Short Communication |
Corresponding author: Josip Skejo ( skejo.josip@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Tony Robillard
© 2021 Éric Mathieu, Marko Pavlović, Josip Skejo.
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.
Citation:
Mathieu É, Pavlović M, Skejo J (2021) The true colours of the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper (Notocerus formidabilis Günther, 1974) from the Sava region (Madagascar). ZooKeys 1042: 41-50. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1042.66381
|
The Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper, Notocerus formidabilis Günther, 1974 (Tetrigidae: ‘Malagasy Metrodorinae’), is certainly a stunning, extraordinary insect. Despite the fact that the species was described almost 50 years ago, its beauty had remained completely hidden until recently. The bright yellow colouration of the minute warts on its dorsal hump and even brighter purple-yellowish colouration of its abdomen have been, tragically, completely lost in museum specimens. Luckily, photographs of three live females taken in 2007, 2009 and 2015 were recently uploaded to the iNaturalist platform by the first author of this paper, where they were identified as N. formidabilis by the middle and last authors. Along with a male and a female discovered in the MNHN collections (Paris) and the holotype female, these are the only records of the species. All six records are presented and depicted in the present study, and the variation of the species is discussed for the first time. This rare species seems to be endemic to NE Madagascar, a region of truly wonderful diversity.
Anjanaharibe-Sud, Antohakalava, colouration, Holocerus, iNaturalist, Madagascar, Marojejy, orange, Tetrigidae
Most of the biota of Madagascar are endemic to the island, and new and interesting species are being discovered all the time, especially from the northern and north-eastern parts of the island (e.g.,
All known specimens of Notocerus formidabilis were examined by the authors (museum specimens by J. Skejo, live specimens by É. Mathieu in the field and J. Skejo from the photographs). All information relating to these specimens is summarised in Table
All known records of Notocerus formidabilis, listed chronologically from the oldest to the newest. For records from the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (
Sex and number | Locality and coordinates | Date (time) | Collector or observer | Reference or link |
---|---|---|---|---|
1♀, holotype ( |
Sambava district, Marojejy, Beondroka Mt., 1200 m a.s.l. (14.14S, 49.80E) | VI.1960 | Pierre Soga |
|
1♀, 1♂ ( |
Belanono (= Belalona; 14.48S, 49.92E), between Sambava and Andapa | Probably between 1958 and 1970 | André Peyriéras and Jean Vadon | This study (Fig. |
1♀ | Sambava district, 800–1000 m a.s.l. (14.46S, 49.72E) | 19.VIII.2007 (11:04 a.m.) | Éric Mathieu | This study inaturalist.org/observations/70243152 (Fig. |
1♀ | Sambava district, Antohakalava, 800–1000 m a.s.l. (14.77S, 49.73E) | 02.IV.2009 (9:12 a.m.) | Éric Mathieu | This study inaturalist.org/observations/70139087 (Fig. |
1♀ | Sambava district, Anjanaharibe-Sud special reserve, 800–1000 m a.s.l. (14.73S, 49.56E) | 06.V.2015 (4:32 p.m.) | Éric Mathieu | This study inaturalist.org/observations/69859528 (Fig. |
1960 unidentified specimen collected by Soga (deposited in
1958–1970 two unidentified specimens collected by Peyriéras and Vadon (deposited in
1974 Soga’s specimen described by Günther as a new species, Notocerus formidabilis;
2007 unidentified pygmy grasshopper photographed by Mathieu;
2009 second unidentified pygmy grasshopper photographed by Mathieu;
2015 third unidentified pygmy grasshopper photographed by Mathieu;
2016 Peyriéras and Vadon specimens identified as N. formidabilis by Skejo;
2021 specimen photographs uploaded to iNaturalist by Mathieu;
2021 Mathieu’s specimens identified as N. formidabilis by Skejo and Pavlović.
Informal group ‘Malagasy Metrodorinae’
Notocerus cornutus Hancock, 1900, by monotypy.
This genus includes two species, N. cornutus Hancock, 1900 and N. formidabilis, both endemic to NE Madagascar.
Sambava district: Marojejy NP: Beondroka Mt., 1200 m a.s.l.
Without iNaturalist, the collaboration between the authors of this paper would not have been possible, and the photographs may never have been identified to species level. The photos of live specimens of the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper shown in Figs
Holotype of the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper, Notocerus formidabilis Günther A, B in dorsal view C, D in lateral view. Female from NE Madagascar, Sambava-Distrikt, R.N. XII, Marojejy, Beondroka, 1200 m a.s.l., VI.1960, leg. P. Soga A, C Josip Skejo and Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris) B, D redrawn after
The variation of the specimens reported to date is notable in the shape of the dorsal hump as well as in the shape of the minute warts on the dorsal hump. For example, the holotype female (Fig.
Museum specimens of Notocerus formidabilis A–C male (A in frontal view B in lateral view, and C in dorsal view) D labels (same on both specimens) E–G female (E in frontal view F in dorsal view, and G in lateral view). Photos by Josip Skejo, Karmela Adžić, Maks Deranja and Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris).
Museum specimens of the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper are almost uniformly brown (Figs
The Sava region, with Marojejy National Park, Anjanaharibe-Sud special reserve and Antohakalava private reserve as the most known reserves, is famous for many animal and plant endemics. For example, the Silky Sifaka (Propithecus candidus Grandidier; Mammalia: Primates) (
There are currently 66 iNaturalist records of Tetrigidae from Madagascar, among which 46 (i.e., 70%) are research-grade, altogether representing 16 taxa identified to genus or species level. This number represents around 20% of the known pygmy grasshopper fauna of the island (
Thanks to Karmela Adžić and Maks Deranja for help with photographing museum specimens and for the discussion. Thanks to Laure Desutter and Simon Poulain for hospitality at