD) 25±1ms. The dominant frequency of the calling song is 6.8 kHz with first and second harmonic at 13.6 kHz and 20.1 kHz.
description: Published as part of Meena, Ashok Kumar, Gulati, Harsh, Swaminathan, Rajamani & Jaiswara, Ranjana, 2025, A new species of the genus, Turanogryllus Tarbinsky, 1940 from India with redescription of T. pakistanus with data on acoustic signals (Grylloidea: Gryllidae: Gryllinae), pp. 46-62 in Zootaxa 5601 (1) on pages 53-62, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5601.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/14980297