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| Cladonotus bhaskari Add
Tumbrinck, Deranja, Adžić, Pavlović & Skejo, 2020
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Abstract
The paper describes a new species of a Sri Lankan twighopper, genus Cladonotus Saussure, 1862 (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Cladonotini), Cladonotus bhaskari sp. n., based on a single female specimen collected and photographed by T. Kirschey in 2016 in Sinharaja rainforest (SW Sri Lanka). The new species is clearly distinguished from other species of the genus by its long and spine-like frontomedial projection and cockscomb-shaped promedial projection. Species of this genus resemble tiny twigs, hence the name ‘twighopper’. Our new specimen is the first known female of the genus, and we also present the first photograph of the member of this genus in the natural habitat. An annotated identification key for the Cladonotus species is provided. Furthermore, we synonymize genus Hypsaeus Bolívar, 1887 syn. nov. with Hymenotes Westwood, 1837, based on the pronotal variability of the leaf-like pygmy grasshoppers in the Philippines and introduce one new combination—Hymenotes westwoodi (Bolívar, 1887) comb. nov..
Keywords: Cladonotini, Sinharaja, pronotum, camouflage, flightless species, Dhaneesh Bhaskar, Orthoptera
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| Figure 1. The cockcomb-shaped twighopper, Cladonotus bhaskari sp. n. female in the natural habitat, the type locality, Sabaragamawa (rainforests of SW Sri Lanka: Sinharaja). Holotype female, and holotype collection label.
Photo Tom Kirschey, November 19th, 2016.
From Tumbrinck et al. (2020).
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| Figure 2. The cockscomb-shaped twighopper in a museum collection. Holotype female of Cladonotus bhaskari sp. n. A—detail of the fronto-dorsal projection, B—lateral view, C—dorsal view, D—pulvilli of the hind tarsi, and E—head in frontal view. From Tumbrinck et al. (2020). |
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| Figure 3. Geographic distribution of the Cladonotus species. For C. turrifer, marked with question mark, there are no confirmed localities. The pronotum silhouette is schematically shown in the legend for each species. Schemes are not in ratio. |
Josef Tumbrinck, Maks Deranja , Karmela Adžić, Marko Pavlović and Josip Skejo. 2020. Cockscomb-shaped Twighopper, Cladonotus bhaskari sp. n., A New and Rare Pygmy Grasshopper Species from Sri Lanka (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Cladonotinae). Zootaxa. 4821(2); 333–342. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4821.2.5
