Anepitacta (Anepitacta) wrightae Naskrecki, 2008, n. sp.
Creators: name: Naskrecki, Piotr
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Anepitacta
Anepitacta wrightae

description: Anepitacta (Anepitacta) wrightae n. sp.
(Figs. 2J– O; 4D, N; 5A; 6D, E)
Differential diagnosis. This species is closely related to A. (A.) guentheri Gorochov, from which it differs in the strong reduction of wings, and the shape of the male cercus (the male cercus is equipped with a larger, more distended apical part in A. guentheri.) The 10th male tergite of the new species also resembles that of A. (A.) inconspicua Br. -Watt., but the latter has a small and partially membranous apical part of the male cercus, and is macropterous. The female subgenital plate of A. (A.) wrightae resembles that of A. (A.) guineensis Beier, but the latter is also macropterous.
Description.
General. Body small, slender; brachypterous (Fig. 6 E).
Head. Fastigium of vertex triangular, blunt apically, not reaching apex of antennal sockets, flat dorsally; antennae more than twice as long as body; frons flat, vertical; eyes circular, weakly protruding.
Thorax. Lateral lobe of pronotum wider than high; humeral sinus of pronotum absent (Fig. 6 D); anterior margin of pronotum flat; metazona flat; posterior edge of metazona narrowly rounded.
Legs. Legs slender. Front tibia unarmed dorsally, with 5 spines on posterior and 4 on anterior ventral margin; tympanum bilaterally open, oval; genicular lobes of front femur unarmed; front femur unarmed ventrally; mid tibia very weakly thickened in proximal ¾, with 3 spines on posterior and 5 on anterior ventral margin; mid femur unarmed ventrally; genicular lobes of mid femur unarmed. Hind femur unarmed ventrally; genicular lobes of hind femur unarmed.
Wings. Wings reduced, tegmen barely reaching 5th abdominal tergite; anterior margin broadly rounded; hind wing reduced, half as long as tegmen. Costal field slightly widened at base; veins Sc and R close together, parallel along their entire length; Rs detached from R, starts before middle of tegmen, without secondary branches; right stridulatory area with large, fully developed mirror; left stridulatory area with large, fully developed, roughly rectangular mirror (Fig. 4 N). Stridulatory file elevated on thickened vein, nearly straight, bent in proximal fourth, with 147 teeth, 0.49 mm long, 0.04 mm wide (Fig. 4D).
Abdomen. Tenth tergite with posterior edge sclerotized, forming paired, long lobes overhanging epiproct (Figs. 2J, M); epiproct strongly modified, forming large, paired, sinuous structure (Fig. 2L), styli parallel. Cercus with small, basal tooth, S-shaped, held vertically; apex strongly flattened dorso-ventrally and distended laterally (Fig. 2K); paraprocts unmodified; epiphallus weakly sclerotized, with central, bulbous structure covered with tiny denticles (Fig. 5A). Subgenital plate unmodified. broadly trapezoidal; straight apically; styli cylindrical, about 4 times as long as wide. Female subgenital plate roughly rectangular, about 1.5 times longer than wide (Fig. 2 O).
Ovipositor. Ovipositor normally developed; slightly curved, slightly shorter than hind femur (ratio femur/ ovipositor 1.06–1.13); apex of ovipositor pointed, with apex of lower valvula slightly bent downwards; edges of both valvulae smooth, dorsal edge of upper valvula parallel to lower valvula (Fig. 2N).
Egg. Egg elongate; without external appendages.
Coloration. Coloration olive green; antennae concolorous; eyes uniformly colored; face without darker markings; occiput with brown band; pronotum with light brown band and dark markings on posterior edge; tegmen green, with posterior edge brown; hind wing hyaline; hind legs uniformly colored; abdominal sterna and subgenital plate without markings.
Measurements (5 males, 7 females). body w/o wings: male 10–12 (11±1), female 8–11 (9.5±1.2); pronotum: male 3.5–4 (3.9±.2), female 3.3–4 (3.6±.2); tegmen: male 3.4–3.7 (3.5±.1), female 3.2–3.5 (3.4±.1); hind femur: male 8.5–9.3 (8.9±.3), female 9–10 (9.4±.4); ovipositor: 8–9 (8.4±.4) mm.
Material examined. GHANA: Eastern Region, Atewa Range, Asiakwa (North), elev. 769 m (6°16'16.4''N, 0°33'52.8''W), 16–24.vi. 2006, coll. P. Naskrecki (Camp 3) – male holotype (ANSP), male paratype) (MCZ); Asiakwa (South), elev. 690 m (6°15'44.3''N, 0°33'18.8''W), 11–16.vi. 2006, coll. P. Naskrecki (Camp 2) - 8 females, 2 males (incl. 10 paratypes) (MCZ); Asiakwa, main road, elev. 817 m (6°15'.7''N, 0°33'53.7''W), 7–11.xii. 2007, coll. P. Naskrecki, V. Awotwe-Pratt and N. Jengre - 1 female, 1 male (paratypes) (ANSP).
Etymology. Named in honor of Heather Wright for her help in organizing the Rapid Assessment survey, during which this new species was initially collected.
description: Published as part of Naskrecki, Piotr, 2008, New species of arboreal predatory katydids from West Africa (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae), pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 1732 on pages 11-12, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.181351