Hyboella rampuriana sp. nov. (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Criotettiginae), a new species from Nepal

Subedi, Madan; Skejo, Josip

doi:10.48311/jibs.12.03.453

Hyboella rampuriana sp. nov. (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Criotettiginae), a new species from Nepal

Articles in Press

Document Type : Full-length Research Article

Authors

Madan Subedi ¹

Josip Skejo ²

¹ Agriculture and Forestry University, Directorate of Research and Extension, Agriculture Science Center, Ghyalchok, Gorkha, Nepal [1]; IUCN SSC Grasshopper Specialist Group, Trier Germany [2]

² Evolution Lab, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Horvatovac 102a,HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia

10.48311/jibs.12.03.453

Abstract

A new groundhopper species (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) belonging to the genus Hyboella Hancock, 1915 has been discovered in the plains of Chitwan, Nepal. The Rampur Swamphopper, H. rampuriana sp. nov., is described morphologically in detail, with photographs and illustrations. Like other species of Hyboella, this new species possesses a wide vertex with U-shaped carinae, an anteriorly humped pronotum with a rough texture, and anteriorly diverging prozonal carinae, but unlike most Hyboella species, the new species lacks lateral spines, has wings, and prozonal carinae elongated in comparison to congeners. One species is transferred from the genus Criotettix Bolívar, 1887 to Hyboella, and a new combination is proposed: H. handschini (Günther, 1937) comb. nov. Euparatettix balteatus (Walker, 1871) is found in the type locality of the new species and is recorded from Nepal for the first time.

Graphical Abstract

Hyboella rampuriana sp. nov. (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Criotettiginae), a new species from Nepal

Keywords

Chitwan

Coptotettix

Euparatettix balteatus

Inner Terai

pygmy grasshoppers

robustness ratio

Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2012) Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Version 13.0.1 x32). Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose. Available from: https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html [Accessed 16th February 2026]

Blackith, R.E. (1992) Tetrigidae (Insecta; Orthoptera) of Southeast Asia: Annotated catalogue with partial translated keys and bibliography. JAPAGA, Wicklow, i–liv, 1–248.

Bolívar, I. (1887) Essai sur les Acridiens de la tribu des Tettigidae. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 31, 175–313.

Bolívar, I. (1909) Nouvelles espèces d'Acridiens du Musée de Genève. Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural, 9, 393–403.

Cigliano, M.M., Braun, H., Eades, D.C. & Otte, D. (2026) Orthoptera Species File. Available from: http://Orthoptera.SpeciesFile.org [Accessed 19th February 2026] https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.33382242.65

de Haan, W. (1843) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Orthoptera. In: Temminck, C.J. (ed.) Verhandelingen over de Natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlansche Overzeesche Bezittingen. In commissie bij S. en J. Luchtmans, en C.C. van der Hoek, Leiden, Vol. 19/20, pp. 165–228.

Deng, W.A., Zheng, Z.M. & Wei, S.Z. (2007) Fauna of Tetrigoidea from Yunnan and Guangxi. Guangxi Science & Technology Press, Nanning. 458 pp.

Deng, W.A., Zheng, Z.M. & Wei, S.Z. (2009) The genus Hyboella Hancock (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Metrodorinae) in China. Zootaxa, 2064, 57–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2064.1.5

Devriese, H. (1991) Contribution à l’étude des Tetrigidae de Madagascar (Orthoptera). Bulletin et Annales de la Société Royale Belge d’Entomologie, 127 (5–6), 119–131.

Devriese, R., Hendrik, A., Nguyen, E. & Husemann, M. (2023) An identification key to the genera and species of Afrotropical Tetrigini (genera Paratettix, Leptacrydium, Hedotettix, Rectitettix nov. gen., and Alienitettix nov. gen.) with general remarks on the taxonomy of Tetrigini (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae). Zootaxa, 5285 (3), 524–554. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5285.3.4

Günther, K. (1935) Acrydiinen von den Key-Inseln (Orth. Acrididae). Eos, Revista española de Entomología, 11, 109–115.

Günther, K. (1937) Acrydiinae (Orthopt. Acrididae) von Java, den Kleinen Sunda-Inseln und Nordostaustralien. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 44, 121–142.

Günther, K. (1939) Revision der Acrydiinae (Orthoptera), III. Sectio Amorphopi (Metrodorae Bol. 1887, aut.). Abhandlungen und Berichte aus den Staatlichen Museen für Tierkunde und Völkerkunde in Dresden, 20, 16–335.

Gupta, S.K. & Chandra, K. (2017) A new species and a key to species of the genus Coptotettix Bolívar, 1887 from India (Orthoptera: Tetrigoidea: Tetrigidae). Zootaxa, 4299 (1), 146–150. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4299.1.12

Hancock, J.L. (1904) The Tettigidae of Ceylon. Spolia Zeylanica, 2, 97–157.

Hancock, J.L. (1907) Studies of the Tetriginae (Orthoptera) in the Oxford University Museum. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1907, 213–244. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1907.tb01760.x

Hancock, J.L. (1912) Tetriginae (Acridiinae) in the Agricutural Research Institute Pusa, Bihar, with description of new species. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India (Entomological Series), 4 (2), 131–160.

Hancock, J.L. (1913) Orthoptera, I: Tetrigidae (Acridiinae). Zoological Results of the Abor Expedition 1911–1912 xxi. Records of the Indian Museum, 8, 311–315. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v8/i3/1913/163156

Hancock, J.L. (1915) V. Indian Tetriginae (Acrydiinae). Records of the Indian Museum, 11, 55–137. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v11/i1/1915/163610

Ichikawa, A. (1994) A revision of the family Tetrigidae (Orthoptera) of the Ryukyu Islands, southern Japan, with descriptions of new species and subspecies. (Part 1). Japanese Journal of Entomology, 62, 457–474.

ICZN [International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]. (1999) International code of zoological nomenclature. Fourth Edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London.

Ingrisch, S. (2001) Tetrigidae from Nepal in the Zoologische Staatssammlung München. Spixiana, 24, 147–155.

Ingrisch, S. & Garai, A. (2001) Orthopteroid insects from Ganesh Himal, Nepal. Esperiana, 8, 755–770.

Jiang, G., Liang, G. & Fang, N. (2014) Two New Species of Tetrigidae (Orthoptera: Tetrigoidea: Tetrigidae) from Guangxi, China. Florida Entomologist, 97 (1), 68–72. https://doi.org/10.1653/024.097.0108

Kevan, D.K.M. (1966) Some Orthoptera-Caelifera from the Philippine, Bismarck and Solomon Islands, with a few interesting records from New Guinea and the Moluccas. Entomologiske Meddelelser, 34, 375–420.

Li, M., Han, Y. & Mao, B.Y. (2019) A new species of Hyboella Hancock (Orthoptera: Tetrigoidea: Metrodoridae) from China with a key to Chinese species. Entomotaxonomia, 41, 181–187.

Liang, G.Q. (2002) Orthoptera: Tetrigoidea. In: Forest insects of Hainan. National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing, pp. 92–99.

Liang, G.Q. & Zheng, Z.M. (1998) Orthoptera Tetrigoidea. Fauna Sinica, Insecta, 12, i–x, 1–278.

Muhammad, A.A., Tan, M.K., Azizan, I.A. & Abdullah, N.A. (2018) A new species of Thoradonta (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Scelimeninae) from Peninsular Malaysia and a key to Thoradonta species from South East Asia. Zootaxa, 4483 (2), 373–381. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4483.2.9

Neo, I., Loh, R., Cho, T., Puniamoorthy, N., Yeo, D. & Tan, M.K. (2025) First DNA barcodes and morphometric analysis of Singaporean Tetrigidae (Orthoptera, Caelifera) support color variations as intraspecific polymorphism through integrative taxonomy. ZooKeys, 1257, 305–326. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1257.163020

Oli, B.B., Jha, D.K., Aryal, P.C., Shrestha, M.K., Dangol, D.R. & Gautam, B. (2013) Seasonal variation in water quality and fish diversity of Rampur Ghol, a wetland in Chitwan, Central Nepal. Nepalese Journal of Biosciences, 3 (1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.3126/njbs.v3i1.41420

Perez-Gelabert, D.E. (2009) Synonymy in Caribbean Tetrigidae (Orthoptera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 111 (4), 900–901. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797-111.4.900

Rehn, J.A. & Grant Jr, H.J. (1955) The North American Tetrigid Genus Nomotettix (Orthoptera; Acridoidea; Tetrigidae). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 107, 1–34.

Rueden, C.T., Schindelin, J., Hiner, M.C., DeZonig, B.E., Walter, A.E., Arena, E.T. & Eliceiri, K.W. (2017) ImageJ2: ImageJ for the next generation of scientific image data. BMC Bioinformatics, 18 (1), 529. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-017-1934-z

Schneider, A. (2003–2025) GPS Visualizer. Available from: https://www.gpsvisualizer.com [Accessed 21st February 2026]

SEN. (2010) A Research Report on Baseline Study of Rampur Ghol, Chitwan, Nepal. The Small Earth Nepal. Nepal National Committee for IHP, UNESCO.

Shishodia, M.S. (1991) Taxonomy and zoogeography of the Tetrigidae (Orthoptera: Tetrigoidea) of northeastern India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Miscellaneous Publication, Occasional Paper, 140, 1–204.

Shishodia, M.S. & Hazra, A.K. (1984) Insecta: Orthoptera. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 81, 15–32. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v82/i1-4/1984/161279

Shishodia, M.S. & Varshney, R.K. (1987) Two unusual cases of homonymy in Orthoptera with new names for species from India. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 84, 167–169.

Stål, C. (1861) Orthoptera species novas descripsit. In: Kongliga Svenska Fregatten Eugenies Resa, Omkring Jorden under befal af C.A. Virgin, åren 1851–1853, Vetenskapliga Iakttagelser, 2, Zoologi, 1. Insecta. Utgifna af K. Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien, 3 [1858–1868], 299–350.

Storozhenko, S.Y. (2022) The genus Hyboella Hancock, 1915 (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Metrodorinae) in Indonesia. Zootaxa, 5195 (2), 179–186. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5195.2.4

Subedi, M. (2022) A new genus and a new groundhopper species from Nepal (Orthoptera: Tetriginae: Skejotettix netrajyoti gen. et sp. nov.). Zootaxa, 5250 (1), 35–54. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5205.1.3

Subedi, M. (2023a) A new species of the genus Skejotettix (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) from Nepal. Journal of Orthoptera Research, 32 (1), 81–92. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.32.97276

Subedi, M. (2023b) Groundhoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) of the wetlands of Ramaroshan, Achham (Nepal) with description of a new species. Journal of Insect Biodiversity, 42 (1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.12976/jib/2023.42.1.1

Subedi, M. & Kasalo, N. (2023) Aryalidonta itishreea, a new genus and species of Thoradontini (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) from Nepal honors the Emperor of Laughter. Journal of Orthoptera Research, 32 (1), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.32.97276

Subedi, M., Kasalo, N. & Skejo, J. (2024) Tetrigidae (Orthoptera) of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park in Nepal. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (N.S.), 60 (1), 53–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2024.2309170

Subedi, M., Kasalo, N. & Skejo, J. (2025) Definition of the pygmy grasshopper subfamily Criotettiginae (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) with a preliminary catalogue of genera. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 318, 133–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2025.08.003

Tan, M.K. & Artchawakom, T. (2015) A new species from the genus Gorochovitettix (Tetrigidae: Metrodorinae) from Thailand. Zootaxa, 3990, 444–450. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3990.3.9

Tumbrinck, J. (2014) Taxonomic revision of the Cladonotinae (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) from the islands of South-East Asia and from Australia, with general remarks to the classification and morphology of the Tetrigidae and descriptions of new genera and species from New Guinea and New Caledonia. In: Telnov, D. (ed.) Biodiversity, biogeography and nature conservation in Wallacea and New Guinea, Vol. II. The Entomological Society of Latvia, Riga, pp. 345–396.

Tumbrinck, J. (2015) Weitere Dornschrecken (Insecta: Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) aus Nepal in der Sammlung des Naturkundemuseums Erfurt. In: Hartmann, M. & Weipert, J. (eds) Biodiversität und Naturausstattung im Himalaya V. Naturkundemuseum, Erfurt, 275–286.

Tumbrinck, J. (2018) A new species of Thoradonta from New Guinea with some remarks on other Tetrigidae (Orthoptera) taxa from Indo-Australia. Suara Serangga Papua (SUGAPA digital), 11 (1), 27–46.

Walker, F. (1871) Catalogue of the Specimens of Dermaptera Saltatoria in the Collection of the British Museum, Vol. 5. British Museum, London. 116 pp.

Zha, L.S., Sheng, M.Y., Wen, T.C. & Hyde, K.D. (2016) A new species and a revised key of the genus Thoradonta (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae). ZooKeys, 607, 69–79. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.607.9056

Zha, L., Kang, J. & Hyde, K.D. (2017) The genus Hyboella Hancock in Thailand (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Metrodorinae). Chiang Mai Journal of Science, 44, 125–131.

Zheng, Z.M. (1995) New genera and new species of Cladonotinae from China (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 20 (3), 342–347.

Zheng, Z.M. (2005) A taxonomic study of Hyboella Hancock from China (Tetrigoidea, Metrodoridae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 30 (3), 555–559.

Zheng, Z.M. (2014) Six new species of Tetrigoidea from China and male of Coptotettix minhouensis Zheng et Li discovered. Journal of Shangqiu Normal University, 30, 1–9.

Zheng, Z.M. & Deng, W.A. (2006) On new species of Hyboella Hancock from Guangxi (Tetrigoidea: Metrodoridae). Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Natural Science Edition), 34, 77–78.

Zheng, Z.M. & Jiang, G. (1994) A survey of Tetrigoidea from the Huanjiang region in the north of Guangxi (Orthoptera). Journal of the Guangxi Academy of Sciences, 10, 86–92.

Zheng, Z.M. & Jiang, G. (2002) One new genus and seven new species of Tetrigoidea from southern region of Guangxi. Zoological Research, 23, 409–416.

Zheng, Z.M., Li, K. & Shi, F. (2002) Revision of the genus Hyboella Hancock from China (Tetrigoidea: Metrodoridae). Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Natural Science Edition), 30, 12–17.

Zheng, Z.M., Lin, L.L. & Zhang, H.L. (2012) A taxonomic study of the genus Coptotettix Bolívar, 1887 (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae: Tetriginae) from China with description of a new species. Journal of Natural History, 46 (41–42), 2549–2561. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2012.708448