NOTA CIENTÍFICA
First record of the subfamily Proctolabinae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Acrididae) from Argentina
Primer registro de la subfamilia Proctolabinae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Acrididae) para la Argentina
Bardi, Christian*, Martina E. Pocco** and María Marta Cigliano**
* Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores (CEPAVE), CCT La Plata - CONICET- UNLP, Calle 2 # 584, La Plata; e-mail: bardi_c@yahoo.com.ar
** División Entomología, Museo de La Plata, CCT La Plata CONICET-CEPAVE, Paseo del
Bosque 1900, La Plata
ABSTRACT. This contribution records for the first time the subfamily Proctolabinae from Argentina. This subfamily contains 29 genera and 209 species restricted to the Neotropics with only one genus, Eucephalacris Descamps, reaching south as far as Mato Grosso in Brazil and northern Paraguay. Specimens belonging to Eucephalacris borellii (Giglio-Tos) were collected in Misiones province. The presence of this species registered herein raises to eleven the number of Acrididae subfamilies known to occur in the country, and highlights the importance of conducting surveys of Acridoidea and Orthoptera in general, in diverse regions of Argentina. Brief diagnoses and illustrations of the characters that allowed the identification of the genus and species are also given in this contribution.
KEY WORDS. Proctolabinae; Eucephalacris borellii; Biodiversity; Grasshoppers.
RESUMEN. Esta contribución registra por primera vez la subfamilia Proctolabinae para la Argentina. La subfamilia Proctolabinae contiene 29 géneros y 209 especies restringidas a la región Neotropical, con sólo uno de sus géneros, Eucephalacris Descamps, que llega al sur hasta Mato Grosso en Brasil y el norte de Paraguay. Ejemplares pertenecientes a Eucephalacris borellii (Giglio-Tos) fueron colectados en el departamento de Guaraní, provincia de Misiones. La presencia de Eucephalacris borellii, registrada en este trabajo, eleva a once el número de subfamilias de Acrididae presentes en la Argentina, y destaca la necesidad de realizar relevamientos sobre la diversidad de Acridoidea y de Orthoptera en general, en diversas regiones de nuestro país. También se brindan en esta contribución una breve diagnosis e ilustraciones de los caracteres que permiten la identificación del género y de la especie.
PALABRAS CLAVE. Proctolabinae; Eucephalacris borellii; Biodiversidad; Tucuras.
Recibido: 23-VI-2010;
Aceptado: 4-VIII-2010
The Proctolabinae subfamily was first
defined by Amedegnato (1974) and further
classified by Descamps (1976, 1980, 1981)
and Amedegnato & Poulain (1987). It is
distinguished from the Melanoplinae based
on the face straight or concave; fastigiofacial
angle distinct; fastigium separated from
face by a transverse prominent carina (Fig.
3); second segment of hind tarsi elongate
(Amedegnato, 1974). At present, it contains
29 genera and 209 species restricted to
the Neotropics, extending from Southern
Mexico to Northern Paraguay and Southern
Brazil. The subfamily is characterized to live
in wet forest up to 2000 meters of elevation.
In South America, most of the known species
are fully winged and mostly arboreal, they
occur in both primary and secondary forest
throughout (Rowell & Flook, 2004). Only
one of the Amazonian genera, Eucephalacris Descamps, reaches south as far as Mato
Grosso in Brazil and northern Paraguay.
The genus Eucephalacris is constituted by
17 species distributed in Eastern Paraguay
and Bolivia, and Brazil. The purpose of this
contribution is to record for the first time this
subfamily from Argentina and to give a brief
diagnosis and illustrate the characters that
allowed the identification of the genus and
species collected. This is important because
despite the numerous collections carried
out in different regions of the country with
adequate habitats for Proctolabinae, this
constitutes the first record of the subfamily
from Argentina. The finding highlights
the importance of conducting surveys of
Acridoidea in diverse regions of the country
guided by the existing taxonomic knowledge,
prioritizing field work to fill in gaps that exist
in our inventory of Acridoidea species. It
additionally highlights the importance of
protected areas such as the "Reserva de
Biósfera Yabotí" where it is still possible to
find grasshopper species sensitive to human
activities.
Samplings were performed with an
entomological net in the "Reserva de Biósfera
Yaboti" Guaraní department, Misiones
province. Photographs of the habitus were
captured with a Canon Eos Rebel digital
camera with a series of images montage
using the program CombineZ5.3 (Hadley,
2006); images of the head, distal segments
of the abdomen and phallic complex were
captured with a Micrometrics digital Camera
attached to a Nikon SMZ1000 microscope.
Figs. 1-7. Eucephalacris borellii male. 1. habitus, lateral view (scale bar = 1 cm); 2, habitus, dorsal
view; 3, head, dorsal view; 4,distal abdominal segments, lateral view; 5, distal abdominal segments,
dorsal view; 6, phallic complex, lateral view; 7, dorsal aedeagal valves, apex, lateral view.
Eucephalacris Descamps, 1976
Type species: Bucephalacris spatulicerca Descamps & Amedegnato, 1970.
Diagnosis. Male: Eyes usually prominent. Interocular distance about the same as the width of pedicel of the antenna (Fig. 3). Anterior and middle femora short and robust. Apex of tegmina barely reaching the hind knee (Fig. 1). Last tergite divided dorsally. Epiproct short, truncated distally (Fig. 5). Cerci robust, with the distal portion upcurved, generally spatulated (Fig. 4). Pallium highly prominent.
Eucephalacris borellii (Giglio-Tos, 1897) (Figs. 1-7)
Bucephalacris borellii Giglio-Tos, 1897: 31;
Bruner 1906: 665.
Bucephalacris paraguayensis Bruner, 1906:
665; Descamps & Amedegnato
1970: 880; Descamps 1976: 105
(=Eucephalacris borellii).
Bucephalacris boliviana Bruner, 1920: 72;
Descamps & Amedegnato 1970: 880;
Descamps 1976: 105 (=Eucephalacris
borellii).
Diagnosis. General color brown, with three yellow-cream spots below the eyes; lateral lobes of pronotum with light yellow longitudinal band cut by the second transverse sulcus; pleurae with the yellowcream band starting in the anterior edge of mesothoracic epimeron; dorsal face of hind femora with three black bands; hind tibiae brown. Tarsi of hind leg as long as the two thirds of hind tibia (Fig. 1-2). Subgenital plate with superior edge not folded upwards. Male cerci with distal portion subcircular spatulalike shaped, clearly separated from the basal portion (Fig. 4). Phallic complex with dorsal aedeagal valves with spatulate apex with prominent transverse carina (Fig. 6-7).
Material examined. ARGENTINA. Misiones, Guaraní, between Fracrán and Paraíso, "Reserva de Biósfera Yaboti", 25 km southeast from Fracrán on Ruta Provincial N° 15 (S26º 52´35´´ W54º 14´12.80´´), Bardi col, 05/04/2010, 1 male, MLPA. BRAZIL. Mato Grosso, Gaucho, Ruta N° 186, Ronderos & Carbonell col, 22/01/1972, 1 male, MLPA; Mato Grosso, Ruta 163, 150 km N Campo Grande, Ronderos & Carbonell col, 27/01/1972, 1 male, MLPA.
Habitat. Openings in subtropical forest, with a thick understory of bushes and shrubs species such as Urera baccifera and Chusquea ramosissima and Compositae species (Mikania sp., Eupatorium sp, Vernonia sp.).
Distribution. In the Chaqueña, Paranense,
Cerrado and Amazonica biogeographic
provinces (Cabrera & Willink, 1973). Brazil
(Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul,
Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Rondonia,
Sao Paulo); Paraguay (Central, Caaguazú,
Cordillera, Paraguarí); Bolivia (Santa Cruz);
Argentina (Misiones) (See distribution
map in the Orthoptera Species File online
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/editTaxon/Distribution/SpecimensMap.aspx?TaxonNameID=53460).
Cigliano & Lange (1998) summarized the
state of knowledge regarding the Orthoptera
known to inhabit Argentina and concluded
that among this order, the only relatively well
known group was the superfamily Acridoidea
while all the other taxa of the order is an
open subject to future study. Carbonell et
al. (2006), in the most recent classification
of the Acrodomorpha for Argentina,
listed the occurrence of ten subfamilies
of Acrididae (Acridinae, Copiocerinae,
Cyrtacanthacridinae, Gomphocerinae,
Leptysminae, Melanoplinae, Marellinae,
Ommatolampinae, Oedipodinae and
Pauliinae). However, the presence of
Eucephalacris borellii registered herein
raises the number of Acrididae subfamilies in
Argentina and highlights the importance of
conducting surveys of this group in diverse
regions of the country. Taxonomic research in
Orthoptera is urgent due to the environmental
ravages of the biodiversity crisis and of major
importance for progress in conservation and
biological research generally (Samways,
2005). Regional species inventories of
Orthoptera still need to be undertaken in an
ambitious and coordinated manner. Such
inventories must be guided by the existing
taxonomic knowledge to prioritize field
work in order to fill gaps in our inventory of
Orthoptera species in Argentina.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Prof. Nélida Calligaris for her technical assistance.
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