Proventriculus of Three Nemobiinae Crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Trigonidiidae)

Abstract

The morphology of the proventriculus may supply useful taxonomic characters for some species of crickets. This study evaluated if the proventriculus can be used to distinguish three species of Nemobiinae crickets: Phoremia sp. n., Zucchiella sp. n., and Amanayara sp n. In crickets the proventriculus presents six lobes, each one bearing eight appendices along its longitudinal axis. In Phoremia sp. n., the central portion of the first appendix has a tooth like a spear, with two denticles; the central portion of the second appendix presents one plate formed by five denticles, whereas in Zucchiella sp. n., the apex of the first appendix is U-shaped with denticles absent, and the second appendices differ from those of Phoremia sp. n. by the number of denticles. In Amanayara sp. n. the central portion of the first and second appendices form a long and sharpened tooth, the denticles are lacking. In the other proventricular appendices there was variation in the number of denticles and in their shape. These results indicate that the morphology of the proventriculus can provide auxiliary characters for taxonomy of Nemobiinae, especially useful for this subfamily, since for many species the external morphology is insufficient for characterization of genera and species.