Paramekongiella zhongdianensis, Huang, 1990

Paramekongiella zhongdianensis, Huang, 1990 View in CoL ( Figs 1–3 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 )

Chinese common name: 中AEIJȒḿDz

Paramekongiella zhongdianensis Huang, 1990: 230 View in CoL , 233; Mao & Yang, 2003: 486; Mao, Ren & Ou, 2011: 26.

Material examined. 3 males, 3 females, CHINA: Xianggelila County, Yunnan Province, 7 Aug. 2002, alt. 1900 m, leg. Benyong Mao, Jishan Xu and Zizhong Yang ; 1 male, 1 female, CHINA: Xianggelila County, Yunnan Province, 13 Sep. 2023, alt. 2156 m, leg. Zhilong Yin, Zhuangzhuang Du, Hong Song and Chengmei Fan.

Description. Body medium to large sized in both sexes, long rhombus; stouter in female.

Head. Head distinctly shorter than pronotum. Fastigium short and broad, with median longitudinal sulcus, anterior margin curved, width in front of eyes about 1.1–1.3 (mean 1.2, n=3, male) (the same below) or 1.2–1.4 (1.3, female) times larger than length. Head dorsal median carina obvious. Face observably sloping in lateral view, frontal ridge with thin longitudinal sulcus, which deeper above medium ocellus, progressively shallower under medium ocellus, obsolete near clypeus, lateral margin nearly parallel. Genae with a row of oblique granules behind eyes. Antennae filiform, exceeding (male) or not reaching (female) posterior margin of pronotum, median segment about 1.9–2.4 (2.1, male) or 1.8–2.1 (2.0, female) times as long as wide. Eyes oval, longitudinal diameter 1.2–1.4 (1.3, male) or 1.1–1.4 (1.2, female) times larger than horizontal diameter.

Thorax. Pronotum with thick punctures and granules, anterior and posterior margins nearly straight, slightly concave in the middle; median carina obvious, lateral carina weak; median and posterior transverse sulci clearly cutting off median carina, posterior sulcus behind the middle; prozona 2.3–2.4 (2.3, male) or 2.2–2.5 (2.3, female) times as long as metazona; lateral lobe with posterior margin slightly concave, posterior inferior corner near right angle. Prosternum roundly protuberant, apex blunt. Nota and pleura of mesothorax and metathorax with coarse and large granules and punctures. Mesosternal interspace square, 0.8–0.9 (0.9, male) or 1.7–1.9 (1.8, female) times as wide as long, and significantly larger than width of mesosternal lobe, metasternum lobes widely separated. Tegmina and alae absent. Hind femora with lower basal lobe longer than upper one, upper carina smooth, outer side with irregular oblique carinae, 4.7–5.2 (5.0, male) or 5.4–6.9 (6.0, female) times as long as wide, lower knee lobes with apex roundly sharpened. Hind tibiae spine thick and long, with internal and external apical spines, 8–10 external and 10 internal spines. Arolium reaching half of claw.

Abdomen. Tympanal opening small and clear, oval, its diameter larger than that of stoma before tympanal organ, tympanum membranous. Abdomen tergite with coarse granule, which not as dense as pronotum; median carina totally obvious.

Male. Tenth abdominal tergite slightly concave in middle, without furculae. Epiproct triangular, cerci short conical, stubby, apex blunt, not reaching apex of epiproct. Epiphallus with long dorso-lateral appendix sclerites; bridge with anterior margin retrad concaved, posterior margin nearly straight; ancorae absent; lophi short and distally hooked. Phallic complex vase-shaped in dorsal view; apical valves of penis slightly exserting in dorsal view, apex sharpened in posterior view; cingular valves located on the outside of penis.

Female. Epiproct triangle, cerci conical, apex blunt, not reaching apex of epiproct. Ventral basisvalvular sclerite elongational; dorsal valves of ovipositor with coarse sawteeth along outer margins, subgenital plate near square, posterior margin straight.

Coloration. The following notes according to fresh specimens. Adult: body green; eyes near black; genae with granules after eyes green-white; antennae brown-black, each segment with light ring; hind femora with knee lobe dark, hind tibiae greenish yellow; abdominal tergites green. Nymph: body colour various: grey, green, taupe, yellowish, brown, greyish and greenish in 1 st –2 nd nymph; unitary green in 3 st –5 th nymph.

Measurements (mm). Body length (from anterior margin of fastigium to abdomenal extremity): male 36.5– 39.0, female 41.0–44.0. Pronotum length: male 6.4–7.1, female 7.6–8.1. Hind femora length: male 19.8–23.0, female 21.0–21.5.

Distribution. China: Yunnan.

Remarks. This species was established based on only two male specimens, and its description in Chinese is relatively brief, only with male genitalia line figures but without description. Although the species was published in 1990, it was neglected by "Fauna Sinica Insecta, Vol. 4" published in 1994 ( Xia et al., 1994). Until 2003, three males and three females were found again and the female was firstly recorded ( Mao & Yang, 2003). We captured nearly 30 first instar nymphs on Elsholtzia plants at the type locality in 2023 and reared them in the laboratory, some of them eclosed to 3 males and 1 female adults in Jun 2024. The species is adapted to live in alpine low scrub at elevations of 1900–2200 m, its diet being diverse including plants of Asteraceae , Fabaceae and Rosaceae etc in the laboratory.