Spertor Kasalo & Skejo, 2025

Damien, Niko Kasalo, Laure, Damien Brouste, Christophe, Laure Desutter-Grandcolas, Domagoj, Christophe Hervé, Josip, Domagoj Bogić & Skejo, Josip, 2025, Atlas of New Caledonian Tetrigidae with preliminary suprageneric classification of Batrachideinae, Zoosystema 47 (18), pp. 327-397 : 370-372

Genus Spertor Kasalo & Skejo , n. gen.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:80C84235-7628-473C-B67D-40380024EE25

TYPE SPECIES. — Spertor solus Kasalo & Skejo , n. sp.

COMPOSITION. — Monotypic, including only N. solus Kasalo & Skejo , n. sp.

DISTRIBUTION. — Known only from New Caledonia.

ETYMOLOGY. — The name is coined from the Latin verb spērō, spērāre, meaning “to hope”, fused with the Latin suffix -tor used to form a third declension masculine agent noun. Spertor , the one who hopes, is thus a masculine gender noun. The name references the fact that only a single specimen of this genus is known, and its long antennae, with which it may hope to find company.

DIAGNOSIS. — Frontal costa bifurcation in upper quarter of eye height. Vertex triangular in dorsal view, straight in anterior view. Antennae long and filiform. Pronotum with large anterior hump. Pronotal apex wide, rectangular. Legs tuberculated.

A B C E D

DESCRIPTION Frontal costa bifurcation in upper quarter of eye height. Scutellum widening ventrad, as wide as antennal groove at widest part. Paired ocelli at upper third of eye height. Midline of antennal grooves at level of ventral margin of eyes Antennae filiform, composed of 15 visible segments. Vertex more than twice as wide as eye in frontal view. In anterior view, base of vertex a little above dorsal margin of eyes; vertex flat with slightly elevated medial carina. In dorsal view, vertex vaguely triangular; reaching anterior margin of eyes. Medial carina visible in anterior half between eyes. Lateral carinae barely distinct. Anterior margin of pronotum straight. Prozonal carinae parallel. Median carina distinct throughout its length, forming large hump in prozona. Lateral lobes projecting outwards, rectangular, wide. Ventral sinus blunt but narrow.Tegminal sinus absent. Infrascapular area wide above middle femur, narrowing towards pronotal apex. Humeral angles blunt. Posthumeral spots present. Pronotal apex wide, rectangular.Tegmina and wings absent. Dorsal margin of anterior femur with two wide teeth; ventral margin with three small and one large teeth. Anterior tibia slightly widened in proximal and in middle part. First segment of anterior tarsus shorter than second segment (minus claws), pulvilli indistinct. Dorsal margin of middle femur wavy; ventral margin with three wide protrusions.Middle tibia slightly expanded in middle. Hind femur robust, mostly smooth; small antegenicular, large genicular tooth. Hind tibia straight and smooth with small teeth in distal half. First tarsal segment much longer than third. Middle pulvillus longer than other two, all sharp.

REMARK

This genus bears no immediate resemblance to any of the known genera. We refrain from placing it anywhere in the taxonomic system before a more thorough follow-up study can be performed.