Research Article

Journal of Orthoptera Research 2021, 30(2): 99-106

Neoxabea mexicana sp. nov. (Gryllidae: Oecanthinae): A new species from
Mexico and a key for Neoxabea in North and Central America

NANCY COoLLINs!, CARLOS GERARDO VELAZCO-MACIAS?

1 Waterford, Racine County, Wisconsin, USA.
2 Bosques del Rey, Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

Corresponding author: Nancy Collins (oecanthinae@gmail.com)

Academic editor: Klaus-Gerhard Heller | Received 13 December 2020 | Accepted 28 January 2021 | Published 17 June 2021

http://zoobank.org/DAE8FB88-A 1 70-404 7-9CF2-17E53CE7EFBF

Citation: Collins N, Velazco-Macias CG (2021) Neoxabea mexicana sp. nov. (Gryllidae: Oecanthinae): A new species from Mexico and a key for Neoxabea
in North and Central America. Journal of Orthoptera Research 30(2): 99-106. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.30.62000

Abstract

A new species of tree cricket, Neoxabea mexicana sp. nov., is described
from northeast Mexico. Although it has morphological similarities to two
other species found in Mexico, there are distinguishing characters, such as
a well-developed tubercle on the pedicel, black markings on the maxillary
palpi, one of the two pairs of spots on the female wings positioned at the
base of the wings, stridulatory teeth count, and the pulse rate of the male
calling song. The calling song description and pre-singing stuttering fre-
quencies are provided. Character comparisons that rule out other species
in the genus are presented. The common name given to this new species
is Mexican tree cricket. Sound recordings and video are available online.
We also make some clarification of the status of Neoxabea formosa (Walker,
1869), described as Oecanthus formosus, and present a key of Neoxabea in
North and Central America.

Keywords

Acoustics, key, Nuevo Leon, Orthoptera, pedicel tubercle

Introduction

A photograph posted in October 2018 (Fig. 1) on Naturalista
(2020) of a female tree cricket in northeast Mexico led to the in-
vestigation of the new species described here. According to the cur-
rent listing on the Orthoptera Species File (OSF) online (Cigliano
et al. 2020), only two of the thirteen species of Neoxabea have been
documented in Mexico—N. bipunctata (De Geer, 1773) and N.
formosa (Walker, 1869). A 2020 photograph (Naturalista 2020,
iNaturalist 2020) from Bosques del Rey, Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon,
Mexico, showed a male tree cricket that lacked spines on the hind
tibiae and had areas of dark staining on the tegmina. Subsequent
findings of another male and female (Figs 2, 3) from the exact
locality as the photograph of the female in 2018 led to further
photographs, song recordings, and the collection of specimens. By
ear, the recordings (Naturalista 2020, iNaturalist 2020) revealed
the same slow clicking sound sometimes made by other species in
this genus, but the trilling portion of the song had a richer musical
quality than the buzzy sound of N. bipunctata.

The morphology and song data of N. bipunctata are well docu-
mented and thus easily compared to this new species. The lack of
data for N. formosa, along with its complicated history, presented
challenges. In his description of Oecanthus formosus Walker, 1869,
a female specimen from the collection of M. Salle was designated
as the holotype (Walker 1869). In the preface of F. Walker's de-
scription, J.E. Gray (Keeper of Zoology, which then included en-
tomology) explained that letters before any specimen “denote the
specimens now contained in the British Museum,” and E Walker
listed the specimen as “a — Mexico. From M. Salle’s collection.”

Kirby (1906) catalogued much of the Insect Collection in
the British Museum (Natural History), and listed O. formosus as
a synonym of N. bipunctata, adding ** to indicate that the type
was present in the collection. In his 1966 examinations of Oe-
canthinae, T. Walker indicated that the N. formosa holotype was
missing from the British Museum. The British Museum, at Great
Russell Street, London, originally included both human and natu-
ral history collections, but in 1881 the Natural History Depart-
ment was transferred to a new building in South Kensington and
referred to as the British Museum (Natural History). In 1963, this
was legally separated from the British Museum, though it retained
the name BM(NH) until 1992, when it was formally renamed as
the Natural History Museum (NHM), referred to more recently in
publications as NHMUK.

In November 2020, after requesting confirmation from
NHMUK that the type specimen of Oecanthus formosus was miss-
ing, as cited in the OSF website (Cigliano et al. 2020), Ben Price,
Senior Curator at the NHMUK, located the holotype of O. formo-
sus. The number on the specimen “[18]56-143” refers to the Ac-
cession Register and confirms the data of this specimen as “From
Mexico. Purchased from Cuming. Collected by M. Sallé on &
around the volcano of Orizaba.” Orizaba is located in Veracruz,
Mexico. T. Walker (1967) noted a female specimen with a label
of “type ?” from the British Museum and wrote that if any ques-
tion is associated with the specimen being a type, it should not
be designated as such. He also pointed out that the female might
eventually prove to be other than N. formosa. He indicated that
there were two species present among the specimens regarded as

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)

100

N. bipunctata, and that the females of N. formosa could not be dis-
tinguished from those of N. bipunctata.

Thirteen specimens from Mexico and Brownsville, Texas, were
examined by T. Walker in four major collections (Walker 1967).
He determined that males have 56-63 stridulatory teeth and in-
cluded that data on a graph with several other species of Neoxabea
(Walker 1967). The Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA)
holds five specimens labeled as N. formosa (Fig. 6A-E), including
two male and three female specimens from “Brownsville, Texas,
USA” and “Atoyac, Veracruz, Mexico”. The specimen presented
in Figure 6A has tubercles on both the pedicel and scape and a
dark line on the palpi. The three female specimens, faded from
age (Fig. 6C-E), have a single spot mid wing on each side and a
fainter pair of spots at the base of the wings.

A photograph taken by NC in September 2019 (Fig. 7A, B)
shows two of the six specimens held in the collection at the Acad-
emy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia labeled as N. formosa. Fig-
ure 7A represents a female collected in Brownsville, Texas, and Fig-
ure 7B a female collected in Veracruz, Mexico. The Veracruz speci-
men has two pairs of spots that are centrally positioned, and the
Brownsville specimen has one of the two pairs of spots positioned
at the base of the wings.

This paper describes a new species of Neoxabea that has a strid-
ulatory teeth count that falls within the range of some of the male
specimens labeled as N. formosa that T. Walker examined in 1966.
The original species of N. formosa remains intact, with the only
known specimen being the holotype, a female, at the NHMUK in
South Kensington, and which was collected at the volcano Orizaba
in Veracruz, Mexico (Fig. 17E). A key for five species of Neoxabea
known to occur in North and Central America is provided.

Materials and methods

Collection methods. —Individuals were found on an outdoor illumi-
nated ceiling and walls.

Type verification.—Keys from Walker (1967) and the Singing Insects
of North America (SINA) (2020) were used to verify the genus. Spec-
imens were examined for the absence of spines on the hind tibiae.

Song recordings and analyses.—Songs of an actively roaming cap-
tive male were recorded using a Huawei P30 Pro cellphone held
as close to the singing tree cricket as possible. The cellphone was
tested for calibration by recording a file from SINA and comparing
the pulse rate and frequency to the original file. Raven Lite 2.0 was
used to prepare waveforms to count pulse rates, and spectrograms
were used to determine carrier frequency.

Habitat.—Individuals were found on the private property of CGV-
M in Guadalupe, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, in northeast Mexico.
Native vegetation on the property includes Tecoma stans (L.) Juss.
ex Kunth; Senna alata (L.) Roxb.; Asclepias curassivica L.; Lantana
camara L.; Poliomintha bustamanta B. L. Turner; Croton ciliatoglan-
dulifer Ortega; Ruellia simplex C. Wright; Merremia dissecta (Jacq.)
Hallier f. (POWO 2020).

Guadalupe sits at the base of Cerro de La Silla, and the pri-
vate property sits approximately 800 meters from the start of veg-
etation of the mountain. Species of vegetation that predominate
on the mountain are Vachellia rigidula (Benth.) Seigler & Ebinger;
Vachellia farnesiana (L.) Wight & Arn.; Cordia boissieri A. DC.; and
Opuntia spp. At higher altitudes, the following are more frequent
species: Havardia pallens (Benth.) Britton & Rose; Helietta parvifolia

N. COLLINS AND C.G. VELAZCO-MACIAS

(A. Gray) Benth.; Caesalpinia mexicana (A. Gray, 1861) E. Gagnon
& G. P. Lewis, 2016; Leucaena pulverulenta (Schltdl.) Benth; and
a naturalized tree from southern Mexico—Leucaena leucocephala
(Lam.) de Wit. In the highest zone, Quercus fusiformis Small and Q.
canbyi Trel. occur (Cerro de La Silla 2009, Alanis-Flores et al. 2010).

Climate.—Temperatures of the spots where tree crickets were sing-
ing were measured using a Steren thermometer, Model TER-150,
with a range of -10 to 50°C.

Preservation of specimens.—Specimens were preserved in 70%
ethyl alcohol.

Morphological measurements. —Measurements were made after the
specimens were euthanized by freezing or by immersion in 70%
ethyl alcohol. Total body length refers to the midline length from
the tip of the labrum to the apex of the subgenital plate, not in-
cluding antennae, tegmina, limbs, or cerci. Tegminal width was
measured at the widest section, while resting atop the abdomen of
the male. Pronotal length was measured along the medial line of
the pronotum. Female ovipositors were measured from the base at
the distal abdomen to the tip. Photographs and measurements of
the ovipositor, cerci, and metanotal gland, as well as counts of the
stridulatory teeth, were made with the aid of an AmScope Stereo-
scope, magnification WF10x to 2x to 4x (photographs made using
a Huawei P30PRO cellphone camera with a Leica Vario-Summi-
lux-H1.6-3.4/16-125 ASPH lens). Comparison photographs of N.
bipunctata, N. cerrojesusensis, and N. ottei were made with a Canon
PowerShot S5 IS.

Male genitalia.—The male genitalia complex was extracted and pho-
tographed using a Huawei P30PRO cellphone camera with a Leica
Vario-Summilux-H1.6-3.4/16-125 ASPH lens. Copulatory blades
(Fulton 1915), which are also known as pseudepiphallus (Chopard
1961) or lophi medians (Desutter 1987), are situated just above the
subgenital plate. The blades can sometimes be seen if the male’s
subgenital plate is lowered, including spontaneously on live males.

Results

Neoxabea mexicana Collins & Velazco-Macias, sp. nov.
http://zoobank.org/170F61F8-6BA5-4D58-AACE-19B51DE91EE2
Figs 1-5, 8-14

Type-specimen.—Holotype @ (Fig. 2), alcohol vial. Bosques del
Rey, Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. 25°38.21'N, 100°12.26'W,
elevation ca 580 masl, urban area adjacent to Cerro de La Silla,
C.G. Velazco-Macias & J.G. Velasco-Castafion leg., 15 X 2020.

Holotype description.—Face, head, and pronotum brown. Pedicel
and scape brown, each with one protruding tubercle (Fig. 5); re-
mainder of antennomeres translucent whitish with black staining.
Palpi light brownish with black line on each segment (Fig. 4). Eye
color brown. Wing color brown and whitish or cream. Ventral
abdomen brownish with scattered staining (Fig. 9). Dorsal abdo-
men median terga projections rounded (Fig. 10). Tarsi, tibiae, and
femora with translucent pale yellowish tan with no lines or spot-
ting. Tympanal membrane on fore tibiae with whitish rim. Cerci
loosely S-curved and brown (Figs 9, 11). Total length 17.0 mm;
tegminal length 12.0; tegminal width 4.0; pronotal length 3.0; dis-
tal pronotal width 2.0; hind femur length 8.0; cerci 1.5; stridula-
tory file length 2.0 mm. Right tegminal stridulatory teeth total 55.

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)

N. COLLINS AND C.G. VELAZCO-MACIAS

Figs 1-5. Neoxabea mexicana sp. nov. adults: 1. 9 habitus;
2. Holotype ¢ habitus; 3. 2 with larger amount of cream coloring;
4. Black line on palpi; 5. Pedicel and scape tubercles.

Type material.—Located October 2020 on private property in
Bosques del Rey, Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. 2 3 and 1 9 de-
posited at Universidad Nacional Aut6noma de Mexico (UNAM),
one 3 of these designated as the holotype for this species.

The genus Neoxabea was determined as the Nuevo Leon speci-
mens lacked spines on the hind tibiae (Figs 1-3). Males display
large amounts of dark staining on the tegmina (Fig. 2). Females
(Figs 1, 3) display a pair of blackish spots on the lateral edges of
brown wings with areas of cream and a pair of less obvious spots
embedded in the dark brown areas of the wings at the base. Both
sexes have a black line on each segment of the maxillary palpi
(Fig. 4) and a protruding tubercle on both the pedicel and scape
(Fig. 5). The female in Figure 3 actively mated with one of the two
males found on the same property (video in Suppl. material 1).

Male paratype (n=1).—Total body length 17.0 mm, tegminal
length 12.5, tegminal width 5.5, pronotal length 3.5, distal pro-
notal width 3.0, proximal pronotal width 2.2, hind femur length
9.0, cerci 2.25. Stridulatory file length 2.0. Right tegminal stridula-
tory teeth total 53.

The metanotal gland, color of the ventral abdomen, cerci, dis-
tal abdominal terga projections, ovipositor, and copulatory blades
are presented in Figs 8-13, respectively. The metanotal gland scu-
tum to scutellum (Walker 1967) ratio is 1:0.6. Long setae cover
the ends of two curved structures situated on both sides of the
scutellum that project upward into the center orifice of the gland

Re ig
mi’ 9 ¥"
5% r!
2 a:
a ae =
x BSS
>» a
Hs
“Wes BS
4-9 ie
wig a
Ww :
Y Ss

14% A0

Fig. 6. Florida State Collection of Arthropods specimens labeled
as N. formosa. A. & from Atoyac, Veracruz, Mexico; B. Same ¢ lat-
eral view; C. 9 from Veracruz; D. 2 from Brownsville, Texas, USA;
E. 2 from Brownsville.

(Fig. 8). The gland area resembles that of Neoxabea femorata Walk-
er, 1967 in figure 25 of Walker (1967); however, the scutum of
N. mexicana sp. nov., is twice as wide as long and has a straight
upper edge. Figure 10 provides a closer inspection of the shapes
of all eight abdominal terga projections. The most distal (eighth)
projection is much smaller in size than the other seven. The cerci
are robust and loosely S-shaped (Figs 9, 11, 12). The copulato-
ty blades (main lobes of pseudepiphallus) touch at the midline
while in a rested position and hook upward (Fig. 13A—C). Photos
of additional structures in Suppl. material 2.

Female (n=2).—One female was not euthanized and only partial-
ly measured. Latticed vein pattern on wings with a single large
dark pair of spots at lateral edges mid-wing (Figs 1, 3), and a sec-
ond pair of spots at the base of the wings. The degree of brown
and cream varies. Total body length 16.0 mm, pronotal length
2.5-3.0, distal pronotal width 2.0-2.5, proximal pronotal width
1.5-2.0, hind femur length 7.5-8.2, cerci 2.0, ovipositor length
5.0. The tip of the ovipositor (Fig. 12) does not extend beyond the
tips of the hindwings.

Morphological differences.—The maxillary palpi of N. mexicana sp.
nov. have a longitudinal black line (Fig. 4), which is ruddy on N.
bipunctata. The numerous darkened areas on the male tegmina of
N. mexicana sp. nov. are not found on N. bipunctata. Female N.
mexicana sp. nov. have a pair of black spots mid wing, and a pair
of spots at the base of the wings. N. bipunctata also has a total of
two pairs of spots, but the proximally placed spots are not at the
base of the wings. The tubercle on the pedicel of N. mexicana sp.
nov. is well-developed, while there is generally a very small dimple
on the pedicel of N. bipunctata. See other species comparisons in
Fig. 17A-R and Table 1.

Song.—Calling song recordings were made in captivity by CGV-M
(Suppl. material 3, 4). Waveform review revealed that this spe-
cies has bursts of trilling with 36 pulses per second at 26.6°C
(Fig. 14). Pulse rates of the songs at different temperatures by this
species and three other Neoxabea species occurring in North and
Central America were plotted on a pulse rate vs temperature graph
(Fig. 15). Although only a single recording with an accurate tem-
perature for N. ottei and two recordings for N. cerrojesusensis are
available, several additional recordings were analyzed, and the
pulse rate never dropped below 80 pulses per second with am-

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)

102

N. COLLINS AND C.G. VELAZCO-MACIAS

Table 1. Non-matching characters of 13 described species of Neoxabea when compared to N. mexicana sp. nov.

Neoxabea species
ottei (Collins & van den Berghe, 2014)

astales (Walker, 1967)
bipunctata (DeGeer, 1773)

obscurifrons (Bruner, 1916)
femorata (Walker, 1967)
trinodosa (Hebard, 1928)
brevipes (Rehn, 1913)
enodis (Walker, 1967)
lepta (Walker, 1967)
meridionalis (Bruner, 1916)
N. formosa (Walker, 1869)

N. quadrula (Walker, 1967)

2222222222 2

ae
= 5

2 Ue

BSOIIO

Fig. 7. Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia specimens
labeled as N. formosa. A. 2, Brownsville, USA; B. 2, Coatepec, Ve-
racruz, Mexico.

bient temperatures above 22°C. Permit limitations allowed only
two nights of recordings. The pulses per second rate of N. mexi-
cana sp. nov. is less than half of that for N. bipunctata, N. ottei,
and N. cerrojesusensis. Spectrograms review revealed a calling song
carrier frequency of 3.6 kHz at 26.6°C and 3.4 kHz for the pre-
singing stuttering (Fig. 16). When compared to the frequencies of
the other three Neoxabea species mentioned above, N. mexicana
sp. nov. had a more marked change in the frequency of the stut-
tering versus the frequency of the singing.

Calling song tone comparison.—The tone of the trilling portion of
the song of N. mexicana sp. nov. is more musical and flute-like

Characters not matching N. mexicana sp. nov.
< 25 stridulatory teeth; females w/ 4 centrally located wing

< 30 stridulatory teeth; no abdomen terga projections
< 30 stridulatory teeth
cerrojesusensis (Collins & van den Berghe, 2014) < 30 stridulatory teeth; male tegmina with minimal staining
< 30 stridulatory teeth; drab coloring
< 40 stridulatory teeth; striped hind femora
75-80 stridulatory teeth
Spotting on limbs; song > 54 pps at 19°C

Bold cephalic pattern; no abd terga projections
Long, thin, straight cerci; no abd terga projections
Distinct tegmina staining; no abd terga projections
Females with four centrally located spots on wings

Cerci with large swelling; 35 stridulatory teeth

Sources
ae Collins et al. (2014) (p. 165)
T. Walker (1967) (fig. 28)
T. Walker (1967) (p. 786)
Collins et al. (2014) (p. 165)
T. Walker (1967) (fig. 23)
T. Walker (1967) (fig. 28)
T. Walker (1967) (fig. 28)
T. Walker (1967); Zefa et al. (2018)
T. Walker (1967) (fig. 16)
T. Walker (1967) (fig. 6)
T. Walker (1967) (fig. 12)
F. Walker (1869)
T. Walker (1967) (figs 9, 28)

13C

13A

Figs 8-13. Morphology of N. mexicana sp. nov. 8A. Metanotal
gland; 8B. Labeled metanotal gland; 9. Ventral abdomen color
and subgenital plate on live male; 10. All eight projections on dor-
sal abdominal terga of male; 11. Dorsal view of male cerci; 12.
Ventral view of female ovipositor; 13A. Ventral view of copulatory
blades (main lobe of pseudepiphallus) of holotype male; 13B.
Dorsal view; 13C. Lateral view.

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)

N. COLLINS AND C.G. VELAZCO-MACIAS

“|

a ey an a a
tk? ia faa sii Eel Wa wh HS 14a tes Wey rol Tat Hed 1

Fig. 14. Waveforms of the calling song of N. mexicana sp. nov. at
26.6°C (after applying 2 kHz high pass filtering); A. Six bursts of
singing in 50 sec.; B. One burst of singing with warm up stuttering
before next burst of singing; C. One second of warm up stuttering
showing a total of 17 pulses (click sounds); D. One second of
singing (36 pulses per second).

than the buzzy sound of the faster song of N. bipunctata. Both spe-
cies have a pre-trilling stuttering, but the stuttering of N. mexicana
sp. nov. is longer in duration, more consistently present, and was
found to be more flute-like in tone even at moderate temperature
(22.7°C). Neoxabea mexicana sp. nov. has a 200 Hz difference be-
tween the frequency of the stuttering and the song trilling, while
the frequency of N. bipunctata remains constant.

Key to Neoxabea species in North and Central America

1 Petia C8 ot cca tlt iors feu ez cots sgaptot nigh scatter atte atdira ceed cara heuMcynladavarhte scabs Zz
1’ ~— Males (male of N. formosa UNKNOWN) ........:.ccceccceseetseeeeseeeteeeeeseeeseens 6
2(1) Two pairs of prominent dark spots on lateral edges of female wings
at-rest; located imanid:- portions (Fig. PACE) Vi. iuige. cc teien delice 3
2’ Two pairs of prominent dark spots on lateral edges of female wings
at rest; with one of the pairs located at base (Fig. 17A, B).............0. o
3(2) Ruddy line on each segment of the maxillary palpi; slight dimple on
pedicel (Fis. 1.7; I, RY aisvecticsseratesns utetiaastanors aad Q N. bipunctata

3’ — Dark brown or black line on each segment of the maxillary palpi....4
4(3’) Dimple on pedicel unknown (only scape present on holotype) .......

Sedoasllcangnds couphh acon sanesta tame Rtandhoratlanieods cass ameeda aap ndedyt aan Q N. formosa
4’ Moderate dimple on pedicel (Fig. 17D, N, Q) ....eeeeeeeeee Q N. ottei
5(2’) Moderate dimple on pedicel (Fig. 17B, M, P)...... Q N. cerrojesusensis

5’ Prominent tubercle on pedicel (Fig. 17A, K, O)........... Q N. mexicana
6(1’) Large amount of dark brown staining on male tegmina; black line on
each segment of the maxilary palpi; prominent tubercle on pedicel;
song with < 40 pulses per second at 26.0°C; stridulatory teeth count

SOa(RIP NAB IR (On. critics se Radsdunratonncoutndstareneprassets oN. mexicana
6’ No or minimal male tegmina staining; dimple on pedicel; stridula-
tOTy, Teeth COMUNE SOs Bec Mcctse ss Sindee nub dle needed costednede dedtconttercsete. a

7(6’) Ruddy line on each segment of the maxillary palpi; pedicel with
slight dimple; song with > 100 pulses per second at 26.0°C (Fig.
ie | oll ek abe Ap ey epee in ia Panna Ae ae tee R ON. bipunctata

103

—& WN. bipunctata
SEN. ofte!
== M. cerrojesusensis

=8—N. mexicana sp, mov.

Pulses Per Second
2 6 €@ € & 3&2 6

Temperature in Degrees Celsius

Fig. 15. Comparing calling song pulse rates of N. mexicana sp.
nov. to N. bipunctata, N. ottei, and N. cerrojesusensis. Data for re-
cordings in Suppl. material 5.

anya

; 26.6°C . -

breasts (8

kegityle i]

oe, oe rt Lo Lo 16 Ww i ite 2 a i. ss bor
Teer Ce}

os aa B
Z FE Hi tt egg

= 1] 260°C
7 is 0 as rr] Lh “ral "as a6 Le =

wrolnae fr]

Regency (HE
wou ee gh

Fig. 16. Waveforms and spectrograms highlighting stuttering and
singing. A. N. mexicana sp. nov.; B. N. bipunctata (Source: SINA);
C. N. cerrojesusensis; D. N. ottei.

7’ Dark brown or black lines on each segment of the maxillary palpi;
moderate dimple on pedicel; song with >70 pulses per second at

DOOM 3.05, 207 cher Os cesta Me 2S, 0 Bee ies wal, Jol geet QO Rn ais s ee 8
8(7’') Tegmina dark staining pattern generally a full X; resting tegminal
width s 4: 5cinma( Pigs ABN, Ors as-n cessbndelodbriiabesnn iasentslen ON. ottei
8’ Tegmina dark staining pattern generally the top half of an X; resting
tegminal width < 4.5 mm (Fig. 17G, M, P).......... 3 N. cerrojesusensis

Neoxabea species comparisons.—The 13 described species of Neoxa-
bea can be ruled out as N. mexicana sp. nov. with non-matching
characters, as in Table 1.

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)

Fig. 17. Images of adult wing patterns, palpi markings, and pedicel
tubercles for species in the Neoxabea key. A. mexicana sp. nov. 9;
B. cerrojesusensis 2; C. bipunctata 9; D. ottei 2; E. formosa 9; F. mexi-
cana sp. nov. 3; G. cerrojesusensis 3; H. bipunctata @; I. ottei 3; J. bi-
punctata; K. mexicana sp. nov.; L. formosa; M. cerrojesusensis; N. ottei;
O. mexicana sp. nov.,; P. cerrojesusensis; Q. ottei; R. bipunctata.

N. COLLINS AND C.G. VELAZCO-MACIAS

Discussion

This investigation revealed the following characters for Neox-
abea mexicana sp. nov.: well-developed tubercles on the pedicel
as well as the scape; a black line on all segments of the maxil-
lary palpi; a large amount of dark staining on the male tegmina,
and one pair of dark spots on the wings of females located at
the base. These characters, along with the calling song rate and
stridulatory teeth count, are distinctly different from those in N.
bipunctata, which is also reported from Mexico. While the warm-
up stuttering and the singing phase of N. bipunctata remain at a
consistent frequency, the song of N. mexicana sp. nov. consis-
tently shows a rise from the stuttering phase to the singing phase
of up to 200 kHz.

In this paper, we focus on comparisons to N. bipunctata,
since that species is well studied and documented as occurring
in Mexico. Comparisons to other species of Neoxabea in Table 1
and the key to Neoxabea of North America and Central America
confirm the diagnosis of a new species. The dark lines on the
maxillary palpi of the holotype of N. formosa are distinctly dif-
ferent from the fainter ruddy lines on N. bipunctata. The ventral
abdomen is too degraded from age to check for the two dark
lines described by FE. Walker. Suppl. material 6 provides photos
of N. formosa. Since a species described from Nicaragua, N. ot-
tei, also has females with four spots on the wings in the same
positions as those on the N. formosa holotype, these two spe-
cies cannot currently be separated without examining males of
N. formosa. The only known locality of N. formosa is a dormant
volcano, Orizaba, which is the third highest in North America.
This habitat could easily be a location with uncommonly en-
countered species.

Our recommendation for male specimens currently labeled as
N. formosa in collections is to treat them as either N. formosa or
N. mexicana sp. nov. until a living male can be verified as N. for-
mosa. Female specimens labeled as N. formosa with two pairs of
centrally located spots on the wings cannot currently be distin-
guished from N. ottei, but the intensity of the line on the maxillary
palpi can be used for differentiating between N. bipunctata and
N. formosa.

Acknowledgements

We thank the California Academy of Sciences and National
Geographic Society for maintaining the website iNaturalist.org
along with CONABIO for the Mexican site Naturalista.mx, which
allows scientists and the public from around the world to post
photographs and sound recordings of insects. We thank Klaus-
Gerhard Heller, Sigfrid Ingrisch, Thomas J. Walker, Edison Zefa
and Tony Robillard for their review of this paper and valuable rec-
ommendations. José Gerardo Velazco Castanion helped in locating
the specimens for collection and analysis. Klaus-Gerhard Heller
helped locate the specimen in the Natural History Museum. Ben
Price, Natural History Museum, South Kensington, UK, provided
images of the female specimen labeled as the holotype for Neoxa-
bea formosa. Teresa Yawn, University of Florida, provided photos of
specimens labeled as N. formosa in the Florida State Collection of
Arthropods (FSCA). Judith Marshall, Curator Emeritus, provided
the history of the NHMUK. Carl Strang and James Trager offered
critiques of the key. The Orthopterists’ Society provided funding
for the publication of this paper.

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)

N. COLLINS AND C.G. VELAZCO-MACIAS

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105

Supplementary material 1

Author: Carlos Gerardo Velazco-Macias

Data type: Movie (mov. file)

Explanation note: Mating pair of N. mexicana sp. nov..

Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open
Database License __ (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/
odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license
agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and
use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others,
provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.26.62000.suppl1

Supplementary material 2

Author: Carlos Gerardo Velazco-Macias

Data type: Image (jpg. file)

Explanation note: Structures of N. mexicana sp. nov.: A. Holo-
type right wing stridulatory file with teeth; B. Female tympa-
nal membrane; C. Male tympanal membrane with front limb
claw; D. Spermatophore; F. Ovipositor.

Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open
Database License __(http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/
odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license
agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and
use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others,
provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.26.62000.suppl2

Supplementary material 3

Author: Carlos Gerardo Velazco-Macias

Data type: SWF file

Explanation note: Recording of captive male.

Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open
Database License __ (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/
odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license
agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and
use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others,
provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.26.62000.supp13

Supplementary material 4

Author: Carlos Gerardo Velazco-Macias

Data type: SWF file

Explanation note: Recording of captive male.

Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open
Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/
odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license
agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and
use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others,
provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.26.62000.suppl4

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)

106 N. COLLINS AND C.G. VELAZCO-MACIAS

Supplementary material 5 Supplementary material 6

Author: Nancy Collins Author: Ben Price

Data type: Excel spreadsheet Data type: Image (jpg. file)

Explanation note: Graph of recording data for four species of Explanation note: Photographs of the female holotype for N. for-
Neoxabea. mosa — taken at the Natural History Museum in the UK.

Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open
Database License _(http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/ Database License _(http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/
odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license
agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and
use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others,
provided that the original source and author(s) are credited. provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.26.62000.suppI5 Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.26.62000.suppl6

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(2)