Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

Genus Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen. (Figs 12–14) Type species. Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp. Other species included. Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp. Etymology. Genus named after the large amount of large setae occurring on the fastigium of the observed specimens, making a kind of crest. Distribution. Known from Tanzania only. Diagnosis. Small species covered with many, strong setae, ressembling Nemobiinae crickets. Size small for Phalangopsidae, legs short (Fig. 12 A–C). Head rounded dorsally, fastigium not separated from the vertex and wider than the scape (Fig. 12 D, E); ocelli well developed, the lateral ones more widely separated from each other than the median ocellus from one lateral ocellus (Fig. 12 D). Eyes small, only slightly protruding, widely separate from each other (Fig. 12 D, F). Maxillary palpi short (Figs 12 C, 13A, J). TI without tympanum (Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.), or with one inner and one outer tympana (Upupagryllus alatus Desutter- Grandcolas, n. sp.); two long, ventral apical spurs. FIII thick, without a filiform apical part (Fig. 12 A, C). TIII with four pairs of short, subapical spurs; serrulation absent between subapical spurs, absent or scarce above them; three inner and three outer apical spurs. Basitarsomeres III with only one row of dorsal spines. Males with reduced or well-developed FWs; in the latter case, FWs wide and short, with a complete stridulatory apparatus (Fig. 13 K). Male genitalia (Fig. 14) characterized by the great development of a pair of acute, distal lobes directly connected to the rami; upper part of pseudepiphallus transverse; rami with a subdistal transverse crest; pseudepiphallic parameres, ectophallic fold and ectophallic dorsal valves reduced. Females apterous (Fig. 12 B). Ovipositor flattened laterally, without ornementation (Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.), or very small transverse crests (Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.). Female genitalia with a small, more or less cylindrical copulatory papilla, almost entirely sclerotized (Fig. 13 C–I, N–P). Description. Size small, body shape stout with short legs (Fig. 12 A). Head and pronotum with many long and strong setae; legs with few, very long ones, body densely covered with small setae. Head small and vertical, the face oblique (Fig. 12 E). Fastigium rounded, not separated from the vertex, wider than the scape (Fig. 12 D, E). Ocelli well developed, set in a wide triangle, the distance between the median and one lateral ocelli somewhat smaller than the distance between the two lateral ocelli (Fig. 12 F). Eyes only slightly protruding (Fig. 12 D). Scapes longer than wide. Maxillary palpi short; joint 5 little, but regularly widened toward apex, apex obliquely truncate (Fig. 13 A, J). Pronotum transverse, rounded (Fig. 12 D); lateral lobes quite short, clearly inflated anteriorly. TI with two long, ventral, apical spurs; tympana lacking (Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.), or present on each side (Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.); in the latter species, tympana small and obliterate, and TI not inflated. TII with three apical spurs, the outer dorsal spur lacking. TIII with three inner, and three outer apical spurs; inner spur: dorsal spur the longest, more than half basitarsomere III in length; outer spurs: shorter, the median the longest. TIII with four pairs of subapical spurs, not very long; inner spurs much longer than outer spurs, increasing in size toward TIII apex; outer spurs shorter, the first or the second the longest (see infra). TIII not serrulated between subapical spurs; few or no spines above subapical spurs. Basitarsomeres with only one row of dorsal spines, on outer side. Cerci not particularly elongate. Coloration. Fig. 12. Light yellowish brown variegated with brown; setae on head and body dark brown. Tergites darker. Male. Metanotum and tergites without glandular structures (Fig. 12 A). FWs either well-developed and with a stridulatory apparatus (Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., Fig. 13 K), or very short and without acoustic structure (Upupagryllus subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.) (see infra, species description for FW characteristics); HWs vestigial or lacking, respectively. Supra anal plate without denticles. Subgenital plate short and high, V-truncate distally. Male genitalia. Fig. 14. Upper part of pseudepiphallic sclerite transverse; lower part with two long, distal, almost triangular acute processes; rami short, with a transverse apical or subapical apodeme. Pseudepiphallic parameres compact, projected dorsally as foliaceous sclerites (Upupagryllus subalatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.) or not (Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.). Endophallic sclerite narrow and more or less elongate. Endophallic apodeme variable. Female. Apterous. Subgenital plate transverse, distal margin more or less bisinuate. Ovipositor flattened laterally, without strong apical ornementation; apex elongate: apex of dorsal valve short and greatly widened basally, apex of ventral valve longer and more narrow; no notch (Fig. 13 M). Female genitalia. Copulatory papilla small and more or less cylindrical (Fig. 13 C–I, N–P), with (U. alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.) or without (U. subapterus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp.) a pair of membranous distal lobes (Fig. 13 N–P). Phylogenetic relationships. Morphologically Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen. resembles Phaloriinae, especially by TIII spines and spurs, and by the shape of the head. The shape of the fastigium, male FWs and/or stridulum, and male and female genitalia constitute as many apomorphies to define the new genus as a monophyletic entity. Habitat. Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. gen. forages in the leaf litter of tropical forest.