Kanakacris 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 : 364-367

Genus Kanakacris Kasalo & Skejo , n. gen.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6780D8B2-0ED3-4F14-A5D8-5B120C7E9B08

TYPE SPECIES. — Pseudoparatettix illiesi Günther, 1972 .

COMPOSITION. — Kanakacris illiesi n. comb.

DISTRIBUTION. — Known only from New Caledonia.

ETYMOLOGY. — Named in honor of the Kanak people, the indigenous inhabitants of New Caledonia. The suffix -acris is derived from the Greek word ἀΚΡίς, meaning “grasshopper, locust”, and is of feminine gender.

DIAGNOSIS. — Paired ocelli at upper third of eye height. Frontal costa bifurcation immediately above ocelli, near top of face. Midline of antennal grooves at level of ventral margin of eyes. vertex crown-like, half as wide as eye. Vertex narrowing anteriorly, anterior margin a little indrawn in middle and not reaching the anterior margin of eyes in dorsal view. Legs smooth; middle femur distinctly long and slim; hind femur robust. First tarsal segment of anterior leg short; third tarsal segment of hind leg shorter than first. Wings not reaching pronotal apex. Pronotum mostly flat, median carina only slightly wavy anteriorly. Median carina reaching anterior margin of pronotum.

A

B

C

D

E

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. — Major differences from the above diagnosis are given for each type species. Macquillania cuspidata Günther, 1972 – paired ocelli at ventral third of eye height; antennal grooves below ventral margin of eyes; anteriorly bulging vertex with projected frontal costa, reaching anterior margin of eyes; third tarsal segment of hind leg as long as first. Hydrotetrix cheesmanae Uvarov, 1926 – paired ocelli at half of eye height; frontal costa bifurcation at top of face; vertex as wide as eye; anterior margin of vertex straight; third tarsal segment of hind leg as long as first; apterous; moderate hump in anterior part of pronotum. Carolinotettix montanus Willemse, 1951 – paired ocelli and frontal costa bifurcation around half of eye height (according to textual description in Willemse (1951)); vertex wider than eye; apterous; moderate hump in anterior part of pronotum. Lamellitettigodes contractus ( Bolívar, 1887) – paired ocelli at middle of eye height; vertex slightly bulging anteriorly, wider than eye; third tarsal segment of hind leg nearly as long as first. Hebarditettix quadratus ( Hancock, 1915) – paired ocelli at ventral third of eye height, frontal costa bifurcation at middle of eye height, antennal grooves below level of ventral margin of eyes; third tarsal segment of hind leg as long as first. Hedotettix gracilis (Haan, 1843) – paired ocelli at middle of eye height; frontal costa bifurcation at top of face; vertex slightly bulging anteriorly, reaching anterior margin of eyes; vertex as wide as eye. Ergatettix dorsiferus ( Walker, 1871) – paired ocelli at middle of eye height; frontal costa bifurcation at top of face; vertex as wide as eye; small hump in anterior part of pronotum. Paratettix meridionalis ( Rambur, 1838) – paired ocelli placed lower – approximately one ocellus could be placed between frontal costa bifurcation and dorsal margin of paired ocellus; vertex a little narrower than eye; anterior margin of vertex straight; middle femur robust and wavy; median carina not reaching anterior margin of pronotum; small hump in anterior part of pronotum. Euparatettix personatus ( Bolívar, 1887) – frontal costa bifurcation at top of face; anterior margin of vertex straight, reaching anterior margin of eyes; vertex as wide as eye; third tarsal segment of hind leg as long as first. Pseudoparatettix lineatus ( Hancock, 1907) – vertex as wide as eye; first tarsal segment of anterior leg long; third tarsal segment of hind leg nearly as long as first; two small humps in anterior part of pronotum.

JUSTIFICATION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT

OF THE NEW GENUS

Barring the recent work on Tetrigini by Devriese et al. (2023), the subfamily Tetriginae remains largely unreviewed. This subfamily contains some of the most specious genera of Tetrigidae , but their diagnoses are usually vague or non-existent. Some important diagnostic characters of Kanakacris illiesi n. comb., e.g. face, vertex, leg, and median carina morphology, do not fit the diagnosis of any of the described genera in the wider region. We thus find it necessary to define a new genus. The differential diagnosis concerns the type species of each genus resembling Kanakacris Kasalo & Skejo , n. gen. or attributed to Tetriginae in SE Asia, Australia, and Oceania.