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

Éric Mathieu,Marko Pavlović,Josip Skejo

doi: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.

Highlights

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., Glaw et al 2021; Moravec et al 2021)
We present the first recent data on the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper (Notocerus formidabilis Günther, 1974), a rare species that has not been observed since its description almost 50 years ago
We present records of five more specimens, two from the Paris Natural History Museum collection and three based on photographs of live specimens recently uploaded to the iNaturalist platform by the first author of this paper and identified by the middle and last authors

Summary

Introduction

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., Glaw et al 2021; Moravec et al 2021). More than 95% of all pygmy grasshopper species known from Madagascar are endemic (Devriese 1991, 1995; Cigliano et al 2021). We present the first recent data on the Formidable Pygmy Grasshopper (Notocerus formidabilis Günther, 1974), a rare species that has not been observed since its description almost 50 years ago.

Results

Conclusion