Nocaracris van Unal, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ünal, Mustafa
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Orthoptera
Pamphagidae
Nocaracris
Nocaracris van

description: Nocaracris van Ünal, sp. nov.
(Figs. 75, 579, 693–696, 845)
Paranocaracris rubripes (Fischer von Waldheim, 1846): Kemal & Koçak 2016b: 10.
Type locality. Turkey: Van, Başkale Dağı. Holotype: male (NHMUK).
Material examined. TURKEY: Prov. Van, Başkale dist., İspiriz Dağ (Başkale Dağı), 3400 m, 1.8.1954, screes, 1♂ (Holotype); ibidem, 3000 m, 31.7.1954, 4♀ (leg. P. H. Davis) (NHMUK).
Description. Male (Holotype): Body (Figs. 693, 695) very slender, relatively small and slightly compressed laterally. Fastigium of vertex narrow, elongated, slightly depressed and sloping. Vertex between the eyes 1.15 times narrower than vertical diameter and as wide as transversal diameter of eye; vertex convex in lateral view, with distinct carinulae; supraocular foveola closed type; median carinula grooved. Antennae with 12 segments. Pronotum (Figs. 693, 695) slightly compressed laterally, with distinct lateral carinae; median carina low, slightly raised, with a distinct longitudinal sulcus along its length, its anterior end wide, narrowing backwards; convex in lateral view. Prosternum not swollen, anterior margin, raised like a broad tongue, lateral projections indistinct. Mesosternal interspace narrow, 2 time wider than its length and distinctly narrower than mesosternal lobes. Hind femur (Fig. 693) 2.6 times longer than its height. Hind tibia with 9 inner, 9 outer spines. Mesonotum and metanotum with grooved median carina, first abdominal tergite not grooved. Abdominal tergites (Figs. 693, 695) simple, slightly convex in lateral view. Tympanum absent. Phallus (Figs. 75 a, b) slender; arch of zygoma narrow, elongated; posterior lobes of zygoma short and broad; tumida of zygoma small; apodems narrow with a weak apical notch; pseudolophi (Fig. 75 c) separated with 11–13 spines.
Female: Body (Figs. 694, 696) slender. Fastigium of vertex (Fig. 579) short and broad, slightly depressed and sloping. Vertex (Fig. 579) between the eyes as wide as vertical diameter and 1.3 times wider than transversal diameter of eye. Antennae with 12 segments. Pronotum (Figs. 694, 696) as in male, slightly concave in middle part in lateral view. Anterior margin of prosternum raised, tridentate, median projection wide tongue-shaped, not pointed, lateral projections much smaller. Mesosternal interspace wide, almost 3 times wider than its length and clearly wider than mesosternal lobes. Hind femur (Fig. 694) long and narrow, almost 3 times longer than its height. Hind tibia with 9 inner, 10 outer spines. Abdominal tergites (Figs. 694, 696) simple. Tympanum absent. Subgenital plate slightly wider than long.
Coloration. Body surface of both sexes as in N. monticolus. Male: Inner and ventral surfaces of hind femur pale reddish-black, its inner ventral margin red basally. Inner and dorsal surfaces of hind tibia bright orange including spines, slightly turning to orange-red in distal part, tips of spines black. Tarsus orange-red. Female: Inner and ventral surfaces of hind femur black, its inner ventral margin red basally; outer half of ventral surface reddish. Inner and dorsal surfaces of hind tibia dark blue including spines, outer spines yellow with black tips. Inner side of tarsus red.
Diagnosis. This new species is very similar to N. monticolus. It is distinguished by the orange hind tibia of male (black in male of N. monticolus), the slightly narrower and more convex vertex in male (1.25 times wider than vertical diameter of eye and straighter in male of N. monticolus), the more sloping male fastigium, the less swollen prosternum with broader anterior margin in both sexes (distinctly swollen and sharply pointed in N. monticolus), the wider mesosternal interspace in female that clearly wider than mesosternal lobes (as wide as mesosternal lobes in female of N. monticolus), the smaller tumida of zygoma (clearly elongated in N. monticolus), the narrower apodemes; the smaller and the less sloping female fastigium. The similarities and differences with the other related species are that of N. monticolus.
Measurements (mm). Holotype (male): body length 20.8; pronotum length 4; pronotum height 4.3; pronotum width anterior 4.2; pronotum width posterior 5.8; hind femur length 9.1; hind femur height 3.5. Paratypes: body length: female 36.3–36.9; pronotum length: female 6–6.4; pronotum height: female 6.8–7; pronotum width anterior: female 6–6.6; pronotum width posterior: female 8–8.9; hind femur length: female 11.7–12.8; hind femur height: female 4–4.5.
Etymology. This new species is named after “ Van ” Province of Turkey where it was collected. Remarks. Kemal & Koçak (2016b) recorded this species as Paranocaracris rubripes from İmamlı Köyü and Paşaköy in Bahçesaray district of Van Province.
description: Published as part of Ünal, Mustafa, 2016, Pamphagidae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) from the Palaearctic Region: taxonomy, classification, keys to genera and a review of the tribe Nocarodeini I. Bolívar, pp. 1-223 in Zootaxa 4206 (1) on pages 171-172, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4206.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/208260