Article (online edition)ugcdskpdf.unipune.ac.in/Journal/uploads/BL/BL080292-A-5.pdf(CCD) and Motic-images plus 2 software. The whole body was photographed with a Sony (12 M Pixels)

TERMS OF USEThis pdf is provided by Magnolia Press for private/research use. Commercial sale or deposition in a public library or website is prohibited.

ZOOTAXAISSN 1175-5326 (print edition)

ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition)Copyright © 2012 · Magnolia Press

Zootaxa 3597: 41–46 (2012) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/

Articleurn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:244D3B5E-3FBA-4C04-B567-BAB59EC7B133

A new species of the mole cricket genus Gryllotalpa (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae; Gryllotalpinae) from India

VIMALANATHAN ARUN PRASANNA1, SANKARAPPAN ANBALAGAN1*, JEYARAJ PANDIARAJAN1, SUNDARAM DINAKARAN2 & MUTHUKALINGAN KRISHNAN1

1Department of Environmental Biotechnology, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli-620 024 Tamil Nadu, India2Department of Zoology, The Madura College, Madurai-625 011 Tamil Nadu, India* Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Gryllotalpa krishnani new species (type locality: Tiruchirappalli, India) (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) is described from male, female adults and nymphs. This species is found in the wet soil (10-15cm depth) near to kitchen waste dumping area.

Keywords: mole cricket, new species, India

Introduction

The Mole cricket genus Gryllotalpa belongs to subfamily of Gryllotalpinae and their distinguishing characters are: fore tibiae with four dactyls; tympana covered and opening in form of a slit; basal spur of fore leg arising from femur; veins in lateral field of fore wings pointing towards wing tips. In total, 65 species of Gryllotalpa have been recorded (Ma & Zhang 2010). In India, five species of Gryllotalpa (G. africana, G. hirusta, G. minuta, G. orientalis and G. ornata) are known (Chandra et al. 2011). No additional studies on the Indian Gryllotalpa have been made since Chopard (1969). However, the present study describes a mole cricket species from Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.

Study area. Tiruchirappalli: It is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Tamil Nadu, situated on the banks of Kaveri River (latitude: 10.8050ºN; longitude: 78.6856ºE; elevation: 88m). The city spread over an area of 146.7 square kilometres is situated on the plains between the Shevaroy hills to the north and the Palni hills to the south and south-west. The maximum temperature goes up to 41ºC during daytime in the summer (April and May). In the winter season (December) the day temperature ranges from 21 to 29ºC. The rainfall regime is erratic. This area comes under dissymmetric rainfall regime with the bulk of the rains during the retreating northeast monsoon (October–November). Some rain is also received during the southwest monsoon (June–August).

Materials and methods

The specimens were collected in wet soil with near to a kitchen waste area in K.K. Nagar of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. In this location, the soil was buried up to 10-15 cm depth by a digger and a colony of this species was found beneath the soil. The adults of male and female and nymph were collected from this colony. The characters description, figures and measurements were done with help of Moticam 1000R (1.3M Pixels) digital camera (CCD) and Motic-images plus 2 software. The whole body was photographed with a Sony (12 M Pixels) camera. Type materials are deposited in the Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, Tiruhirapplli, Tamil Nadu, India.

Accepted by D. Rentz: 20 Nov. 2012; published: 24 Dec. 2012 41

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:244D3B5E-3FBA-4C04-B567-BAB59EC7B133


Gryllotalpa krishnani Arun Prasanna et al., new species (Fig. 1 & 2, Table 1)

Holotype: ♂ AdultBody: 27mm length, stout and long, pilose, brown or yellowish brown. Head: 3.5mm long, consistent blackish

brown, covered with numerous fine setae. Antenna brown, scape and pedicel washed with yellowish brown; Eyes black, a small eclipse-shaped white spot at the base of each eye; ocelli large; clypeus short from pale yellow; labrum long, its length more than twice that that of clypeus, brown, middle dark with margin and apex area dark, margin covered with short setae. Palpi, washed with brown and tip yellow, right slightly longer than left. Pronotum: length 9mm and width 6mm brown, dark brown at anterior, covered with numerous fine setae, 1.5 times longer than broad, anterior margin concave and posterior margin convex, inferior margin of lateral lobes long transverse; anterior margin golden; patterned medially, a pair of stripe-shaped punctuations with golden margin anteriorly and medially, behind them a groove linked by two golden punctuations; remainder dark brown.

Legs: Fore legs 8mm long- anterior femora 4.5mm long and yellow with numerous setae; fore tibia 4mm long, brown and tarsus 2mm long, yellow; inner part of trochanter armed with four processes, the anterior one dark, angular-shaped and longer than other processes; apex of fore femur with a rough and angular sclerite laterally; ventro-internal margin at base with an oval shaped, apically blended process; anterior tibiae with internal tympanum slit-shaped, tibial dactyls short and stout. Middle legs 12mm long, femur yellow, tibia yellowish brown and tarsus brown. Hind legs: 17mm length, brown, posterior tibiae with 6 internal pre-apical spines.

Tegmen: Nearly oval when flattened, brown with main veins dark brown; dorsal field lightest in harp area; lateral field brown dorsally and light along lower margin. Harp broad at base. Fore wing: 9mm length, cell c1 cone-shaped, c2 1/5 size of c1; behind each of c1 and c2 with one conspicuously cell, equal size of c2; radius undivided distally and apart from subcosta; the apical field short and longitudinal veins, only 1/4 length of tegmen; one to five crossveins between each longitudinal vein of this field. Stridulatory file (Figs. 9, 9e): straight, 4 mm length, 1mm width, armed with 52 teeth, teeth intensive at inner part; left tegmen over right.

Hind wings: caudate, slightly surpassing tip of abdomen, 2.1 mm long, 2.3 times longer than fore wingAbdomen: terga washed with brown and blackish brown at lateral and base of each segment; sterna yellowish

brown; two lateral black marking on segment II-IX. Genitalia: sclerotic, colored from light brown to brown. Transverse sclerite thick and strong, M shaped, inside apex arrowed and triangle, end of outside part broad and foot shaped; epiphallus upright, shaped as rhombus in front view, top side oblique and outcurved downward to median on both sides, then slightly loosen downward to bottom, median deeply curved and angular form of bottom; ectophallus paramere broad and somewhat rectangular, internal process of paramere, upward pointed and transparent scaly like structures at tip. Cerci, 4 mm long, brown, pilose, 2.3 times smaller than fore wing.

♀ AdultBody: 30mm length, stout and long, pilose, brown or blackish brown. Head: 3.9mm long, consistent blackish

brown and patterned medially. Antenna yellowish brown, scape and pedicel washed with yellowish brown; Eyes black and dark brown, a small eclipse shaped white spot at the base of each eye; ocelli large; clypeus short from pale yellow to brown; labrum long, its length more than twice that that of clypeus, brown, middle dark with margin and apex area dark, margin covered with short setae. Palpi, washed with brown and tip yellow, right slightly longer than left. Pronotum: length 8mm and width 5mm brown, dark brown at anterior, covered with numerous fine setae, 1.6 times longer than broad, anterior margin concave and posterior margin convex, inferior margin of lateral lobes long transverse; anterior margin golden; patterned medially, a pair of stripe-shaped punctuations with golden margin anteriorly and medially, behind them a groove linked by two golden punctuations; remainder dark brown.

Legs: Anterior femora long and yellow with numerous setae, fore tibia brown and tarsus yellow. Inner part of trochanter armed with three processes, the anterior one dark, angular-shaped and longer than other processes, beyond the ventral margin of trochanter; between middle and posterior processes brown and small sclerite. Apex of fore femur with a rough and angular sclerite laterally; ventro-internal margin at base with an oval shaped, apical process; anterior tibiae with internal tympanum slit-shaped, tibial dactyls short and stout. Middle femur yellow; tibia yellowish brown and tarsus brown. Hind legs: 24 mm length, brown, posterior tibiae with eleven internal pre-apical spines.

PRASANNA ET AL.42 · Zootaxa 3597 © 2012 Magnolia Press


FIGURE 1 A–D. Gryllotalpa krishnani sp. nov. Male adult: A. whole body, dorsal view; B. head, front view; C. fore wing, left; D. stridulatory file, left tegmen.

Zootaxa 3597 © 2012 Magnolia Press · 43A NEW SPECIES OF THE MOLE CRICKET GENUS GRYLLOTALPA


FIGURE 2 A–E. Gryllotalpa krishnani sp. nov. Genitalia, A. in dorsal view; B. in ventral view; C. epiphallus, front view; D. bottom of epiphallus; E. tip of inner paramere of ectophallus.

Tegmen: Nearly oval when flattened, brown with main veins dark brown; dorsal field lightest in harp area; lateral field brown dorsally and light along lower margin. Harp broad at base. Fore wing: 11 mm length, cell c1 cone-shaped, c2 1/5 size of c1; behind each of c1 and c2 with one conspicuously larger cell, double size of c2; radius undivided distally and apart from subcosta; the apical field short and longitudinal veins, only 1/4 length of tegmen; one to five crossveins between each longitudinal vein of this field. Stridulatory file: straight, 6 mm length, 1.5 mm width; left tegmen over right.

Hind wings: characters as in male, 16 mm long, 1.5 times longer than fore wing Abdomen: terga washed with brown and blackish brown at lateral and base of each segment; sterna yellowish

brown and sterna IX and X brown; other details of coloration and marks as in male adult; genital extension brown, subgenital plate yellowish brown, trapezoidal with apical notch; cerci, 10 mm length, brown, pilose, nearly equal to fore wing length

Mature nymphBody length: 13-15mm. Head: brown, patterned medially; clypeus pale yellow to light brown; blackish brow

spots present posterior to median ocellus; antennae length 6mm, yellowish brown, basal segments light yellowish brown; labrum is expanded and angle laterally, length of labrum slightly more than 1/2 the total width; mandibles heavily sclerotized and apex hook-shaped; maxillary and labial palp washed brown except apex, hypopharynx yellowish brown; Maxillary palpi thick, each 4-segmented, 10 mm long and densely covered with setae, relative lengths of 4 segments from base to apex 0.5:1:1:1.5; labial palpi each 3-segmented, 8 mm long, relative lengths of 3 segments from base to apex 0.5:1:1, three segments of palpi covered with fine setae, outer margin of maxilla, labium yellow covered with fine setae.

Thorax: pronotum length 5 mm and width 2.5 mm brown, dark brown at anterior, covered with numerous fine setae, one time longer than broad, anterior margin concave and posterior margin convex, inferior margin of lateral lobes long transverse; anterior margin golden; patterned medially, a dark brown spot present in-between posterior and inferior medial margin; meso and metanotum brown, washed with blackish brown on lateral and posterior margin; pleura washed with blackish brown, sterna yellow.



Legs: fore legs 5 mm length dark yellow covered with numerous short setae anterior tibiae with not well developed slit-shaped internal tympanum, tibial dactyls long and stout; middle legs 6 mm length yellow covered with long and short setae and posterior tibiae with four pre-apical spines; hind legs light brown Middle femur yellow; tibia yellowish brown and tarsus brown. Hind legs: 9 mm length, light brown, femora with a median dark brownish marking, posterior tibiae with 4 internal pre-apical spines.

Abdomen: terga washed with brown and blackish brown at lateral and base of each segment; sterna yellowish brown, male with dark brown on segment IV and V, female with sterna washed with dark brown on segment IV; cerci, 5 mm length light brown with numerous long setae at base.

Morphometric analysisMorphometric studies (Table 1) of males, females and nymphs of G. krishnani showed typical traits of the

genus Gryllotalpa as described in the literature (Ma and Zhang, 2010), except for some minor differences in some measurements and ratios, which confirms inter-specific variability previously reported. The morphometrics of G. krishnani can be compared with other mole cricket species in India (Table 1).

TABLE 1. Morphometrics of G. krishnani sp. n. and other species in India. Measurements are in mm and in the form: average and (SD).

EtymologyThe new species is named after Lord Krishnan. Materials examined. Adult Male Holotype: India, Tamil Nadu, K.K. Nagar, Tiruchirappalli, 88 m, 10.8050ºN

and 78.6856ºE; 22 vii 2011, Col. V. Arun Prasanna deposited in the Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli. Adult Female Allotype: same data as holotype; deposited in the same place. Paratypes: 2 male adults, 4 female adults, 6 nymph, K.K. Nagar, Tiruchirappalli, same locality, date and collector as holotype; deposited in the same place.

Ecology. This species is found beneath the wet soil (10-15cm depth) nearly to kitchen waste dumping area. Diagnosis. Gryllotalpa krishnani can be separated from Gryllotalpa fossor by the following combination of

characters. In the adult male: (1) posterior tibiae with 6 internal pre-apical spines; (2) forewing of a second cell (c2) between the triangle vein; (3) male hind wing longer than female; (4) tranverse sclerite end of out side part broad and foot shaped; (5) epiphallus longer than the base of transverse sclerite; (6) median part of base of epiphallus deeply curved in front view.

Character G. krishnani G. fossor G. ornata G. hirsuta

Males Females Nymphs Male Male Male

Total number (n) 5 6 6 - - -

Body length 27 (2) 30 (2) 14 (1) 30 (5) 22.5 (2.5) 41.5 (3.5)

Head length 3.5 (0.5) 3.9 (0.2) 2 (0.1) - - -

Head width 2.0 (0.2) 2.4 (0.1) 1.5 (0.5) - - -

Antenna length 8 (1) 7 (1) 5 (0.5) - - -

Maxillary palp 6 (0) 6.5 (0) 10 (0.5) - - -

Labial palp 3 (0) 4 (0) 8 (1) - - -

Pronotum length 9 (1.5) 8 (0.2) 5 (1) 8.7 (1.3) 7.8 (1.2) 14 (2)

Pronotum width 6 (0.3) 5 (0.1) 2.5 (1) - - -

Fore leg length 8 (1) 10 (1) 5 (1) - - -

Anterior femora length 4.5 (0.2) 5 (0.1) 2.5 (0.1) - - -

Fore tibiae length 2 (0.1) 2.5 (0.1) 0.8 (0.2) - - -

Tarsus length 2 (0.1) 2.5 (0.1) 1 (0.1) - - -

Middle leg length 12 (1) 12 (0) 6 (1) - - -

Hind leg length 17 (1) 24 (1) 9 (2) - - -

Fore wing length 9 (0.5) 11 (1) - 10.2 (2.2) 10.5 (1) 12.5 (1.5)

Hind wing length 21 (0.8) 16 (1) - - - -

Stridulatory file length 4 (0) 6 (0) - - - -

Stridulatory file width 1 (0) 1.5 (0.1) - - - -

Stridulatory file teeth 52 (2) 54 (3) - - - -

Cerci length 4 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 5 (1) - - -

Zootaxa 3597 © 2012 Magnolia Press · 45A NEW SPECIES OF THE MOLE CRICKET GENUS GRYLLOTALPA


Discussion

By combining morphology with morphometrical analyses, G. krishnani sp. n. can be distinguished from similar species of the group (G. fossor Scuder, 1869; G. orientalis Burmeister, 1838; and G. ornata Walker, 1869) more clearly. G. krishnani is similar in general morphology but can be distinguished by: shape of adult male pronotum; trochanter; fore wing; transverse sclerite and epiphallus. Therefore, G. krishnani seems more closely related to G. fossor and can be separated from it by the characters of posterior tibiae, forewing, base of transverse sclerite and epiphallus. G. krishnani shares characters with G. orientalis but can be distinguishedfrom it by the characters of pronotum, internal portion of trochanter, transverse sclerite and base of epiphallus. From G. ornata it differs in the body length, head, tegmen venation, anterior leg, and male genitalia.

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Libin Ma and Yalin Zhang, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, China for their valuable support and review of this manuscript. The second author thanks to University Grants Commission for the financial assistance from the Dr. D.S. Kothari Post Doctoral Fellowship (Ref. No: F.4-2/2006 (BSR)/13-141/ 2008 (BSR)).

References

Chandra, K, Gupta, S.K. & Shishodia, M.S. 2011. A Checklist of Orthoptera (Insecta) of India. E-publication, Zoological Survey of India, 42pp. http://zsi.gov.in/checklist/orthoptera.pdf

Chopard, L. (1969) Orthoptera Vol. 2 Grylloidea. In: Sewell, R.B.S. (Ed.), The fauna of India and the Adjacent Countries. Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, pp. 1–421.

Ma, L. & Zhang, Y. (2010). A new species of Mole Cricket Genus Gryllotalpa (Orthoptera, Gryllotalpidae) from China. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 136(3+4), 303–306.


Documents

Article (online edition)ugcdskpdf.unipune.ac.in/Journal/uploads/BL/BL080292-A-5.pdf(CCD) and Motic-images plus 2 software. The whole body was photographed with a Sony (12 M Pixels)