Crux heggi Trewick 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Trewick, Steven A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Echinodermata
Holothuroidea
Orthoptera
Rhaphidophoridae
Crux
Crux heggi

description: Crux heggi Trewick sp. nov.
(Figures 3, 7–9)
Material. Holotype ♀. Saxon hut, Heaphy Track, Kahurangi NP, New Zealand, D. Hegg, 22/04/2016, MPN CW2983, NMNZ AI.074305. Paratype ♂. Ces Clarke Hut, Paparoa Range, New Zealand, D. Hegg, 06/04/2019, CW4443, NMNZ AI.074306.
Description.
Dimensions: Adult female total length (from anterior of head to posterior tip of ovipositor) about 28.54 mm; antenna 3–3.5 body length; length (anterior of head to posterior of abdomen) 13.59 mm; pronotum length 4.59 mm; ovipositor 14.5 mm; fore femur length 8.14 mm; mid femur length 7.24 mm; hind femur length 15.56 mm and depth 3.82 mm; fore tibia 8.4 mm; mid tibia 7.56mm; hind tibia length 15.71 mm (Figure 3, 7).
Legs: Femora, fore tibiae and mid tibiae paler than dorsal abdomen, but with some darker markings. Legs are robust and glabrous except for inferior surfaces, which are clothed in fine gold-brown hairs. Most spines are dark and stout. Hind tibiae and femora similar in length, approximately equal to the body length. Fore femora with no apical spines. Mid femora with one retrolateral apical spine. Hind femora short, stout, with stout, fixed, spines towards the posterior end of the prominent inferior carinae; 2 retrolateral and 1 main prolateral towards distal end plus several small spines. Hind femora bear a short, fixed, retrolateral apical spine on knee. Fore tibiae with three inferior linear spines, 2 prolateral and 1retrolateral. Fore tibiae with 2 superior apical spines (1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral), and 2 inferior apical spines spines (1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral). Mid tibiae with same spines as fore tibiae. Hind tibiae naked above, fine gold hairs beneath and with two rows of prominent, stout, sharp, fixed spines; ~7 along superior prolateral margin and ~8 along superior retrolateral margin. Hind tibiae with a pair of small articulated, inferior apical spines, a pair of articulated, lateral apical spines, and a pair of longer, articulated superior apical spines. Hind tarsi with 1 st and 4 th segments longer than the 2 nd and 3 rd; unarmed except 1 st and 2 nd segments which each bear a pair of backward leaning, stout, fixed spines near distal end of superior surface (Figure 8).
Female. Ventral surface of sternites hirsute. A small bifid subgenital plate with few hairs. Ovipositor long and almost straight (notably along the ventral margin), curving only slightly upwards towards the posterior end. Very pale cream at base especially on underside, rich amber brown in posterior half. Valves mostly smooth, but ventral valves with undulations at the tip. Cerci stout, pale, with fine amber hairs, and a dark ring below a cream tip (Figure 7).
Colouration: Predominantly cream/beige with dark brown markings primarily on dorsal surface of thorax and abdomen (Figure 3, 7).
Male: Similar to female in colour and leg spine combinations. Length 17mm; fore femur length 9.16 mm; pronotum length 4.74; mid femur length 8.27 mm; hind femur length 15.58mm; fore tibia 9.0 mm; mid tibia length 8.86 mm; hind tibia length 16.95 mm. Tergite IX simple. Subgenital plate broad, simple with straight or slightly concave posterior margin. Paraprocts extend beyond subgenital plate and styli to about middle of cerci. Paraprocts large, sturdy, and in close contact with each other forming a median carina on a sturdy, almost angular, hook that turns up and then forward to the tip of the abdomen under tergite IX. Styli short and pressed against the paraprocts and so difficult to see. Cerci gently tapering towards tip and extending well beyond the paraprocts and subgenital plate, diffuse darker band prior to pale tip, abundant long and short golden hairs (Figure 9).
Distribution: West Coast and Tasman, South Island, New Zealand. Entomological regions Northwest Nelson NN, Buller BR.
Etymology: Named for the orthopterist Danilo Hegg who collected specimens of this taxon and who has contributed extensively to revision of the New Zealand Rhaphidophoridae.
description: Published as part of Trewick, Steven A., 2024, Two new genera of tokoriro (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae) from Aotearoa New Zealand, pp. 531-546 in Zootaxa 5481 (5) on pages 539-542, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5481.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/12783020