Anthracites furvuseques Tan & Ingrisch & Robillard & Baroga-Barbecho & Yap 2018, new species
Creators: name: Tan, Ming Kai
name: Ingrisch, Sigfrid
name: Robillard, Tony
name: Baroga-Barbecho, Jessica B.
name: Yap, Sheryl A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Anthracites
Anthracites furvuseques

description: Anthracites furvuseques Tan, Baroga-Barbecho & Yap new species
(Figs. 2–5)
Material examined. Holotype (male, Siargao 18_38): Philippines, Mindanao, Surigao del Norte, Siargao Island, Del Carmen, Brgy. Katipunan, N9.86431 E126.03367, 41.4± 6.6 m.a.s.l., 9 April 2018, 0 0 35, coll. M.K. Tan, H. Yeo, J.B. Baroga-Barbecho, S.A. Yap (UPLBMNH).
Paratypes: Philippines, same locality, coll. M.K. Tan, H. Yeo, J.B. Baroga-Barbecho, S.A. Yap: 1 male (Siargao 18_08), N9.87602 E126.00954, 30.5±5.0 m.a.s.l., 7 April 2018, 1951 hours; 1 female (Siargao 18_09), N9.87604 E126.00954, 31.3± 4.9 m.a.s.l., 7 April 2018, 2000 hours; 1 female (Siargao 18_11), N9.87604 E126.00919, 28.9± 4.9 m.a.s.l., 7 April 2018, 2006 hours (all ZRC).
Diagnosis. The new species differs from all known congeners by the male cercus dorso-ventrally compressed but slanting with distal part conical and with two inner processes pointing inwards in distal half, both processes of male cercus stout and triangular with apex slightly curved and sclerotised, and by the shape of the titillators that are stiffened along rim and provided with two pairs of lateral sclerites that are connected by a simple, narrow bridge. A. furvuseques sp. n. strongly resembles Anthracites major Hebard, 1922 from Surigao, Anthracites flagellatus Ingrisch, 2015 from Misamis Orientalis, and Anthracites nitidus Redtenbacher, 1891 from Mindanao by its black body. However, it differs from A. major by: anterior and middle legs black around knees (unicolourous in A. major); posterior femora with black dorsal stripes (absent in A. major); two inner processes of male cercus similar in size and robustness (instead of the ventral one being decidedly heavier); sternites and subgenital plate brown (instead of black). From A. flagellatus it differs by: male tegmen more tint of black and mirror more angular (instead of rounded in A. flagellatus), shape of male cercus and titillators, and subgenital plate with median carina but without dorsad-pointing lateral spine-like processes. From A. nitidus it differs by two inner processes of male cercus similar in size and robustness (instead of the dorsal one being decidedly heavier), and titillators stiffened along rim.
Description. Habitus of male as shown in Fig. 2. Fastigium verticis compressed laterally (Fig. 3A), in dorsal view conical with a fine longitudinal groove, lateral ocelli before middle, apex truncated, shorter than scapus (Fig. 3B). Frons shining with few shallowly impressed dots (Fig. 3A). Pronotum smooth to slightly wrinkled, disc broadly rounded into paranota, apical area rounded and faintly shouldered; anterior transverse sulcus short, posterior transverse sulcus longer and angularly rounded; anterior margin truncated but faintly concave in middle; posterior margin subtruncate (Fig. 3B). Paranota with ventral margin concave, posterior margin swollen (Fig. 3C). Acoustic spiracle large and elongated oval, completely covered by paranota (Fig. 3C). Tegmen micropterous, mirror area almost fully covered by pronotal disc (Fig. 3B), reaching only middle of 2nd abdominal tergite, with rounded apex; hind wing present, but covered by tegmen (Fig. 3C). Prosternum with two long acute spines pointing nearly ventrad. Mesosternal and metasternal lobes conical with acute apices. Tympanum on anterior tibia slightly swollen with a narrow slit. Anterior coxa with a long and curved spine (Fig. 3C). Femora with the following number of spines on ventral margins: anterior femur 3 external, 6 internal; middle femur 5 external, 3 internal; posterior femur 7 external, 2 internal. Knee lobes of anterior and middle femora obtuse externally and spinose internally; knee of posterior femur bispinose on both sides, longer than those of anterior and middle femora.
Male. Mirror on left tegmen small, angularly rounded, circa 1.3 times wider than long (Fig. 3D). Stridulatory file on underside of left tegmen straight; about 1.5 mm long; with about 80 teeth fairly regularly spaced throughout (Fig. 3E). Tenth abdominal tergite at posterior margin truncated, emarginated in middle; posterior end in middle depressed; depression and posterior margin with setae (Fig. 3F). Epiproct tongue-shaped. Cercus short and stout, pointing slightly inwards, dorso-laterally compressed; distal part conical with obtuse apex; with two inner processes pointing inwards in distal half; both processes stout and triangular, apex slightly curved and sclerotised; dorsal process slightly longer than ventral (Figs. 3F–H). Subgenital plate longer than wide, with anterior margin concave, gently converging lateral margins, apical margin deeply excised, excision truncated, with a medial carina running from bottom of excision to centre of plate (Fig. 3I). Styli stout and long with apex rounded (Fig. 3I). Titillators (Figs. 3J–M) separate, bases narrow band-shaped and curved (Fig. 3K); stiffened along rim and provided with two pairs of lateral sclerites (Fig. 3J).
Female (Fig. 4A). Tenth abdominal tergite short and transverse, deeply and widely emarginated in middle; forming two broadly rounded lobes (Fig. 4B). Epiproct broadly triangular with basal depression and broadly rounded apex (Fig. 4B). Cerci with apex pointing (Fig. 4B). Subgenital plate large, wider than long, roundly emarginated in middle, with two lateral angular lobes (Fig. 4C). Ovipositor long sabre-shaped; margins smooth (Fig. 4D).
Colouration. Body black with pale legs. Face black, median ocellus yellow; scapus black ventrally and on inner side, pale dorsally and on outer side; antennae black; maxillary palpi with basal three segments pale, apical and subapical segments black; mandible black, clypeus pink-orange, labrum yellow-orange (Figs. 3A–C). Pronotum completely black (Figs. 3B, 3C). Tegmen with lateral field bright yellow with irregular black spots, spots smaller closer to costal (anterior) margin; dorsal field mostly black, posterior of mirror also bright yellow with irregular black spots (Figs. 3D, 4E). Spines on anterior coxa black (Fig. 3C). Anterior and middle femora black at base and at knee, otherwise pale; anterior and middle tibiae pale with base and apex black; fore and middle tarsi black. Posterior femur pale laterally, with a black longitudinal dorsal stripe that extends from the base to nearly the knee; knees, including lobes black. Posterior tibia black near knee, otherwise pale with black dorsal spines. Posterior tarsus black. Abdominal tergite black, with anterior margin pink when alive, with two faint orange spots in middle of posterior margin. Male tenth abdominal tergite and epiproct also black; brown setae on tenth abdominal tergite (Fig. 3F). Cercus black with brown setae, apices of internal processes brown (Fig. 3H). Sternites and subgenital plate brown. Ovipositor with dorsal valve mostly black, red brown apically, ventral valve mostly red brown with tint of black at base.
Measurements (^ indicates measurement for male holotype). BL: male 26.0–29.3^, female 30.7; PL: male 9.4^–9.8, female 9.2–9.4; PW: male 6.2^–6.5, female 6.9–7.0; TL: male 5.4–6.0^, female 5.4–5.8; HFL: male 21.8–22.1^, female 22.3–23.2; HTL: male 22.0^–22.3, female 21.7–23.2; OL: female 16.3–16.5 mm.
Etymology. The species name refers to the Dark Knight (in Latin; dark = furvus, knight = eques). This species is named after the fictional superhero character Batman in the Dark Knight Trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan. The species’ black colouration resembles the dark suit of the vigilante while the titillators also shows certain resemblance to the iconic Batman mask (Fig. 3J) and logo (Fig. 3M) in the film.
Natural history. The new species is a common Agraeciini species found in the coastal vegetation on the island (Fig. 1) at night. The species was observed to feed on small snails (Fig. 5A) and possibly seed pods of ground orchids (Spathoglottis sp.) (Fig. 5B).
description: Published as part of Tan, Ming Kai, Ingrisch, Sigfrid, Robillard, Tony, Baroga-Barbecho, Jessica B. & Yap, Sheryl A., 2018, New taxa and notes on spine-headed katydids (Orthoptera: Conocephalinae: Agraeciini) from the Philippines, pp. 331-348 in Zootaxa 4462 (3) on pages 333-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4462.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/1441655