Papilio king cricket (Anabropsis papiliomaculata) and Dulongjiang king cricket (Anabropsis dulongjiangensis)

NEWS - Papilio king cricket (Anabropsis papiliomaculata sp. nov.) and Dulongjiang king cricket (Anabropsis dulongjiangensis sp. nov.) from Yunnan were described, while Anabropsis (Pseudapteranabropsis) nigrimaculatis Pang, Lu & Bian 2023 from a male was reported for the first time and this species was transferred to Anabropsis (Apteranabropsis) Gorochov, 1988.

Up to now, Anabropsis is divided into 7 subgenera, excluding Anabropsis (Anabropsis), the other 6 subgenera with 27 species and one subspecies are distributed in China. The characters of the wings, tibial tympanum, metasternal processes, paraproctal growth of males and subgenital plates are important inter-subgeneric differences.

Anabropsis (Apteranabropsis) papiliomaculata is named after the large black butterfly-shaped spots on the pronotal disc. Chinese name 蝶斑黯螽. The new species has dimensions (mm): BL ♂24.0, ♀22.0; PL ♂6.3, ♀6.2; HFL ♂23.2, ♀21.8; HT ♂22.0, ♀21.5; OvL 14.6. Examined material.

This species is similar to A. ailaoshanica Gorochov 2021, but the pronotal disc has large black butterfly-shaped spots, the external tympanic foretibia is reduced, the basal area of the male paraproctal process is connected, the male subgenital plate is short and wide, about 3/4 of its length, and the spiny apical area of the female subgenital plate is short, about 1/3 of its length.

Anabropsis (Apteranabropsis) dulongjiangensis was given its epithet based on the type locality, Chinese name 独龙江黯螽. The new species has dimensions (mm): BL ♂20.5, ♀24.3–25.5; PL ♂6.0, ♀6.3–6.9; HFL ♂20.3, ♀20.0–21.8; HT ♂20.6, ♀19.0–20.8; OvL 8.1–9.3.

This species is similar to A. magnimaculatus (Bian & Shi, 2019), but the pronotum has incomplete longitudinal yellow lines on the disc, no black spots, the posterior edge of the male subgenital plate is concave.

Anabropsis (Apteranabropsis) nigrimaculatis was originally described based on 3 females. This study is the first to describe a male. The subgenus Anabrospsis (Pseudapteranabropsis) has two branches at the apex of the paraproctal process which is clearly different from the description of the male.

This study proposes to move the species to the subgenus Anabropsis (Apteranabropsis) based on the character of the unbranched apex of the paraproctal process of the male in lateral view and the armed ventral surface of the hind femur.

Original research

Hao Xu & Fuming Shi (2024). Two new species of the genus Anabropsis Rehn, 1901 (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae) from Yunnan, China. Zootaxa 5523 (3): 387–395, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5523.3.7

Dlium theDlium

Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Screw tree ( Helicteres isora ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae family. It is a shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters tall. It has gray bark and alternate leaves, up to 22 cm long and 17 cm wide, oval in shape, with serrated edges and hairs. The flowers are red or white and reach a total length of 5.5 cm. The fruit is green when unripe, brown or gray when dry, twisted, spiral-shaped, and pointed at the tip. The seeds are black or brown, shiny, and diagonal, triangular, or rectangular. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Subfamily: Helicteroideae Tribe: Helictereae Genus: Helicteres Pluk. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) Species: Helicteres isora L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Helicteres baruensis var. ovata DC. in Prodr. 1: 476 (1824) Helicteres chrysocalyx Miq. ex Mast. in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 365 (1874) Helicteres corylifolia Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn in Rev. Hortus Malab....

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Breng (Coldenia breng)

Breng ( Coldenia breng ) is a species of plant in the Boraginaceae family. It is a herbaceous plant that grows along the ground, with radial, cylindrical stems, red, multi-branched, alternate, and white-haired. C. breng has alternate leaves along the stem, oval to nearly round, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 1.5 cm wide, and white-haired. This plant grows in floodplains, seasonally inundated riverbanks, and drying rice fields. It thrives in sandy or silty soils and is drought-tolerant. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Subfamily: Cordioideae Genus: Coldenia L. in Sp. Pl.: 125 (1753) Species: Coldenia breng Aryo Bandoro Dlium TheDlium YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Dlium