Mazaea tristis ( Sjöstedt, 1931 ), J. & Maria & Cigliano & Elżbieta & Beata & Jackson & Onur & Charly & Ngoute & Song, 2025

Mazaea tristis ( Sjöstedt, 1931) n. comb.

( Figs 3F; 9; Table 2)

Eubocoana tristis Sjöstedt, 1931: 21-22 View in CoL , Plate 2, Figs 7, 7a, 7b.

Eubocoana tristis Sjöstedt, 1931 View in CoL ( Dirsh 1965: 308-309, fig. 235).

TYPE MATERIAL. — Syntypes. Congo Republic • 2 ♀; Boko - Kinkala, [c. 4°37’36”S, 14°37’11”E to 4°21’41.00”S, 14°45’51.98”E]; [M.] Lundgren leg.; NRM-ORTH0002426 [Type] and NRM-ORTH0002427 [Cotype] ( NR, Stockholm) GoogleMaps .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Congo Republic • 1 ♀; Mossendjo , Vouka [Vouga]; [ 2°34’08”S, 12°44’44”E]; 500 m a.s.l.; 1-6.IX.1973; J. C. Thibaud leg.; MNHN GoogleMaps • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; 27.XI.1973; J. C. Thibaud leg.; MNHN GoogleMaps • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; 15.II.1975; J. C. Thibaud leg.; dense secondary forest; Coll. CH GoogleMaps • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; secondary forest; 13.III.1975; J. C. Thibaud leg.; Coll. CH GoogleMaps . • 1♀; N’go; [ 2°28’50.7144”S, 15°45’6.0732”E]; 12.III.1973; J. F. Cornic leg.; MNHN GoogleMaps .

DIAGNOSIS. — Integument coarsely rugose, granulose and pitted, with scattering of larger papillate tubercles. Antennae in female about same length as head and pronotum together; male antennae more than 1.2 times as long as head and pronotum together (based on small available sample). Pronotal shoulders in cross-section rounded, irregular, rugose and pitted, lacking clear lateral carinae. Pronotal shoulders widest in prozona, between transverse sulci, maintaining same width, or narrowing slightly, towards hind margin, with rounded hind angles. Dorso-medial tubercular areas of thoracic tergites and abdomen strongly raised.

Measurements: Table 2.

DISTRIBUTION

M. tristis n. comb, was until recently only known from two female syntypes, collected by a Swedish missionary, Manne

Lundgren, based at Musana Mission Station in Boko-Kinkala Subdivision, about 120 kms W of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. Recently further males and females have been examined from Republic of Congo, (Vouka [Vouga] and N’go), together with sympatric specimens of M. granulosa .

REMARKS

Sjöstedt (1931) did not designate a holotype for Eubocoana tristis , so despite being labelled as Type and Cotype, the original specimens in the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm are syntypes. Sjöstedt (1931: 21) also listed females of Mazaea granulosa collected from the type locality of E. tristis by the same collector. Since the original description of Eubocoana , Mazaea tristis n. comb. has not been mentioned in primary taxonomic literature, featuring only in catalogues and in Dirsh’s African genera of Acridoidea ( Dirsh 1965: 308-309). Unfortunately, repeated requests for detailed imagery of the type specimens have received no response. However, descriptions and illustrations based on the female syntypes exist ( Sjöstedt 1931: 21; Dirsh 1965: 308-309; Cigliano et al. 2023). The only characters adduced by Dirsh (1965) to separate females of Eubocoana tristis from M. granulosa were the fastigium of vertex shorter than wide in E. tristis rather than longer than wide in M. granulosa , the more rugose and tuberculate integument of E. tristis compared to M. granulosa and the absence of pronotal lateral carinae in E. tristis . The male of Mazaea tristis ( Sjöstedt, 1931) n. comb. has not previously been described. However, comparison of the vertex measurements of a sample of M. granulosa ( Table 1) with the newly studied specimens of M. tristis n. comb. ( Table 2) indicates that there is no consistent difference in proportions between the two taxa, with length / width varying from around 0.9 to 1.3 in M. granulosa and from around 0.9 to 1.2 in M. tristis n.comb. Other standard metrics for M. tristis n. comb. are mostly well within the range for M. granulosa , apart from antenna length in males. Male antennae (in a sample of two) are more than 1.2 times the length of head and pronotum together in M. tristis n. comb., whereas they are either slightly shorter than, or barely longer than head and pronotum together in M. granulosa . However, the lack of distinct pronotal lateral carinae in Mazaea tristis n. comb. and the more tuberculate and rugose integument are confirmed for both sexes. The male genitalia of M. tristis n. comb. ( Fig. 9 A-F) are indistinguishable from those of M. granulosa , while the female spermatheca shows exactly the same complex structure in both taxa. Based on the original description ( Sjöstedt 1931: 21), published illustrations of one of the two female syntypes ( Dirsh 1965: 309; Cigliano et al. 2023) and examination and dissection of newly available males and females, the genus Eubocoana Sjöstedt, 1931 is therefore here synonymised with Mazaea .