Erebonyx potiguar Merlo & Castro-Souza & Bento & Ferreira 2022, n. sp

Erebonyx potiguar n. sp. (Figures 1, 2–7, 8–17, 18–22, 23–29, Table 1) Material examined. Holotype ♁, code ISLA 97132, Brazil, Rio Grande do Norte state, Caraúbas municipality, Casa de Homens Cave (5º 34′ 34.5792″ S; 37º 34′ 25.7052″ W), 11.vii.2021, Ferreira R. L. leg. Holotype condition: tegmen, legs I, II and III detached, and maintained in the holotype tube. Paratypes, 4♁♁, 11.vii.2021, (ISLA 97133, ISLA 97134 *, ISLA 97135 *, ISLA 97136 *) (* = nymph stage), 3♀♀, 15.v.2022 (ISLA 97129, ISLA 97130, ISLA 97131), Casa de Homens cave (5º 34′ 34.5792″ S; 37º 34′ 25.7052″ W), Caraúbas municipality, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil; 1♁♁, 12.vii.2021, (ISLA 97128), Gruta Capoeira de João Carlos Cave (5º 30′ 56.9946″ S; 37º 31′ 41.4336″ W), Governador Dix-sept Rosado municipality, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. Distribution. Known from two caves: Gruta Capoeira de João Carlos (5º 30′ 56.9946″ S; 37º 31′ 41.4336″ W), Governador Dix-sept Rosado municipality; Casa de Homens Cave (5º 34′ 34.5792″ S; 37º 34′ 25.7052″ W), Caraúbas municipality. Immatures were observed in other caves in the area. Etymology. Specific epithet “potiguar” refers to a person who was born in Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. The name is to be treated as a noun in apposition. Diagnosis. E. potiguar can be distinguished from E. catacumbae by the combination of the following characteristics: fore wings slightly developed, symmetrical layout (Figs 11 and 12, 21 and 22); tergites III, IV, V, VI and VII with bristle brushes (T.III–VI, Br., Fig. 14); median lophi developed, apex dilated and curved inward, convex shaped at apex (MPLs, Figs 2–6); paramere well developed and sclerotized, rectangular-lamellar shaped (PsP, Figs 2–6); endophallus with a pair of upper outward projections, narrow and filled, lower part elongated and tapered towards the ectophallic arch, surpassing its margin (End.Sc, Fig. 3); female copulatory papilla well sclerotized, flattened, cone shaped, apex membranous and slightly convex (a, b and c, Fig. 7). Description, male holotype. General Coloration. Body and head light brown, fore wings dark brown (Figs 8–17). Head. similar in color to the body and pronotum, slightly pubescent and with two long bristles between scapes (pers. obs. apparently some were lost after fixation), vertex slightly flattened in lateral view, occiput region vestigially darkened behind the eyes (Figs 8 and 9). Eyes. eyes sub-quadrangular rounded, compound with black ommatidia rounded by slightly margin of depigmented ommatidia, and a superior region more depigmented near the scape insertion (Figs 8 and 9); median and lateral vestigial ocellus present (Fig. 8: circle in red on left head face). Mouthparts. clypeus and labrum whitish brown, mandibles dark brown outlined (Figs 8 and 9); maxillary and labial palps lightly darkened between articulations, with distal region outlined in white (Figs 8 and 9); maxillary palp slightly pubescent, elongated, with five articulations; the first and second palpomeres of same size and shorter than the others; the third and fourth of same sized and bigger than the first two; fifth palpomere is longer than the third and fourth, claviform, dilated in distal portion (Figs 8 and 9); labial palps with three articulations of increasing size, third palpomere claviform (Figs 8 and 9). Antennae. scape slightly pubescent, oval and dilated shaped, with long bristles on interior distal portion (pers. obs. apparently some were lost after fixation); pedicel whitish brown, narrow, cylindrical and slightly compressed on middle region; antennomeres whitish at base and light brown at tip; flagellum light brown (Fig. 9). Thorax. pronotum pubescent, light brown and slightly darkened at the extremities, marked with a vertical median white stripe with darkened regions symmetrically distributed around (Figs 10 and 11); dorsal disc wider than long, lateral lobe rounded, with long bristles at the anterior and posterior margin (pers. obs. apparently some were lost after fixation) (Fig. 10); metanotum non-glandular (Fig. 14). Abdomen. light brown at the proximal part becoming darkened distally; tergites pubescent, light brown (Figs 11 and 14); tergites III, IV, V, VI and VII with bristle brushes, tergite III divided into two portions of bristle brush (dorsal view), tergite IV with a higher density of bristles compared than others (pers. obs. apparently some were broken), tergal glands are present among the aforementioned tergites (T.III–VI, Br. and Gl., Fig 13); sternites pubescent, slightly whiter than the tergites (Figs 11 and 13); subgenital plate darkened, pubescent, quadrangular shape, distal and lateral margins with long bristles, distal central region with an indentation rounded (Figs 15 and 16); supra-anal plate darkened, pubescent, trapezoidal shaped, with small lateral projections, distal portion rounded and with long bristles (Fig. 15); cerci whitish, subapical region slightly darkened (Figs 16 and 17). Legs. Leg I: femur whitish with long bristles, tibia with two subequal apical spurs; tympanum absent, internal proximal face of tibia with a slight discoloration; first tarsomere twice bigger than the second and third together, second tarsomere with one quarter of the third tarsomere length (Fig. 18). Leg II: similar to leg I, with long bristles more dispersed than leg I; tibial apical spurs longer than in leg I, tympanum absent (Fig. 19). Leg III: femur developed, proximal region slightly whitish, other regions light brown uniform, slightly pubescent on the upper inner; tibia with four outer and inner subapical spurs (S.S., Fig. 20), two outer and three inner apical spurs (a, b (outer); c, d and e (inner), Fig. 20); first tarsomere developed and serrulated with two apical spurs, the interior is slightly bigger than the external, first tarsomere is larger than the third and second in size, respectively (Fig. 20). Fore wings. slightly developed, symmetrical layout, with the right tegmen overlapping at the level of their first third of the left tegmen, both covering the first three abdominal tergites, each one becoming narrower towards at tip and triangular shaped in dorsal view (Figs 11 and 12, 21 and 22). Right tegmen. mirror undeveloped, oval shaped dilated, with one cross-vein slightly marked, forming two small cells (M) (Fig. 22); harp undeveloped, triangular shaped, with three poorly marked cross-veins, the distal is more developed, cross-veins connecting the stridulatory vein (SV) with the first cubital vein (Cu1) (Fig. 22); median inner marginal region undeveloped with two chordal veins (CVs), diagonal vein (DV) connecting the mirror with the chordal vein more inner, which present a discontinuous branch towards mirror (Fig. 22); stridulatory file vestigial and degenerated, with 51 teeth evident; lateral field with two parallel veins (Fig. 22). Female. Coloration similar to the males, but more darkened in tergites and sternites (Fig. 23); body size bigger than holotype /males (12.957 mm) (Fig. 23); fore wings absent (Fig. 23); supra-anal plate brownish, pubescent and with two proximal and medial lateral regions without bristles, distal margin U-shaped, slightly elongated, with long apical bristles (Fig. 26); subgenital plate brownish, short and U-shaped, distal margin concave at apex (Fig. 24); ovipositor shorter than the cerci, elongated, sword format at apex (5.568 mm) (Figs 27–29). Female genitalia (ISLA 97129). Copulatory papilla well sclerotized, flattened in dorsal and ventral view, elongated and dilated at tip, cone shaped, apex membranous and slightly convex (a, b and c, Fig. 7); with opening sinuous in proximal portion (dorsal view) (a, Fig. 7); slightly inclined ventrally near the tip (lateral view) (b, Fig. 7); proximal portion with a ventral arch-shaped (ventral view) (c, Fig. 7). Observations in Paratypes. Male phallic sclerites (Holotype ISLA 97132, Figs 2–6) Pseudepiphallus: median lophi elongated in dorsal, ventral and lateral view, median invagination extending from its middle portion at to apex, slightly pubescent, apex dilated and curved inward, more developed and with convex apex (not triangular) in lateral view than compared Erebonyx catacumbae (MPLs, Figs 2–6); paramere well developed and sclerotized, rectangular-lamellar shaped than compared Erebonyx catacumbae, proximal region inward facing of sclerite, distal region projecting towards MPLs apex, this regions (distal and proximal) are separated by a constriction in front view (PsP, Figs 2–6); ramus elongated, rounded at apex, slightly projected towards inner the sclerite (R, Figs 2–4 and 6). Ectophallic invagination: apodemes elongated and slightly projecting toward ramus (Ec.Ap, Fig. 3); ectophallic arch developed and horizontal shaped similar to E. catacumbae (Ect.Arc, Fig. 3); ectophallic fold less sclerotized, more elongated than E. catacumbae (Ect.F, Fig. 3). Endophallus: well developed and sclerotized, with a pair of upper outward projections, narrower and more filled than E. catacumbae (End.Sc, Fig. 3); lower part elongated and tapered towards the ectophallic arch, surpassing its margin (Fig. 3).
Published as part of Merlo, Rayanne Lays Sant'Ana, Castro-Souza, Rodrigo Antônio, Bento, Diego De Medeiros & Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes, 2022, A new troglophilic species of Erebonyx (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Phalangopsidae) from Brazilian caves, pp. 83-93 in Zootaxa 5222 (1) on pages 85-89, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5222.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/7456493