Sphenarium infernalis Sanabria-Urban, Song & Cueva

Sphenarium infernalis Sanabria-Urbán, Song & Cueva del Castillo sp.n.

(http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:495096)

Description. External morphology (Fig. 9 Q, R): body size ranging from 25.74 to 38.48mm in females and from 25.94 to 38.13mm in males; antennae filiform, slightly shorter in females or longer than head and pronotum together in males; head subtriangular-elongated slightly longer than wide in females or conical notably longer than wide in males, with oval eyes in both sexes; fastigium moderately elongated, nearly half the length of interocular space in females or notably elongated, nearly as long as the interocular space in males; tegmina spatula-like in both sexes; subgenital plate of males rounded, moderately developed posteriorly; dorsal ovipositor valves rounded towards the apex. Male genitalia: bridge of epiphallus moderately longer or as long as the length of lateral plates (Fig. 13 A-I). Ectophallus in dorsal view (Fig. 13 A-II) broad at the base, with lateral borders of ramus convergent; dorsal borders of ramus with lateral projections notably developed interiorly, closing the central membrane of ectophallus somewhat far from the sheath (Fig. 13 A-II, arrow); basal emargination of cingulum moderately developed; interspace between apodemal plates of cingulum moderately open to notably close. Ectophallus in posterior view (Fig. 13 B) without a conspicuous sclerotized hollow in the sheath; inflections of supraramus moderately developed with distal margins laterally or dorsally directed; valves of cingulum with distinct form (Fig. 13 B), small and slightly developed posteriorly (Fig. 13 C). Endophallus in lateral view (Fig. 13 A-III) with elongated pseudoarch, loosely joined to the valves of cingulum; aedeagal valves somewhat broad, medium-sized, with smooth ventral margins and moderately rounded in the apex (Fig. 13 B) without apical spine (Fig. 13 C); aedeagal valves and sclerites together about the same length than dorsal inflections of endophallic apodemes (Fig. 13 A-III).

Colouration. Ground colours vary from green or brown. Body uniformly coloured (Fig. 9 R) or with the following colour traits (Fig. 9 Q): antennae mostly black; fastigium frequently reddish; lateral postocular bands frequently present, wide, whitish to yellow; dorsomedial line mostly absent, if present very narrow and yellowish; dorsal shades often absent, if present reduced and restricted to the apex of abdomen, brown to black; lateral shades often present, narrow, black or brown; lateral bands of blotches not evident; ventral bands of pronotum very narrow and yellow; mesonotum is partially or entirely black; whitish lateral blotches of 1st abdominal segment frequently present; tegmina green, black to magenta; generally hind femora uniformly coloured with knees laterally black and dorsally reddish; hind tibia usually black.

Diagnosis. Externally this species more closely resembles S. macrophallicum, and S. crypticum sp.n. In most cases, females of S. infernalis sp.n. differ from females of other species by their rounded dorsal ovipositor valves. Nonetheless, the male genitalia of S. infernalis sp.n. clearly differ from other Sphenarium species by the following combination of traits: lateral borders of ramus convergent, dorsal borders of ramus with lateral projections developed towards the central membrane that are not evident in other species in the genus, inflections of supraramus moderately developed, and aedeagal valves somewhat broad, medium-sized, moderately rounded in the apex.

Distribution. This species is apparently restricted to the western portion of the Balsas River Basin in elevations ranging from 335 to 1450 m a.s.l. Colima, Jalisco and Michoacan, Mexico (Fig. 7 A).

Material examined. Holotype m (Fig. 9 Q) from Mexico: Jalisco, 5mi. NE. Tecalitlan, 19.540895°N, - 103.3147204°W, 4250ft, XI-25-1958 (T. J. Cohn #313); measurements: BS = 28.01 mm, FL = 1.03 mm, PL = 5.99 mm, HF = 13.30 mm. Paratypes from Mexico: Jalisco: 1 m, 1 f, same data as holotype; 3 m, 2 f, 1mi S Pihuamo, 869m a.s.l., XI-26-1958 (T.J. Conh #314); 2 m, 2 f, 6mi NE Tecalitlan, 4250ft, XI-30-1958 (T.J. Cohn #331); 1 m, 1 f, Tecalitlan, 19.52045714°N, - 103.3007948°W, 1213 m a.s.l., X-2-2013 (Sanabria-Urban #P78); 2 m, 4 f, Pihuamo, 19.24430234°N, - 103.4002227°W, 800 m a.s.l., X-2-2013 (Sanabria-Urban S. & Rivera-Ortiz F. #P79 [L58 MS1]). Colima: 1 m, 1 f, 9 mi E Colima, 1620ft, XI-22-1958 (T.J. Cohn #328); 1 m, 6 mi E Colima, 1250ft, XI-29-1958 (T.J. Cohn #327); 1 m, 1 f, Entrada a Colima, 19.18950356°N, - 103.6827591°W, 468 m a.s.l., X-3- 2013 (Sanabria-Urban S. & Rivera-Ortiz F. #M58). Michoacan: 1 m, 1 f, 15 mi W Apatzingan (2 mi E. Santa Ana), 1600ft, XII-2-1958 (T.J. Cohn #340); 1 m, 23rd mi WSW Ario de Rosales, 4200ft, XII-4-1958 (T.J. Cohn #348); 2 m, 1 f, 16.7mi W Apatzingan, 1100ft, IX-26-1959 (Cantral & Cohn #179); 1 m, 11mi S Uruapan on 37, IX-8-1981 (Otte, Azuma, Newlin #57); 1 m, 26rd mi NE Arteaga on Hwy. 37, 3 rd. mi. SW Rancho Nuevo, 2060ft, XI-3-1974 (T.J. & J. W. Cohn #121); 10 m, 8 f, Las Majadas Carr 120, 19.134653°N, - 102.463237°W, 301 m a.s.l., IX-23-2012 (Sanabria-Urban S. #P43 [L57 MS1]); 1 m, 1 f, Periban, 19.55953625°N, - 102.4384873°W, 1450 m a.s.l., X-1-2013 (Sanabria-Urban S. & Rivera-Ortiz F. #P75). The holotype was deposited at UMMZ and the paratypes were deposited at the IBUNAM, TAMUIC and UMMZ.

Taxonomic discussion. This species is closely related morphologically to S. rugosum. In deed material of this new species was identified as S. rugosum in previous studies (Boyle 1974; Kevan 1977). Nevertheless, S. infernalis sp.n. shows a unique combination of morphologic traits, in both external and male genitalia structures, a wellsupported monophyly (Fig. 2 b), relatively high levels of interspecific genetic differentiation (Table 3). All these lines of evidence support the recognition of S. infernalis sp.n. as a valid species. Previously, we identified specimens of S. infernalis sp.n. as Sphenarium sp.n. 8 (Sanabria-Urbán et al. 2015). For other studies in the genus this new species was unknown.

Etymology. The specific name “ infernalis ” is derived from Latin and means “belonging to the lower regions”. It refers to the distribution of this species in the lowest portion of the Balsas River Basin, which is also one of the warmest regions in Mexico.