Taxonomic revision of the Stenopelmatus talpa species group (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae: Stenopelmatini)

Abstract

We carried out a taxonomic revision of the Stenopelmatus talpa species group (Stenopelmatidae: Stenopelmatini), a poorly studied group of orthopterans whose species are distributed along the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and adjacent areas of the Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre del Sur in Central Mexico. We examined both features from both the external morphological and male internal genitalia, and also carried out a molecular species delimitation based on DNA barcoding. An integrative approach based on congruence of morphological and molecular evidence helped to delimit 9 species for the S. talpa species group, 7 of which are new to science whereas the remaining 2 are already described, S. talpa and S. typhlops. We described 4 out of the above 7 new species: Stenopelmatus chilango sp. nov., S. purepecha sp. nov., S. sierragordaensis sp. nov. and S. tlaxcalli sp. nov. A key to the described species of the S. talpa species group is provided. Our study highlights the relevance of the male internal genitalia as a valuable character system to delimit species in Stenopelmatus.