Australiagraecia gladiator Rentz, Su and Ueshima 2021, Gen. et sp. nov.
Creators: name: Rentz, Dcf
name: Su, You Ning
name: Ueshima, Norihiro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Australiagraecia
Australiagraecia gladiator

description: Australiagraecia gladiator Rentz, Su and Ueshima Gen. et sp. nov.
ANIC number Gen. Nov. 9 sp 1
(Figs 1B, I; Figs 7 A-H; Table 1, Map 3)
7 Named with reference to the long, straight ovipositor of the female (Table 1).
Common name. Long-tailed Heath-loving Katydid
Holotype male. (In alcohol). 1. “ 31.53S 116.05E John Forrest Nat. Park, Darling Range, W. A. 28 October 1984 D. C. F. Rentz. Stop 75”. 2. “ ANIC database #14008747”. Holotype in Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra. Specimens examined. Paratypes. Western Australia. Perth, Kings Park, 14.xi.1975, 20.xii.1984, 22.i.1985, 21.i.1986 (WJ Bailey, DT Gwynne, 5 males, ANIC). 31 o 53’S 116 o 05’E John Forrest Nat. Park, Darling Range, 28.x.1984 (DCF Rentz, Stop 75, 1 male collected as nymph, matured in laboratory 1.xii.1984, 1 female, collected as nymph, matured in laboratory 21.xi.1984, ANIC). 33 o 43’S 115 o 45’E, Burns Beach Rd, Neerarup Ground Water Treatment plant, 8.xi.1999 (DCF Rentz, YN Su, Stop 177, 1 female collected as nymph, matured in laboratory 12.xi.1999, ANIC). NW of Eneabba, 4.xi.1975 (WJ Bailey, 1 male, 2 females, ANIC). 14.4 km E. of Pinjarra, (CA Holloway, H. Hughes, 1 male, AMUS). 1.6 km NE of Kelmscott, 25.xi.1959 (KHL Key, 2 males, ANIC). 33 o 23’S 116 o 18’E 14 km E. by S. of Collie, 24.i.1991 (DCF Rentz, N. Wedell, K. McCarron, 1 male, ANIC). 32 o 14’S 116 o 26’E Brookton, 62.7 km W. on Highway 40, 9.xi.1999 (DCF Rentz, YN Su, Stop 179, 2 males, 2 females, 1 last instar male nymph; Song recorded S-1079, recording damaged; Cytol. prep. 2000-14, ANIC). 33 o 50’S 119 o 48’E Ravensthorpe, Fitzgerald River Nat. Park, 1.xi.1984 (DCF Rentz, Stop 84, 1 female, collected as nymph, matured in laboratory 12.xii.1984, ANIC). 33 o 55’S 120 o 02’E East Mt Barren, Fitzgerald River Nat. Park, 31.x.1984 (DCF Rentz, Stop 81, 1 female, ANIC). 34 o 22’S 118 o 06’E Stirling Range Nat. Park, 36 km SSW of Borden, 12.ii.1980 (DCF Rentz, stop 46, 1 male, ANIC). 7.2 km SSW of Mt Ragged, 13.xi.1969 (KHL Key, MS Upton, Key’s fieldnotes, trip 163, stop 19673.9, 2 females, ANIC). 4.8 km S. by W. of Mt Ragged, 12.xi.1969, KHL Key, MS Upton, Key’s fieldnotes, trip 163, stop 19673.4, 1 male, ANIC). 33 o 28’S 123 o 28’E 2 km S. of Mt Ragged, 14.ii.1978 (DCF Rentz, MJD White, Stop 43, 1 female, ANIC). 31 o 29’S 119 o 31’E Marvel Loch, 5.2 km NE (S. of Southern Cross), 26.x.1999 (DCF Rentz, YN Su, Stop 133, 1 female, collected as nymph, matured in laboratory 1.xii.1999, ANIC). 32 o 56’S 117 o 08’E Narrogin, 3 km S. by W. on Williams Rd, 27.x.1999 (DCF Rentz, YN Su, Stop 140, 2 last instar females, ANIC). 32 o 19’S 117 o 53’E Corrigin, 2.5 km E. on Corrigin-Norembeem Highway, 9.xi.1999 (DCF Rentz, YN Su, Stop 180, 1 female, ANIC). 33 o 23’S 116 o 16’E 11 km E. by S. of Collie, 24.i.1991 (DCF Rentz, N. Wedell, K. McCarron, stop 30, 1 female, ANIC).
Type locality. The type was collected in leaf litter in an area along a small stream with abundant Lomandra in evidence.
Measurements. Table 1
Differential diagnosis. Male. Size large for genus, form robust (Table 1). Antenna much longer than length of body, annulate (Fig. 7B). Eye ovoid, slightly pointing towards middle of body, not especially bulging. Fore and middle tibiae with 2 apical pairs of spines on each side considerably reduced in size relative to the others; dorsal surface of middle tibia with 2 spines. Hind femur armed ventrally on internal margin with 5 stout spines, external margin unarmed. Hind tibia armed dorsally with numerous spines, often alternating in lengths; apex armed dorsally with a pair of subapical spurs, opposite to one another; ventral surface with a few elongate spines on both sides, apex with a pair of spurs, much longer than adjacent spurs. Prothorax with a pair of elongate spines, meso- and metathorax each with a pair of peg-like projections. Tegmen short (Table 1); stridulatory file on raised swelling or blister. Cercus elongate, slender (Fig. 7F). Abdomen with 10 th tergite with soft medial impression; supra-anal plate broadly triangulate, not well defined (Fig. 7C); paraprocts elongate, digitiform; phallic complex (Fig. 7H) without sclerotised rods or basal sclerites. Subgenital plate (Fig. 7E) about as broad as long, median incision shallow, style elongate, about as long as one side of median incision.
Female. Differs from male in following. Cercus very elongate, gracefully incurved (Fig. 7A). Subgenital plate broader than long, apex with typical narrow median incision. Ovipositor long and straight, (Fig. 7A) (Table 1) with “cercal guide” prominent.
Colouration. General overall colour straw brown. Median brown longitudinal stripe faint, prominent on male pronotum and tegmen but obsolete elsewhere (Fig. 7D).
Distribution. This species has the broadest known geographic distribution of any Australiagraecia species (Map 3).
Habitat. This species has been found in coastal sand plain and inland open savannahs where it lives on the ground amongst twigs and leaf litter.
Seasonal occurrence. Adults have been found from late spring into mid-summer.
Karyotype. Unknown.
Recognition. Similar to A. helleri but distinguished based on the structure of the male cercus and phallus (Figs 7F, H) and the female ovipositor length (Table 1).
Discussion. This is a moderately-sized Australiagraecia species (Table 1) with characters similar to those of A. helleri. It may eventually be considered synonymous with that species but subtle differences in the length of the ovipositor and male cerci and the phallic complex suggest it is distinctive.
description: Published as part of Rentz, Dcf, Su, You Ning & Ueshima, Norihiro, 2021, Studies in Australian Tettigoniidae: New short-winged Agraeciini from Australia (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Conocephalinae; Agraeciini), pp. 1-72 in Zootaxa 5059 (2) on pages 15-16, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5059.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5602508