Oaxaca (Paraoaxaca) N, Gómez-Tapia, Mariño-Pérez, Song, Vázquez-Reyes & Sanabria-Urbán, 2024, subgen. 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

description: Paraoaxaca subgen. nov. Aguilar-Roldán, Gómez-Tapia, Mariño-Pérez & Sanabria-Urbán
TYPE SPECIES. Oaxaca (Paraoaxaca) ottei sp. nov. Aguilar-Roldán, Gómez-Tapia, Mariño-Pérez & Sanabria-Urbán.
COMPOSITION. This new subgenus comprises four new species: ottei sp. nov., cohni sp. nov., cuitlateca sp. nov., and tlapaneca sp. nov., all of them described in this study.
DIAGNOSIS AND TAXONOMIC AFFINITY. This new subgenus shares many characteristics with the previously described species of the genus Oaxaca. However, Paraoaxaca grasshoppers generally have slightly larger body sizes and shorter metazona (less than half the length of prozona) than the other two species Oaxaca (Fig. 3; Table 1). In addition, dorsomedial and dorsolateral light stripes of body, and lower areas of head and pronotum are ivory or yellow in subgenus Paraoaxaca, while green or blue in the other congeneric species. Moreover, hind femora of Paraoaxaca individuals are almost entirely green instead showing some degree of red as in other species of the genus Oaxaca, and these differences in coloration are evident in both females and males (Figs. 4–5). Male sexual characters also distinguish Paraoaxaca species. The male cerci of subgenus Paraoaxaca are conical, elongated, and straight; while in the other species of Oaxaca, male cerci can be triangular and flattened (O. carinata) or conical elongated, but curved inwards (O. colorata). Moreover, males of subgenus Paraoaxaca can be recognized by having a continuous bridge of epiphallus in association with a backwards directed rounded tooth in the anterior-internal portion of each lophus. Although this last character is shared with O. carinata, in this later species the bridge of epiphallus is segmented in the middle. Lastly, although genus Oaxaca is found in Southwestern Mexico, the known geographic range of subgenus Paraoaxaca spans roughly lowlands from Colima state to middle Guerrero state, while the current species of genus Oaxaca are distributed from midlands to highlands from middle Guerrero to Oaxaca states (Fig. 6).
SUBGENERIC DESCRIPTION. Coloration (Figs. 4–5): dorsal body surface of males featuring two dark bands (dark brown or black) running parallel from head to about the 5 th abdominal segment. These bands are divided by a dorsomedial light stripe and bordered on each side by two dorsolateral light stripes (yellow or ivory). The dorsomedial light stripe runs along the carina media and narrows in the head and pronotum (sometimes despairing) and widens as it reaches the abdomen tip. The dorsolateral light stripes are well-defined on the head and pronotum, widening and becoming less distinct towards the end of the abdomen. Similar color patterns can be seen in adult females (Fig. 5B, D) or alternatively, they may have a light brown dorsal surface without any dark bands and more less diffuse dorsolateral light stripes (Fig. 5F, H). This alternative coloration has also been observed in few nymphal males (Fig. 5E, G). Lateral body surface of both sexes with dark bands (dark brown or black) on either side of the upper half. These lateral dark bands are wide and continuous from behind the eyes to thorax and narrowing and despairing towards the end of the abdomen. Lower half of head, pronotum and mesothoracic sternum lightly colored (yellow or ivory). Metathoracic episternum with oblique yellow or ivory stripe in the upper half. Antenna lightly colored (green, yellow, or light brown) almost entirely, except dark for distal quarter. Eyes generally dark brown with lighter coloration in the front. Tegmina mostly dark (dark brown or black), except for the upper third that is lightly colored (ivory, light brown or yellow). Fore and middle legs entirely green or light brown (Fig. 4E, G), sometimes females show light brown on the dorsal and green on the ventral surface of the legs (Fig. 4F, H). Hind femora enterally green or light brown, except for the dark (brown to black) lobes of knees. Sometimes females show a lighter coloration in the upper basal half of the hind femora surrounded by dark stripes (Fig. 5H). Hind tibiae bluish green or blue. General morphology (Figs. 7–8): body size ranging from 10.91 to 17.55 mm in males and from 13.11 to 20.59 mm in females (Table A1). Dorsal surface of body slightly pubescent and uniformly rugose from head to abdomen in most cases or smoother on the abdomen. Longitudinal median carina on dorsal body surface well marked from head to abdomen, or less marked on head and pronotum than in the abdomen. Head with arched vertex, slightly elevated above the pronotum in lateral view, more evident in males. Fastigium projecting forward, descending nearly at middle of the eyes in lateral view. Eyes globose and prominent, nearly twice as long as the infra-ocular portion of the gena in lateral view of head, nearly touching anteriorly and widely separated posteriorly in dorsal view of head. Antenna filiform, nearly the length of head and pronotum together in females or the length of head, pronotum and metanotum together in males. Pronotum transversely convex, wider posteriorly than anteriorly, especially in females, dorsally straight to slightly arched; with two or three well-marked transverse sulci, in the latter case the anterior two sulci fuse and interrupt in the lateral-middle portion of pronotum; metazona generally less than half the length of prozona (average metazona/prozona ratio equal to 0.43 in both males and females). Dorsal anterior and posterior margins of pronotal disc somewhat emarginated, more distinctly in the latter. Tegmina represented by small lateral tongues, wider in the posterior third than in the base and the apex, partially covering the tympanum or barely surpassing the posterior margin of the first abdominal segment. Hind wings not evident. Legs slightly pubescent, fore and middle femora more robust in males than in females, fore and middle tibiae with two rows of small dark spines on inner and outer margins of the lower surface of the distal half, hind tibiae with two rows of spines in dorsal surface, 8 spines in the outer, 9–10 in the inner. Male terminalia (Figs. 9–12, A–D): supra-anal plate triangular with rounded or pointed apex. Furcula short, blunt rounded and sometimes flattened, nearly touching dorsally. Cerci conical and straight, tapering gradually towards the apex, nearly as long as the supra-anal plate. Subgenital plate spherical or subtriangular with a rounded posterior margin or produced in a pointy or a tongue-like process. Female terminalia (Figs. 9–12, E–F): supra-anal plate triangular. Furcula absent. Cerci conical, wide in the basal quarter, tapering towards the apex, nearly half the length of the supra-anal plate. Dorsal valves of ovipositor lanceolate with tips curved dorsally. Ventral valves of ovipositor with a ventral tooth projecting posteriorly tips curved ventrally. Male genitalia (Figs. 13–16): epiphallus well sclerotized (not segmented), bridge almost straight to notably curved anteriorly; ancorae short, triangular, and curved ventrally; anterior projections curved inwards, pointy, or rounded; lophi prominent paddle-shaped or lobulated, in any case with a backwards directed rounded tooth in the anterior-internal portion of each lophus. Endophallus with dorsal valves sclerotized, variable in size and form, ranging from short and dorsally (or laterally) flattened to long and gutter-like. Ventral valves of endophallus nearly as long as the dorsal valves, also variable in form, ranging from subtriangular and pointed to elongated and slender.
DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT AND TEMPORAL OCCURRENCE. Based on the available records, the grasshoppers of this subgenus inhabit the lowlands (from sea level to 1,337 meters above sea level, masl) of the Pacific coast and the outer slopes of the Sierra Madre del Sur in Southwestern Mexico.Their known geographic range spans roughly from central Colima state to the northwestern half of Guerrero state (Fig. 6). These grasshoppers have been found in weedy-bushy ruderal habitats, but usually at the edge of tropical deciduous forest and oak-pine forest (Fig. 17A, C). They also have been collected in overgrown fields surrounded by thinned natural vegetation or even in cultivated areas (Fig. 17E, G). Few observations exist of Paraoaxaca grasshoppers feeding on composite plants (Tithonia spp. and Aldama spp.) and climbing plants (Ipomea spp.) (Fig. 17B, D, F, H). These grasshoppers have been found from September to January, but their numbers seem to peak in September and October, when mating pairs have also been observed (Fig. 17A). Abundance of these grasshoppers appears to decline as drier winter conditions set in. Interestingly, late-stage nymphs have been found throughout this period, from September all the way to January (Fig. 5E, G), suggesting these grasshoppers can have more than a single generation each year.
ETYMOLOGY. This name is composed of the ancient Greek παρά (meaning next to or near) and the generic name Oaxaca.The name Paraoaxaca refers to both the adjacent distribution, and the close morphological resemblance between grasshoppers of this new subgenus and the currently known two species of the genus Oaxaca.
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 507-509, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5486.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/13210402