Bufonidini Hancock, 1907

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 : 342-346

Tribe Bufonidini Hancock, 1907

TYPE GENUS. — Bufonides Bolívar, 1898 .

COMPOSITION. — Bufonides Bolívar, 1898 .

DISTRIBUTION. — New Guinea.

DIAGNOSIS. — Frontal costa bifurcation at ventral third of eye height. Paired ocelli near ventral margin of eyes. Antennal grooves far below level of ventral margin of eyes. Scutellum as wide as antennal groove. Antennae long and filiform, composed of more than 20 visible segments. Vertex narrow and flat in anterior view. Anterior margin of pronotum projected in form of spine. Pronotum mostly flat. Smooth anterior and middle femora. First segment of anterior tarsus a little elongated, third segment of hind tarsus short. Hind femur robust. Paranota without ventral sinus.

REMARK

Storozhenko (2019) recently proposed a provisional division of Batrachideinae into tribes, including the definition of Bufonidini with many morphologically distinct members. This system is now refined to reflect the apparent similarities between genera. The genus Bufonides is very distinct (see the earlier section and the Discussion) and is thus left as the only member of Bufonidini , while the other genera are assigned to different tribes below.

Tribe Cassitettigini Yin, 1984

TYPE GENUS. — Saussurella Bolívar, 1887 .

COMPOSITION. — Saussurella Bolívar, 1887 , Wiemersiella Tumbrinck, 2014 , Palaioscaria Günther, 1936 .

DISTRIBUTION. — SE Asia, New Guinea.

DIAGNOSIS. — Frontal costa bifurcation at upper quarter of eye height. Paired ocelli a little above half of eye height. Midline of antennal grooves at level of ventral margin of eyes. Facial features lower in Palaioscaria due to lowered vertex. Antennae long and filiform, composed of around 20 visible segments. Vertex wide and bulging, except in Palaioscaria where it is narrow and concave. Anterior margin of pronotum projected in form of long and upward-oriented spine or helm. Pronotum mostly flat. Mostly smooth anterior and middle femora. First segment of anterior tarsus elongated, third segment of hind tarsus approximately as long as first. Hind femur slender. Paranota without ventral sinus.

REMARK

Saussurella and Wiemersiella seem to be closely related, while the morphology of Palaioscaria is highly peculiar. When its lowered vertex is taken into account, the structure of the face seems to resemble the other two genera, and the structure of the pronotum is similar as well. Despite this, the lowered and narrow vertex as well as the extremely elongated legs could imply a higher degree of separation. This separation is not as extreme as in the Bufonides - Hyperyboella case so we refrain from separating Palaioscaria into its own tribe, but it seems likely that this will have to be done when more information is gathered.