The true colours of the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper (Notocerus formidabilis Günther, 1974) from the Sava region (Madagascar)

By

Mathieu, Éric
Pavlović, Marko
Skejo, Josip

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1042

Pages

41--50

Subjects

Anjanaharibe-Sud , Antohakalava , colouration , Holocerus , iNaturalist , Madagascar , Marojejy , Orange , Tetrigidae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1042.66381

 

Abstract

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.