Lipotactomimus Naskrecki, sp. n.
Creators: name: Naskrecki, Piotr
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2000
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Lipotactomimus

description: <i>LIPOTACTOMIMUS</i> Naskrecki, gen. n. Type species: <i>Lipotactomimus rowelli</i> sp. n., here designated <b>Diagnosis</b> (female) Body small, stout; female mesopterous (Fig. 4 A); tegumen smooth, shiny. Fastigium of vertex 0.5 times as wide as scapus, small, knob-like; eyes large, strongly protruding; pronotum wider than long. Hind femur stocky; ovipositor shorter than hind femur, distinctly upcurved. <b>Description</b> (female; male unknown) <i>Head.—</i> Fastigium of vertex small, knob-like, as wide as 1/2 of scapus, with longitudinal furrow dorsally (Fig. 4 C); fastigium of vertex separated from fastigium of frons by small gap. Eyes very large relative to head size, strongly protruding; frons flat; tegumen of head smooth, shiny; face approximately triangular. Mandible and clypeus symmetrical (Fig. 4 B). <i>Thorax and wings.—</i> Dorsal surface of pronotum smooth and shiny; metazona distinctly raised; both anterior and posterior dorsal margins of pronotum straight; lateral lobes about as long as high, without humeral sinus. Thoracic auditory spiracle large, elliptical, nearly completely exposed. Prosternum unarmed, simple; mesosternum with lateral lobes of basisterna triangular, their inner margins touching; metasternum reduced to small, transverse plate. Wings somewhat shortened, most likely barely reaching end of abdomen (abdomen shrunken in holotype). <i>Legs.—</i> All legs stout; fore coxa with short, forward projecting spine dorsally. Fore and mid femora completely unarmed; hind femora very stout, armed with minute spines on anterior ventral margins only; all genicular lobes of femora armed with short spines. Fore and mid tibiae unarmed dorsally, both ventral margins with immovable spines as long as 1/4 diameter of tibia; hind tibia armed on dorsal margins along their entire length, and on ventral margins in apical fourth; apex of tibia with two pairs of ventral and one pair of dorsal movable spurs. <i>Abdomen.—</i> Dorsal surface of abdominal terga smooth, unmodified; 10th tergite simple; cercus conical, simple; subgenital plate about as long as wide, with shallow apical emargination. Ovipositor distinctly upcurved; 1/2 as long as hind femur, gradually narrowing towards apex; apex acute. <i>Coloration.—</i> Coloration striking, with contrasting green, yellow and brown elements. Face creamy-pink, with wide, yellow circles around compound eyes, occiput dark brown. Pronotum dark brown, with bright green stripe along the middle and yellowish-green, elongate patches along posterior edge of lateral lobes. Tegmina green, hind wings black. Legs green, except for black hind knees and brownish hind tibia. Abdomen yellow, ovipositor yellowish-brown. (Note: this description is based on a dried specimen, live individuals are more brightly colored). <i>Remarks.—</i> This unusual new genus in its general appearance strongly resembles members of the south-east Asian genus <i>Lipotactes</i> Brunner von Wattenwyl (Lipotactinae). <i>Lipotactomimus</i> differs from members of Lipotactinae in the structure of thoracic sterna (prosternum armed, and meso- and metasternum with stout cylindrical processes in <i>Lipotactes</i>; no such modifications in <i>Lipotactomimus</i>), lack of a process on hind coxa (present in <i>Lipotactes</i>), and shorter and wider pronotum. Also, females are either squamipterous or apterous in all known species of Lipotactinae (female mesopterous in <i>Lipotactomimus</i>). <i>Lipotactomimus</i> seems to be most closely related to genera traditionally placed in Conocephalinae, especially to the genus <i>Fatuhivella</i> Hebard from Marquesas Islands, from which it differs in thicker and shorter legs as well as larger, more prominent compound eyes. <i>Etymology.—</i> The generic epithet indicates the superficial similarity of the new genus to the south-east Asian genus <i>Lipotactes</i>.
description: Published as part of <i>Piotr Naskrecki, 2000, Katydids of Costa Rica / Vol. 1, Systematics and bioacoustics of the cone-head katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae sensu lato)., Philadelphia, PA :The Orthopterists Society at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia,</i> on page 26, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.270035