Spinaraptor Mendes, Sobral & Silva-Neto 2024, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Mendes, Diego Matheus De Mello
name: Sobral, Rafael
name: Neto, Alberto Moreira Da Silva
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Tettigoniidae
Spinaraptor

description: Spinaraptor Mendes, Sobral & Silva-Neto gen. nov.
Figures 1–18
Type-species. Spinaraptor taja sp. nov.
Grammatical gender. Masculine.
Diagnosis. Subgenital plate narrow, elongated and shorter in length than styli; styli elongated and forwardfacing, forming together with the subgenital plate an angle of almost 90° in relation to the tergite X (Figs. 4H–J, 14F–H, 15A–C and 16A–C). Cercus elongated, acuminate and without projections (Figs. 4H–J, 14F–H, 15A–C and 16A–C). Body slender and elongated (Figs. 4A, 8, 14A, and 17A). Foreleg long, narrow; anterior tibia with long ventral spines (Figs. 4E, 8, 14A, and 17A). Male genitalia without the presence of titillator sclerite (Fig. 7).
Description.
Head dorsally with short fastigium-vertex, not forming projection, in frontal, lateral and dorsal view (Figs. 4B–C). Eyes large, round and projecting (Figs. 4B–C). Pronotal disc narrow and elongated, in dorsal view (Fig. 4D); dorsal margin without carina, anteromedially straight and posteriorly projected upwards, in lateral view (Fig. 4C). Dorsal-lateral suture short and sinuous, in lateral view (Fig. 4C). Furcal suture curved, in dorsal view (Fig. 4D). Dorsal-lateral suture and furcal suture concolorous with pronotal disc (Figs. 4C–D). Tegmina narrow, hyaline, with the apex slightly curved (Fig. 5). Vein R straight and with small branches straight and transversal (Fig. 5). Vein M with the base fused with the base of the vein Cu; vein M with a single bifurcation near the base of the vein Cu, with the MA branch parallel to vein R and the MP branch following without bifurcations to the apex of the tegmina (Fig. 5). Vein Cu bifurcated near the posterior margin of the tegmina; vein CuP short, reaching the median region of the tegmina and long CuA vein reaching the apical region of the tegmina (Fig. 5). Legs long and slender (Figs. 4A, D–F). Femora with a widened base and narrowing towards the apex (Figs. 4A, D–F). Fore femur slightly curved, with seven narrow ventral spines: three on the anterior margin and four on the posterior margin (Fig. 4F). Fore tibia sinuous, with the basal region slightly concave and medio posteriorly curved, in lateral view (Fig. 4E); tympanum open and ventral region of fore tibia with five pairs of long and narrow spines (Fig. 4E). Mid femur slightly curved and without spines, in lateral view (Fig. 4F). Mid tibia with the basal half enlarged and straight; the apical half curved and acuminated; ventral region with three small recurved spines, in lateral view (Fig. 4F). Hind femur enlarged at basal half, with several small ventral spines, in lateral view (Fig. 4A). Hind tibia straight with long, narrow and several curved dorsal spines; apical half with dorsal and ventral margin with clusters of short, dense bristles (Fig. 4A). All legs with short bristles (Figs. 4E–H). Cercus narrow, acuminate, without projections and slightly curved inward (Figs. 4H–J). Male genitalia without the presence of titillator sclerite (Fig. 7).
Additional taxonomic notes. Spinaraptor gen. nov. appears most closely related to Phlugis White, 1862. Phlugis has a wide body shape (and slender body in Spinaraptor gen. nov.); fore legs short and thick, with thick ventral spines of the median tibia and blunt apex (versus fore legs long and slender, with long, slender ventral tibial spines with acuminate apex in Spinaraptor gen. nov.); subgenital plate long, with the insertion region of the styli base extending beyond the apex of the cercus, in lateral view (versus subgenital plate short, with the insertion region of the styli base not exceeding the apex of the cercus in Spinaraptor gen. nov., in lateral view); stylus widened and short, with a truncated apical region (versus stylus narrow and elongated, with the apical region widened and curved in Spinaraptor gen. nov.).
Another important factor in this differentiation is the morphology of the male internal genitalia (Fig. 2): in Phlugis we have the general shape of the dorsal lobe laterally elongated and curved upwards, with a shape similar to an anchor and the presence of two strongly sclerotized, elongated and acuminate sclerites of the titillator (Fig. 2B–C) (versus a general shape of the dorsal lobe elongated, asymmetrical and without the presence of sclerites of the titillator in Spinaraptor gen. nov.).
Etymology. From Latin word Spina = spine, thorn + raptor = thief, meaning spine raptor. In reference to the long spines of anterior tibia and the predatory habit of these katydids.
Distribution. Brazil (Amazonas, Mato Grosso), Ecuador (Morona Santiago), Peru (Iquitos) and Paraguay (Alto Paraguay).
description: Published as part of Mendes, Diego Matheus De Mello, Sobral, Rafael & Neto, Alberto Moreira Da Silva, 2024, The Spine Raptor-a new genus of predatory katydid (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae: Phlugidini) from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, pp. 545-562 in Zootaxa 5492 (4) on pages 546-550, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5492.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/13268942