Wednesday, February 22, 2017

[Entomology • 2016] A Hidden Pygmy Devil from the Philippines: Arulenus miae sp. nov. (Tetrigidae: Discotettiginae) — A New Species Serendipitously Discovered in An Amateur Facebook Post


Arulenus miae 
Skejo & Caballero, 2016  


Abstract


Arulenus miae Skejo & Caballero sp. nov. is described from Buknidon and Davao, Mindanao, the Philippines. The species was serendipitously found in an amateur photo posted in Orthoptera Facebook group by Leif Gabrielsen. Holotype and paratype are deposited in Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit in Leiden, the Netherlands. Detailed comparison with Arulenus validispinus Stål, 1877 is given. A new diagnosis of the genus and A. validispinus is given. The paper is part of the revision of the subfamily Discotettiginae. This study provides a good example of how social networks can be used as a modern tool of discovering biodiversity if the regulations of the International Code of the Zoological Nomenclature are followed. A brief insight into habitat and ecology of this rainforest and mountainous species is presented.

Keywords: Orthoptera, social networks, Tetrigoidea, Buknidon, Mindanao, Mia, rainforest, Arulenus validispinus



Order Orthoptera Olivier, 1789
Family Tetrigidae Rambur, 1838
Subfamily Discotettiginae Hancock, 1907

Type genus: Discotettix Costa, 1864

Arulenus miae Skejo & Caballero sp. nov.

Etymology. The specific epithet is genitive case of the first Latin declension (a declension) derived from the name Mia, after M. Jurić, JS’s good friend—a student of the fashion and textile design at the Faculty of textile technology (Zagreb, Croatia).  

FIGURE 1. Arulenus miae Skejo & Caballero sp. nov., the very first live female photo of the species taken by Leif Gabrielsen, and posted on Facebook 'Orthoptera' webpage.

Josip Skejo and Joy Honezza S. Caballero. 2016. A Hidden Pygmy Devil from the Philippines: Arulenus miae sp. nov. — A New Species Serendipitously Discovered in An Amateur Facebook Post  (Tetrigidae: Discotettiginae).
Zootaxa. 4067(3); 393–393. DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4067.3.7