Amblycorypha insolita Rehn, J. A. G. & Hebard 1914

Amblycorypha insolita is a large katydid native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico.

As far as known this most interesting species occurs only in the Sonoran desert areas of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, extending from western Texas (Chisos Mountains, Sierra Blanca and Quitman Mountains) west to Southem Arizona (exact locality unknown), south to at least the state of Coahuila and the northern part of the state of Zacatecas (Comacho), Mexico and northward to southern New Mexico (Dry Canyon). It is practically certain that the material recorded by Snow from Oak Creek Canyon, central Arizona, belongs to this form, but all efforts to locate the specimens have failed.

Amblycorypha insolita new species (PL XI, fig. 40; pl. XII, figs. 44 and 54.)

1905. Amblycorypha huasteca Rehn (not of Saussure, 1859), Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., xix, p. 226. [Southern Arizona.]

1907. (?) Amblycorypha huasteca Snow (not of Saussure, 1859), Ibid., XX, pt. 2, p. 163. [Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona.]

1909. Amblycorypha huasteca Rehn and Hebard (not of Saussure, 1839), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1909, p. 168. [Dry Canyon, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico.]

This striking form is a development of the huasteca type, carrying some of the features of that species to a greater extreme and at the same time differing in other purely diagnostic characters. The pronotum has the lateral margins of the disk as broadly rounded cephalad as in huasteca, but caudad they are more decided than in that species, the tegmina and wings are much more elongate, appreciably surpassing the tips of the caudal femora, although of the same general form. The lateral lobes of the pronotum have the angles more rounded and the humeral sinus much more decidedly indicated. The stridulating vein of the male tegmina is rather short and very broad and heavy, while the distal margin of the subgenital plate of the same sex is V-emarginate instead of truncate as in huasteca. The ovipositor is of the same general form as in huasteca, but is relatively deeper with the teeth larger and much more distinct.

Type. — ♂; Quitman Mountains, El Paso County, Texas. Elevation, 5200 feet. September 14, 1912. (Hebard.) [Hebard Collection.]

Description of Type. Size large; form elongate, moderately compressed; surface of head and pronotum moderately polished. Head with greatest width ventrad of eyes contained one and one-half times in depth of head; occiput rounded, steeply declivent to the nearly vertical fastigium, latter somewhat constricted at the paired ocelli, interfastigial suture sinuate, greatest width of fastigium subequal to that of eye; antennae reaching to tips of wings; eyes moderately prominent, elliptical in outline, faintly pointed dorsad and ventrad. Pronotum deplanate, disk decidedly expanding caudad and with its greatest width contained about one and one-third times in length; lateral margins of disk broadly rounding into lateral lobes cephalad, distinctly angulate caudad; cephalic margin of disk shallowly arcuato-emarginate, caudal margin of disk strongly arcuate, transverse sulcus forming a faint obomegoid figure on the middle of the disk; lateral lobes of pronotum with depth slightly greater than greatest width, cephalic margin faintly urcuato-emarginatc, vontro-ccphalic angle rounded obtuse-angulate, ventral margin short, nearly straight, oblique, broadly rounding into the arcuate caudal margin, which passes rather regularly to the strongly indicated rectangulate humeral sinus. Tegmina surpassing tips of caudal femora by length of pronotum, elongate, lanceolate, greatest width (at proximal third) contained slightly more than four times in length; costal margin arcuate proximad, straight distad, sutural margin distad of stridulating field straight, obliquely converging to the roundly oblique-truncate apex; marginal field broad mesad, humeral trunk sinuate, much thickened and flattened proximad, median vein with its two distal rami reaching oblique portion of apical margin; stridulating field almost twice length of pronotal disk, greatest width about three-fourths of length of pronotal disk, general form similar to that of huasteca but more elongate, stridulating vein short, very thick, depressed. Wings surpassing apices of tegmina by about length of pronotal disk. Mesosternal lobes less elongate than in huasteca, distal section obliquely truncate mesad; metasternal lobes with proximo-lateral angle more decided and distal margin more arcuate than in huasteca. Cerci more elongate and regularly tapering than in huasteca, distal section less abruptly denticulate at apex; subgenital plate V-emarginate distad with lateral, articulate, brief and tapering styles. Cephalic femora with at most but three spines on ventro-cephalic margin. Median femora unarmed ventrad. Caudal femora similar in form to those of huasteca but with at most but three minute teeth on ventro-internal margin.

Allotype.— ♀ ; Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico. September 20. (E. Palmer.) [Hebard Collection.]

Description of Allotype.— When compared with female individuals of huasteca that sex of the present species differs in the characters given as diagnostic for the species and in those features possessed by both sexes which are detailed in the description of the male. The ovipositor is slightly more than two-fifths of the tegminal length, quite deep, arcuate, more strongly so distad; teeth on distal half of dorsal margin and distal fourth of ventral margin, decided, well spaced. Subgenital plate trigonal.

Color Notes. — General color courge green to biscay green, occasionally paling to light chalcedony yellow on the abdomen (type) and always becoming lettuce green to light bice green on the head and pronotum, the exposed portion of the wings and distal extremity of the tegmina rarely (one specimen) washed with old gold. Eyes of the general color, lineate with yellowish to hazel. Pronotum with lateral margins of disk more or less completely lineate, distad with raw sienna, faintly bordered laterad, dorsad of humeral sinus, by clove brown, cephalad with ochraceous buff. Tegmina with stridulating field chamois to cartridge-buff, with an oblique irregular maculation extending from base of field to distal section of free margin and a weak edging of same margin proximad love brown, stridulating vein occasionally raw sienna; discoidal field of tegmina with numerous small to medium-sized scattered ocelliform false fungous areas of clove brownish, sutural margin of same rarely weakly washed with same color. Tibiae more or less pinkish on dorsal surfaces, as strong as pompeian red on cephalic and median tibiae and flesh pink on caudal tibiae.

These notes have been made from only the individuals which show the best preserved coloration and have not been immersed in liquid preservative. Certain specimens of the latter character are of an entirely buffy color.

Length of body
♂ Quitman Mountains, Texas, Type: 27
♂ Dry Canyon, New Mexico, Paratype: 24.5
♂ Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, Paratype: 19
♀ Southern Arizona: 20.2
♀ Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, Allotype: 24

Length of pronotum
♂ Quitman Mountains, Texas, Type: 6.4
♂ Dry Canyon, New Mexico, Paratype: 8
♂ Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, Paratype: 6.1
♀ Southern Arizona: 7.2
♀ Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, Allotype: 7.6

Greatest dorsal width (caudad) of pronotal disk
♂ Quitman Mountains, Texas, Type: 5.1
♂ Dry Canyon, New Mexico, Paratype: 5.2
♂ Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, Paratype: 4.6
♀ Southern Arizona: 5.2
♀ Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, Allotype: 5.6

Length of tegmen
♂ Quitman Mountains, Texas, Type: 42.3
♂ Dry Canyon, New Mexico, Paratype: 42.7
♂ Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, Paratype: 37.7
♀ Southern Arizona: 39
♀ Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, Allotype: 41.6

Greatest width of tegmen
♂ Quitman Mountains, Texas, Type: 10.3
♂ Dry Canyon, New Mexico, Paratype: 10.4
♂ Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, Paratype: 8.8
♀ Southern Arizona: 10.3
♀ Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, Allotype: 11.4

Length of caudal femur
♂ Quitman Mountains, Texas, Type: 29.8
♂ Dry Canyon, New Mexico, Paratype: 31.7
♂ Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, Paratype: 27.7
♀ Southern Arizona: 30.5
♀ Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, Allotype: 31.5

Length of ovipositor
♀ Southern Arizona: 16.5
♀ Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, Allotype: 16.3

In addition to the type and allotype we have examined a paratypic male taken in Dry Canyon, Sacramento Mountains, Otero County, New Mexico, 5200 feet elevation, VII, 13, 1907 (R. & H.), another paratype of the same sex from Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, taken by Bruner, XI, 1887, in the Hebard Collection, a paratypic male and female bearing the same data as the allotype, in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology- and one paratypic male from the Chisos Mountains, Texas, VI, 10 to 12, 1908, in the United States National Museum. A female from the collection of the University of Kansas bearing the locality "Southern Arizona," another of the same sex labelled "Chihuahua, Mexico," in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology and an immature female taken at Sierra Blanca, El Paso County, Texas, 4524 feet elevation, IX, 13 to 14, 1912 (R. & H.), have also been examined. Several of these specimens have been immersed in alcohol and their coloration either entirely or in large part destroyed in consequence. The female nymph is in the instar preceding maturity and the characters of the species are fairly well indicated. The Comacho and Chisos Mountains males are appreciably smaller than the type, while the Montelovez male is similar to the latter size. The females show considerable individual variation in bulk, the southern Arizona representative being appreciably smaller than the others of that sex, which among themselves show less decided variation.

On the Quitman Mountains the species was taken in grasses near small oaks and junipers, the Sierra Blanca nymph was beaten from black brush (Flourensia cernua) and in Dry Canyon the insect was beaten from a small green tree growing in the pinon and juniper zone.

Specimens Examined: 10; 5 ♂, 4 ♀,1 ♀ n.
Chisos Mountains, Brewster County, Texas, VI, 10 to 12, 1908, (Mitchell and Cushman), 1 ♂, [U. S. N. M.], Paratype.
Sierra Blanca, El Paso County, Texas, 4524 feet elevation, IX, 13 to 14, 1912, (R. & H.), 1 ♀ n.
Quitman Mountains, EI Paso County, Texas, 5200 feet elevation, IX, 14. 1912, (H.), 1 ♂, Type.
Dry Canyon, Sacramento Mountains, Otero County, New Mexico, 5200 feet elevation, VII, 13, 1907, (R. & H.), 1 ♂, Paratype.
Southern Arizona, VIII, 1902, (F. H. Snow), 1 ♀, [Univ. of Kansas].
Montelovez, Coahuila, Mexico, IX, 20, (E. Palmer), 1 ♂, 2 ♀, [M. C. Z.]. Allotype and paratypes.
Chihuahua, Mexico, 1 ♀, [M. C. Z.].
Comacho, Zacatecas, Mexico, XI, 1887, (Bruner), 1 ♂, [Hebard Cln.], Paratype.

Amblycorypha insolita, known generally as the Big Bend oblong-winged katydid or Big Bend false katydid, is a species of phaneropterine katydid in the family Tettigoniidae. It is found in North America.