Tonkinacris sinensis Chang, 1937

Tonkinacris sinensis Chang, 1937 View in CoL

Figs 3, 5E – R View Figure 5 View Figure 3 , 6 View Figure 6

Tonkinacris sinensis Chang, 1937: 191; Chang 1940: 67; Bey-Bienko and Mistshenko 1951: 252; Mistshenko 1952: 441; Xia 1958: 52; Zheng 1985: 173; Zheng 1993: 111; Jiang and Zheng 1998: 123; Li and Xia 2006: 248; Huang et al. 2013 b: 1 –17; Kim and Pham 2014: 56; Zhang et al. 2017: 147; Wang et al. 2021: 1–17. Type locality: China ( Sichuan, Mt Omei). View in CoL

Tonkinacris omei Rehn, 1938: 63; Mistshenko 1952: 399. Synonymized by Bey-Bienko and Mistshenko 1951: 253. Type locality: China ( Sichuan, Mt Omei). View in CoL

Alulacris nigristriatis Zheng et al., 2013: 90. Type locality: China ( Guizhou, Tongzi). Syn. nov. View in CoL

Type material examined.

Alulacris nigristriatis . China • Holotype male, Guizhou Province, Tongzi, JingfengYa ; 28°3'N, 106°8'E, 1250 m; 11 August 2012, Wei’an Deng leg. ( SNU) GoogleMaps • Paratypes, 3 ♀, data same as holotype ( SNU) GoogleMaps .

Additional material examined.

Tonkinacris sinensis . China • 11 ♂ 13 ♀; Guangxi, Jingxi County, Diding ; 23°6'56.5"N, 105°58'28.7"E; 800–900 m; broad-leaved forest; 8 August 2010; Jianhua Huang leg. ( CSUFT) GoogleMaps • 20 ♂ 23 ♀; Guangxi, Nanning City, Wuming District, Damingshan Nature Reserv ; 4 September 2024; Jianhua Huang leg. ( CSUFT) • 15 ♂ 15 ♀; Guangxi, Longzhou County, Wude Town, Sanlian Village ; 15 July 2013; Tao Wei leg. ( CSUFT) • 5 ♂ 7 ♀; Guangxi, Maoershan Natural Reserve ( Xing’an County, Huajiang Town, Gaozhai Village); 21 August 2020; Zhilin Chen leg. ( CSUFT) • 3 ♂ 5 ♀; Hunan Province, Yingzuijie Natural Reserve ( Huitong County, Tuanhe Town , Xiangyang Village , Guixi ); 2 August 2022; Jianhua Huang leg. ( CSUFT) • Sichuan Province, Emeishan, Hongchunping ; 12 August 2011, Ruigang Yang leg. ( CSUFT) • 1 ♂ 1 ♀; Chongqing City, Nanchuan District, Jinfoshan ; 21 August 2003; Caixia Yuan leg. ( CSUFT) .

Morphology.

Male. Body medium-sized and robust, with a few sparse pubescence. Head shorter than pronotum, nearly as long as or slightly longer than metazona of pronotum. Vertex short, inclined forwards, slightly triangular and longitudinally sulcate between eyes. Frons slightly oblique backwards in profile view, roundly connected with fastigium. Frontal ridge with incomplete longitudinal sulcus and nearly parallel lateral margins. Lateral facial keels distinct and straight. Antennae filiform, slender, reaching the base of hind femur, with median segments 3.5–5.5 × as long as broad. Eyes oval, with longitudinal diameter 1.3–1.8 × horizontal diameter, and 1.5–2.0 × as long as subocular furrow. Interocular distance extremely narrow, shorter than the distance from anterior margin of eyes to the top of vertex. Pronotum cylindrical and densely punctate dorsally; anterior margin straight, slightly concave in the middle; posterior margin broadly rounded, distinctly protruding in an obtuse angle in the middle; median keel fine, distinct at metazona only; lateral keel absent; three transversal sulci all distinct, cutting off median keel; posterior transversal sulcus located behind the middle; prozona 1.2–1.4 × as long as metazona. Prosternal process conical, slightly oblique backwards, with pointed or rounded apex. Mesosternal lobes broader than long, broadly separated, with inner margin broadly convex and interspace between mesosternal lobes goblet-shaped, longer than minimum width; metasternal lobes distinctly separated posteriorly. Tegmina reduced with narrow and angulate apex, contiguous dorsally, at least exceeding posterior margin of the third abdominal segment, but not reaching posterior margin of the fifth abdominal segment. Hind wings slightly shorter than tegmina. Fore and mid femora slightly enlarged. Hind femur proportioned, with upper median keel smooth and edentate. Hind tibia without outer apical spine, with 9–11 spines at inner and outer margins. Tarsus with large arolium, exceeding apex of claws. Tympanal organ large and round. Posterior margin of The tenth abdominal tergite with a pair of small papillary furculae. Cercus conical, broad basally, slightly narrowed in the middle, distinctly curved upwards and constricted at apical third, forming a broadly rounded angle at lower margin; apex bluntly rounded, not reach the top of supra-anal plate. Supra-anal plate long triangular, with a longitudinal sulcus in the middle which is extremely broad in the basal third and become very small in the middle third after a distinct constriction; apical third roundly depressed and thickly carinated around the basal two thirds of the depression; lateral area with a broad and longitudinal depression beside the median longitudinal sulcus and a narrower and shorter longitudinal sulcus along the lateral margins. Subgenital plate short conical with blunt and triangularly protruding apex; lateral margins nearly parallel at basal and then strongly constricted apically.

Epiphallus with an undivided bridge; general outline trapezoidal in dorsal view, lateral margins shallowly concave in the middle; anterior projections broad with rounded apical margins; posterior projections conical having a bluntly rounded apex; bridge relatively broad; ancora broadly lamellate, triangular, lower than anterior projections (Fig. 5 E, L View Figure 5 ) with rounded apex strongly curved ventrally; lophi broad, lamellate and auriform, obliquely located along the inner margins of lateral plate. Phallic complex with apical valves of penis and valves of cingulum relatively small; rami of cingulum very developed, connected ventrally, forming a sheath enveloping the apical part of the penis and forming the whole apex of the aedeagus; apodemes horn-shaped, not reach the apex of basal valves of penis; basal valves of penis very broad.

Female. Similar to male, except for the following. Body larger than male. Vertex broadly rounded; interocular distance as long as the distance from anterior margin of eyes to apex of fastigium; eyes with longitudinal diameter 1.4–1.8 × as long as horizontal diameter, and 1.4–1.7 × as long as subocular furrow. Antennae slightly shorter than in male, reaching posterior margin of pronotum. Pronotum with median keel distinct throughout. Tegmen developed, exceeding the middle of the second abdominal tergite, but not reaching the anterior margin of the sixth abdominal tergite. Hind wing slightly shorter than tegmen. Hind femur well proportioned, with finely denticulate upper median keel. Hind tibia with 9–12 spines at outer margin. Supra-anal plate long and triangular, with a transversal sulcus near the middle and a complete median longitudinal groove, which is broad and deep at base and become narrower apically. Cercus conical, not curved. Dorsal and ventral valves of ovipositor relatively short and thick, crooked; outer margin of dorsal valves with indistinct denticles. Subgenital plate longer than broad, subsphaeroidal, with lateral margins broadly convex and posterior margin broadly convex, having a small triangular protuberance in the middle.

Coloration.

Body generally yellowish green, yellowish brown, or yellowish blue (Fig. 6 View Figure 6 ). Antennae yellowish brown, with apical segments blackish brown. Eyes black to brown. Vertex with an edge-blurred dark or well-defined black longitudinal maculation (Fig. 6 N, P View Figure 6 ). Postocular band broad and black, extending to posterior margin of lateral lobes of pronotum. Pronotum with a black longitudinal stripe in the middle that is equal to, or narrower but never broader than, the width of the yellow or yellowish-brown longitudinal stripe on both besides (Fig. 6 N, P View Figure 6 ). Tegmen with three distinct, broad, longitudinal stripes, one in the middle and the other two at anterior and posterior margins. Hind wing dark or hyaline. Fore and middle legs green, yellowish green or yellowish brown; apex of the third tarsal segment, claws and arolium black in some individuals. Hind femur yellowish brown; knees black; upper surface with three distinct black spots, the basal one much smaller or even indistinct in some individuals; outer surface without any maculation. Hind tibia dark blue to blueish green; base, spurs and apical half or full length of tibial spines black. Tarsus pale yellowish blue or dark.

Measurements.

Male: BL: 25.0– 29.5 mm; PNL: 6.5–7.3 mm; TL: 9.4–10.0 mm; HFL: 9.5–10.5 mm. Female: BL: 30.0– 37.5 mm; PL: 9.0– 9.5 mm; TL: 10.0– 12.5 mm; HFL: 17.6–18.0 mm.

Distribution.

China ( Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan), Vietnam.

Biology.

Tonkinacris sinensis occurs one generation each year and winters by egg. It lives in the bush and hassock of low hillside ~ 300–700 m a. s. l and is omnivorous, feeding on more than ten families of plants such as Compositae, Papilionaceae , Gramineae , Berberidaceae , and Meliaceae . It also heavily injures maize and sorghum and is one of the important pests of montane drought crops ( Li and Xia 2006).

Remarks.

The most distinct differences between Alulacris and Tonkinacris are the position, length, color, and maculation of tegmina and the shape of the male cercus. While the tegmina of A. nigristriatis is separated dorsally in female (Fig. 3 C – H View Figure 3 ), they are distinctly continuous dorsally in male (Fig. 3 A View Figure 3 ). Furthermore, as shown in Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 6 A, B, D, E View Figure 6 , the paratype females of A. nigristriatis exhibit significant deformation, likely resulting from being preserved in small plastic tubes with ethanol when collected. This suggests that the apparent dorsal separation of the tegmina may be an artifact of improper preservation. Therefore, under normal conditions, the tegmina of A. nigristriatis may be dorsally contiguous in both sexes.

The most distinguishing characteristics separating A. nigristriatis from A. shilinensis are the presence of longitudinal stripes along the anterior, posterior, and central regions of the tegmina; the uniquely constricted apical shape of the cerci; and the mastoid furculae located centrally on the posterior margin of the tenth abdominal tergite. However, regardless of the position and length of tegmina, the mastoid furculae or the black stipes on tegmina, A. nigristriatis conforms more favorably to the generic diagnosis of Tonkinacris and shows no significant difference from T. sinensis (Fig. 6 View Figure 6 ). Accordingly, we propose herein A. nigristriatis as a junior synonym of T. sinensis .