Wide-nosed pygmy grasshoppers (Cladonotinae: Cladonotini, Xerophyllini) of India and Sri Lanka: catalogue with an identification key and description of a new species of the genus Tettilobus

Abstract

Wide nosed pygmy grasshoppers (Tetrigidae: Cladonotinae) are grasshoppers in which the frontal costa bifurcates into strongly divergent facial carinae, between which there is wide scutellum. Altogether seven genera and thirteen species inhabit India and Sri Lanka. Tribe Cladonotini is represented in this region by five genera and nine species (Cladonotus—4 spp., Deltonotus—2 spp., Gignotettix—1 sp., Hancockella—1 sp., and Yunnantettix—1 sp.), while the tribe Xerophyllini by two genera, Tettilobus (3 sp.) and Potua (1 sp.). For this Potua species it is not clear if it belongs to this genus. A simple identification key to Cladonotinae of India and Sri Lanka is provided. New synonyms are: Deltonotus humilis syn. nov., Epitettix tamilus syn. nov. and Potua aptera syn. nov., synonymous with Deltonotus gibbiceps. Deltonotus cristatus should be regarded nomen nudum. A new species, assigned to the genus Tettilobus is described from the Western Ghats of Kerala, Tettilobus trishula Skejo, Bhaskar et Stermšek sp. n. Furthermore, we present the first records of D. subcucullatus from India (Kerala).

A new tribe of the pygmy grasshoppers subfamily Cladonotinae (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae)

“…The family Tetrigidae is divided into seven subfamilies: Batrachideinae, Cladonotinae, Lophotettiginae, Metrodorinae, Scelimeninae, Teriginae, and Tripetalocerinae (Cigliano et al, 2022). Within the subfamily Cadonotinae, five monophyletic tribes exist, such as Caribbean Choriphyllini, South American Mucrotettigini, African Xerophyllini, Madagascarian Vavallini, and Asian Cladonotini (Deranja et al, 2022) but most genera require revision and are not adequately classified in the Tetrigidae system (Zha et al, 2017;Skejo et al, 2019;Bhaskar et al, 2020;Deng, 2020;Storozhenko, 2021). Here, five genera of the pygmy grasshoppers subfamily Clanonotinae from Asia and New Guinea are placed in a new tribe.…”

Grasshoppers, Crickets and Katydids of Kerala, an updated checklist for the order Orthoptera

“…Bhaskar et al (2018) compiled the first-ever checklist of Orthoptera of Kerala, in which 130 species were recorded. Later, six new Orthopteran species were recorded from Kerala (Bhaskar et al, 2020c;Meena et al, 2021;Hiremath and Prathapan, 2021, 2022. In addition, some studies on orthopteran diversity were also conducted (Kumar et al, 2018;Bhaskar et al, 2019;Thasnim and Bijoy, 2021).…”

“…E. tricarinatus Kerala Shishodia et al (2010), Gupta and Chandra (2020), Cigliano et al (2023) Subfamily CLADONOTINAE Bolívar, 1887;Tribe Cladonotini Bolívar, 1887Genus Deltonotus Hancock, 1904 107. Deltonotus gibbiceps (Bolívar, 1902) Palakkad (Silent Valley NP, Parambikulam TR), Idukki (Eravikulam NP) Shishodia and Hazra (1986), Shishodia and Kulkarni (2002), Mathew (2004), Shishodia et al (2010), Chandra and Gupta (2013), Bhaskar et al (2018Bhaskar et al ( , 2019Bhaskar et al ( , 2020cBhaskar et al ( , 2022, Gupta and Chandra (2020) Chopard (1969), Hazra (1986), Vasanth (1991), Mathew (2004), Shishodia et al (2010), Bhaskar et al (2018), Gupta and Chandra (2020) Thrissur Mathew (2004), Cigliano et al (2023) and questions the underestimated number of total Orthoptera species in the entire country given the uniqueness of the biodiversity in the Indian subcontinent and the relative lack of taxonomic expertise.…”