Research Article

Journal of Orthoptera Research 2023, 32(2): 127-131

A new species of Neoleva (Caelifera, Acridoidea,
Acrididae, Gomphocerinae) from Central Tanzania

CLAUDIA Hemp!

1 University of Bayreuth, Dept. Dept. Plant Systematics, Bayreuth, Germany.

2 Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany.

Corresponding author: Claudia Hemp (claudia.hemp @uni-bayreuth.de)

Academic editor: Maria-Marta Cigliano | Received 12 August 2022 | Accepted 7 November 2022 | Published 31 July 2023

https://zoobank.org/ABOC890F-89FB-464B-B37E-6C5486375CB6

Citation: Hemp C (2023) A new species of Neoleva (Caelifera, Acridoidea, Acrididae, Gomphocerinae) from Central Tanzania. Journal of Orthoptera

Research 32(2): 127-131. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.32.91581

Abstract

A new species of Neoleva Jago, N. magna sp. nov. is described from
Central Tanzania. A key to all species of Neoleva is presented.

Keywords

East Africa, grasshopper, taxonomy

Introduction

Neoleva Jago, 1996 was erected by Jago (1996) with N. mega
Jago, 1996 from Ethiopia as the type species, and another three
species from Kenya were included. Neoleva are stocky brachypter-
ous Gomphocerinae. The antennae are longer than the head and
the pronotum together. Males have a rounded subgenital plate
and simple cerci. There is a marked sexual dimorphism, the fe-
males being considerably larger than the males (Fig. 1). Males
show a contrasting color pattern with an orange dorsal abdomen
and orange parts on the hind femora, while females are duller
in color. In males a pair of white spots at the anterior margin of
the pronotum is present and a pair of angulate cream to white
bands on the meso- and metanotum. The epiphallus has a strong
bridge and a narrow interspace (Jago 1996). Neoleva are a ge-
ophilous species found in habitats ranging from semi-desert to
savanna woodlands.

In this paper, a new species, N. magna, is described from the
Mpwapwa District in Central Tanzania.

Material and methods

Material studied.—All available specimens of the four species of
Neoleva, including the type specimens present in the Natural His-
tory Museum London, UK, were studied and compared to speci-
mens of the new species, Neoleva magna sp. nov. from Tanzania.

Genital preparations.—For genital preparations, specimens were re-
laxed in water, the phallus extracted manually, macerated in 5%
KOH, then neutralized in 5% acetic acid.

Photographic procedure.—The macerated epiphallus was photo-
graphed with an Olympus Tough TG 6 Camera, and the im-
ages were processed using the stacking program supplied with
that camera.

Measurements.—The body length refers to the body length of the
insect from head to the tip of the abdomen. Additionally, the total
length according to Jago (1996), taken from the frons to the tips
of the folded posterior femora, is given.

Depositories.—BMNH: Natural History Museum London, UK.
CCH: Collection of Claudia Hemp.

Results

Neoleva magna sp. nov.
https://zoobank.org/F6206387-0AA6-4460-929F-40C31722D26C

Material examined.—Holotype: TANZANIA ¢ 3; Mwpapwa Dis-
trict, Changalawe Hill; 6°53'47"S, 36°02'46"E; miombo wood-
lands, ca 750 m; March 2015, C. Hemp leg.; BMNH. Paratypes:
TANZANIA ¢ 19; same data as holotype; BMNH e2<', 29, same
data as holotype; CCH ¢ 3, 19; Msaze village near Gulwe;
6°31'23"S, 36°22'12"E; 1000 m a.s.l.; March 2017 and March
2020; C. Hemp leg; CCH.

Description.—Male. General coloration: A speckled pattern of
gray, dark, and white patches with abdomen, inner sides of the
hind femora, and apical parts of the tibiae orange. Tegmina light
brown in costal area, darker brown above with some dark spots
around the media area (Fig. 2). Pronotum with well-developed

Copyright Claudia Hemp. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2023, 32(2)

128

Fig. 1. Types of Neoleva species. A. Male holotype of N. mega;
B. Types of N. bufoides, left male, right female; C. Types of N. rob-
ertsoni, left male, right female; D. Types of N. kevani, left male,
right female.

pair of white spots at anterior margin and angulate white lines on
meso- and metazona (Fig. 3D). Ventral parts of lateral pronotal
lobes white or creamy (Fig. 3A). Lunules of hind femora dark with
a postgenicular white band both on femur and tibia (Fig. 2A).
Remaining part of outer side of hind femora greyish or creamy
with three dark fasciae on dorsal ridge. These fasciae extend into
inner parts of the hind femora. Fore and mid legs speckled white
or greyish and black.

C. HEMP

Head and antennae. Antenna about 1.5 times longer than head
and pronotum, about 13 mm. Frontal ridge flat coarsely punctate
on upper part and with a medial ocellus at about the middle of
the ridge (Fig. 3C).

Pronotum and legs. Pronotum crossed by three deep sulci, the
posterior one separating the mesozona from the metazona con-
tinuing deep into the lateral pronotal lobes with an abrupt angle
about in the middle of the pronotal lobes and then running ante-
riorly almost to the anterior margin (Fig. 3A). A medial carina is
faint on pro- and mesozona but well-developed on the metazona.
The tegmina reach to about the middle of the abdomen and are
tectate with elevated veins along the whole length.

Abdomen. Supra-anal plate triangular, at tip appendiculate
(Jago 1996; compare his figs 109-112, p. 80 and Fig. 3 B). Cerci
are short and slightly laterally compressed (Fig. 3 B).

Internal genitalic morphology. Ancorae of epiphallus very
weakly sclerotized and comparatively small. Bridge narrow. Inner
and outer lophi typical for Neoleva (Fig. 4).

Female. Larger and stouter than the male (Fig. 2B), color pat-
tern duller but generally similar to male having a pair of white
dots at the anterior pronotal margin and angular white lines at
the posterior part of the pronotum (Fig. 5A). Some females are
uniformly brown while others also have orange hind femora. Ovi-
positor valves short; dorsal surfaces of upper valves concave, form-
ing an almost cup-like structure with dark sclerotized margins.
Ventral valves with slightly undulating margin, this margin also
dark sclerotized with more acute tips (Fig. 5B).

Measurements. (mm)

Males (N=4) females (N=6)
Head width 4.2-4.4 5.7-6.1
Interocular Distance 1.0-1.1 1.1-1.2
Posterior femur length 13.0-12.8 17.5-18.8
Posterior femur width 3.7-3.8 4.7-5.2
Tegminal length 7.1-7.6 10.1-10.9
Pronotum length 3.3-3.5 4.8-5.2
Pronotum width 4.7-4.9 6.7-7.8
Body length 17-7-185 26.2-26.5
Total length* 18.5-22.0 24.5-29.5

*Frons to tips of folded posterior femora.

Differential diagnosis. —Neoleva magna sp. nov. is the largest known
species in the genus, males having a total length of about 18.5
to 22 mm, following Jago (1996) who measured the total length
(frons to tips of folded posterior femora). All other known species
of Neoleva are smaller. The females are also larger than those of
the known other species, although means overlap (see Table 1).
Male N. magna sp. nov. resemble N. bufoides Jago, 1996 and N.
robertsoni Jago, 1996 in having a white or creamy ventral margin
of the pronotal lobes. In those species, however, the outer sides of
the hind femora are more or less uniformly orange to red but are
light grey or whitish in N. magna sp. nov. in which only the ven-
tral and inner sides of the hind femora are vivid orange. N. mega
Jago, 1996 and N. kevani Jago, 1996 appear to have much duller
coloration. However, living specimens of these taxa have not been
seen, and for N. mega, only the male holotype is known. N. magna
sp. nov. also has an appendiculate supra-anal plate as described
by Jago (1996) for N. kevani and N. mega. In contrast to the other
known species of Neoleva, N. magna sp. nov. has tectate folded teg-
mina, while in the other species, the wings are more evenly shaped
and more closely appressed to the abdomen. Internally, the male

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2023, 32(2)

Fig. 3. Neoleva magna sp. nov., morphological details of male. A. Lateral view on head and pronotum; B. Dorsal view on abdominal
apex with supra-anal plate; C. Face; D. Head and pronotum, dorsal view.

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2023, 32(2)

130

C. HEMP

epiphallus of N. magna differs from the other three species in its
relative size, the distance of the ancorae to each other and the ori-
entation and size of the lophi.

Song.—Unknown.

Etymology.—From latin: -magnus = big, because it is the largest spe-
cies of the genus so far.

Habitat.—Ground dweller on open patches within miombo wood-
lands and along forest margins with sparse vegetation.

Distribution.—Tanzania, Mpwapwa District.

Fig. 5. Female Neoleva magna sp. nov. A. Dorsal view of head, pronotum, and spread wings B. Lateral view on abdominal apex.

Table 1. Morphological characters distinguishing Neoleva species.

Species /characters Tegmina Total length male Total length females Color ventral lateral pronotal lobes Supra-anal plate
N. magna sp. nov. tectate >18.5 mm 24.5-29.5 mm white/creamy apical appendix
N. robertsoni lobes <18.5 mm 22.6-25.7 mm white/creamy tapered
N. bufoides lobes <18.5 mm 22.2-24 mm white/creamy strongly tapered
N. kevani lobes <18.5 mm Not known brown/black apical appendix
N. mega lobes <18.5 mm Not known brown/black apical appendix

Key to Neoleva males (adapted from Jago 1996)

1

WN NY =

Tegmina tectiform; male body length (head to tips of folded
hind femora) >18.5 mm; Central Tanzania, Mwpapwa_ Dis-

UEC Uires haa ier cena Me ce an Bie lods dc Miia Mac MiccMeeateanecs N. magna sp. nov.
Tegmina lobe-like; male body length smaller than 18.5 mm........... 2
Lateral pronotal lobes with creamy marginal area ventrad............... a
Lateral pronotal lobes light brown or black ventrad............ eee 4

Inner lophi widely spaced. Supra-anal plate weakly tapered, lack-
ing a transverse sulculus, with extensive melanic area and pair
of darker melanic spots in basal two-fifth. (Kenya, Meru Re-
VOU) atid Mesatnitgnestes tebe rang ack Tatas on ete nestget ee N. robertsoni Jago, 1996
Inner lophi comparatively closely spaced. Supra-anal plate
strongly tapered, with a clear transverse sulculus and with two
weak darkly pigmented areas distal to sulculus (Kenya, Lysamais
ADGA eee toler tence acateesteeet cere ah achereh aera N. bufoides Jago, 1996

4 Inner pair of lophi comparatively small, dorso-lateral angles of lo-
phi produced and lateral margins constricted to form a waist. Ab-
domen vivid orange red at maturity. Supra-anal plate with strong
marginal darker pigmentation and broad apical appendix. (S. Ke-
TE RR ee fe MOE Ro Pee Sa eh ey ay ey N. kevani Jago, 1996

4° Inner pair of lophi comparatively large, dorso-lateral angles not great-
ly produced and central section of lateral margins not constricted.
Abdomen dark brown to red and black. Supra-anal plate with small
apical appendix and rather uniform darker brown pigmentation
throughout lightening at margin (Ethiopia).......... N. mega Jago, 1996

Discussion
Neoleva species are geophilous according to habitat information

provided in Jago (1996) and on the labels. No information is avail-
able for the holotype Ethiopian male of N. mega. N. bufoides (Acacia

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2023, 32(2)

Lake

Tapeae yika

eve

Fig. 6. Distribution of Neoleva species. Source of map: Google maps.

shrub; sparse vegetation, Acacia thicket, banks of dry riverbed, see
Jago 1996), N. robertsoni (thicket and herbs), and N. kevani (desert
grass and thorn bush) are all species that were caught in savanna
woodlands on patches with sparse vegetation or in semi-desert ar-
eas. N. magna sp. nov. occupies a similar habitat in miombo wood-
lands where it was found at two localities: South of Dodoma at the
edge of Changalawe hill covered with sparse miombo forest and at
a similar hill near Gulwe not far from the district city Mpwapwa.
Hemp and Heller (2019) gave more information on the localities
near Gulwe and Changalawe Hill, also listing syntopic Orthoptera
for these areas. As already pointed out in Hemp and Heller (2019)
Miombo woodlands are vanishing rapidly, mostly due to recurrent
burning and transformation into agricultural fields. N. magna sp.
nov. is probably also under pressure since it seems to be bound to
thickets and forest edges of miombo woodlands.

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge grants from the Deutsche For-
schungsgemeinschaft. Part of this research received support

131

{

Lake Nydsa
Comoros *%

from the Synthesys Project http://www.synthesys.info/, which is
financed by the European Community Research Infrastructure
Action under the FP6 “Structuring the European Research Area
Programme,” enabling me to visit the Natural History Museum
London, UK in 2022. We also thank the Commission for Science
and Technology, Tanzania and the Tanzania Wildlife Research In-
stitute, Tanzania for granting research. Thanks to Josip Skejo and
Luc Willemse for improving the manuscript.

References

Hemp C, Heller K-G (2019) Orthoptera (Tettigoniidae and Acridoidea)
from Miombo woodlands of Central Tanzania with the description
of new taxa. Zootaxa 4671(2): 151-194. https://doi.org/10.11646/
zootaxa.4671.2.1

Jago ND (1996) Review of western and eastern African genera of the
Dnopherula complex (Orthoptera, Acridoidea, Gomphocerinae) with
description of new genera and species. Journal of Orthoptera Re-
search 5: 69-124. https://doi.org/10.2307/3503585

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2023, 32(2)