Orthoptera from Iraq and Iran

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ZOOLOGICAL SERIES "*****!*

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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Volume XX CHICAGO, AUGUST 30, 1938 No. 33

ORTHOPTERA FROM IRAQ AND IRAN

BY B. P. UvAROV1

The fragmentary state of our knowledge on the distribution of
Orthoptera in southwestern Asia makes every collection from that
area of great scientific value. The collections made by Dr. Henry
Field and his collaborators in Iraq and Iran during the Field Museum
Anthropological Expedition to the Near East in 1934 and by his
collector, Yusuf Lazar, who has sent specimens from Iraq during
1935 and 1936, are of particular interest, since some of the material
was collected from localities from which no records of Orthoptera
existed. The spelling of place-names conforms, wherever possible,
to the form adopted by the Permanent Committee on Geographical
Names appointed by the Royal Geographical Society, London.

Among the significant results of the expedition, particularly
important was the rediscovery of Eremocharis syriaca I. Bolivar,
an acridid which was very insufficiently described and whose affinities
remained obscure. The specimen brought back by the expedition
enabled me to identify this species and to prove that Eremocharis
syriaca is really a member of the genus Utubius Uvarov belonging to
the isolated and ancient Irano-Turanian group Thrinchini.

Another valuable discovery was that of a female of a mantid,
Iris nana Uvarov, which species was known from the male sex alone.

It will be seen that the collection, although not very large, proved
to be of definite, scientific value, and I am greatly obliged to Mr.
Clifford C. Gregg, Director of Field Museum, for permitting me to
work it out for publication, as well as for the generosity of the
Trustees of Field Museum in presenting to the British Museum
(Natural History) some of the more interesting specimens.

BLATTIDAE
Polyphaga pellucida (Redtenbacher).

Iran: Takht-i-Jamshid (Persepolis), one male, August 26, 1934;
H. Field.

Widely distributed in Iran, Transcaspia, and Turkestan.

Department of Entomology, British Museum (Natural History).
No. 423 439

Natural Ubrary

440 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

Polyphaga aegyptiaca (Linnaeus).

Iraq: An Nasiriya, one male, March 17, 1934; Yusuf Lazar.
Hinaidi, near Baghdad, numerous males, June-August, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar.

The collection contains also a number of females and larvae of
Polyphaga, which can not be determined with certainty.

Heterogamodes maris-mortui (Janson).

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, two males, August 28 and Septem-
ber 22, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus).

Iraq: Baghdad, one male, H. Field; three males, May-June, 1935,
Yusuf Lazar.

Shelf ordella tartara (Saussure).

Iran: Tehran, two males, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Three larvae from Rutba, Iraq, May 10, 1934, may also belong
to this species, which is known to occur in a wide area of deserts
from Turkestan to southern Iran and Egypt.

Blatella sp.

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, July 17, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar.

MANTIDAE
Iris nana Uvarov.

Iran: Takht-i-Jamshid (Persepolis), one female, August 26, 1934;
H. Field.

This species was known only from the male sex, and the descrip-
tion of the female follows:

Female. — Larger than the male, but smaller than the female of
I. deserti Uvarov. Head with eyes about twice the maximum width
of pronotum. Pronotal margins very closely and minutely denticu-
late. Elytra reaching the apex of posterior femora, very broadly
rounded apically, non-hyalinous. Wings broad.

General coloration light yellowish green. Wings sulphur yellow;
anterior area of the same color; spots large, bronze black; anal area
without fenestrate pattern.

Total length 29; pronotum 10; elytra 14; wings 11 mm.

441

442 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

Unfortunately the specimen is not sufficiently well preserved to
be photographed. It has been very kindly presented to the British
Museum (Natural History).

Mantis religiosa (Linnaeus).

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, three males, four females, July-
November, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Hierodula tenuidentata Saussure.

Iran: Shah 'Abdul 'Azim (Rayy), one female, August 14, 1934;
H. Field.

The spines of front femora are only brown behind, while they
are quite black in the closely allied H. transcaucasica Brunner,
which probably should be regarded as a subspecies of tenuidentata.

(?)Rivetina syriaca (Saussure).

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, August 5, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar. Baghdad, two males, August 26-27, 1936; Yusuf Lazar.

I can not be certain in my determination, since the genus has
never been the subject of a critical revision.

Rivetina sp.

Iran: Tehran, two larvae, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Empusa fasciata Brulle".

Iraq: Zakho, north of Mosul, one male, June 18, 1934; H. Field.

Empusa uvarovi Chopard.

Iraq: Baghdad, one male, July 30, 1935; Yusuf Lazar. Hinaidi,
near Baghdad, one female, August 27, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

GRYLLIDAE
Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Linnaeus).

Iraq: Baghdad, June 1-16, 1934, H. Field and R. A. Martin;
adults, April- July, 1935; larvae, January 25-June 16, 1935, Yusuf
Lazar. Dohuk to Aqra, June, 1934; H. Field and R. A. Martin.

Gryllus bimaculatus De Geer.

Iraq: one male, two females, June 3-28, 1935; larva, March 12,
1936; Yusuf Lazar. Hinaidi, near Baghdad, three males, September
22-October 5, 1935; one larva, November 5, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

1938 ORTHOPTERA— UVAROV 443

Gryllus amarensis (Chopard).

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, August 20, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar.

Gryllulus domesticus (Linnaeus).

Iraq: Baghdad, one female, November 18, 1934; Yusuf Lazar.

Gryllulus desertus (Pallas).

Iraq: Baghdad, one female, April 1, 1935; one male, June 7,
1935; Yusuf Lazar. Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, one female,
August 6-September 18, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Gryllulus burdigalensis (Latreille).

Iran: Shah 'Abdul 'Azim (Rayy), one female, July 14, 1934;
H. Field.

Gryllulus tartarus tartarus (Saussure).

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, July 17, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar.

This is the pale desert subspecies known to occur in central Asia,
Iran, Arabia, and lower Mesopotamia. In the hilly parts of western
Asia it is replaced by the dark subspecies obscurior (Uvarov),
which occurs already in the Al Gazira of the Mosul district of Iraq
(see Uvarov, Eos, 10, p. 41, 1934).

TETTIGONIIDAE
Paradrymadusa siazovi Uvarov.

Iran: Tehran, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.1

Pholidoptera zebra (Uvarov).

Iraq: Ba'adri, east of Mosul, one female, June 13, 1934; H. Field.

Medecticus assimilis (Fieber).

Iraq: Karya Sheikh Khanis, near Tall 'Afar, west of Mosul, one
female, June 2, 1934; H. Field.

Metrioptera affinis (Fieber).

Iraq: Jebel Golat, west of Mosul, two males, one female, seven
larvae, May 27, 1934; H. Field. Karya Sheikh Khanis, near Tall
'Afar, west of Mosul, one female, June 2, 1934; H. Field.

Metrioptera intermedia (Serville).

Iraq: Jebel Golat, west of Mosul, two males, one female, May 27,
1934; H. Field.

444 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

Tettigonia viridissima Linnaeus.

Iraq: Jebel Golat, west of Mosul, one male, one female, May 27,
1934; H. Field.

Tettigonia caudata (Charpentier).

Iran: Tehran, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Conocephalus fuscus turanicus (Semenov).

Iraq: Ba'adri, east of Mosul, one female, June 13, 1934; H. Field.

Conocephalus buxtoni Chopard.

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, September 2, 1935;
Yusuf Lazar.

Acrometopa syriaca Brunner.

Iraq: Zakho, north of Mosul, one male, June 18, 1934; H. Field.

ACRIDIDAE
Acridella robusta (Uvarov).

Iraq: Tell as Shor, between Tall 'Afar and Jebel Sinjar, west of
Mosul, two females, May 30, 1934; H. Field. Karya Sheikh Khanis,
near Tall 'Afar, one female, June 2, 1934; H. Field. Zakho, north
of Mosul, one female, June 8, 1934; H. Field. Hinaidi, near Baghdad,
nine males, four females, June 8-September 17, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.
Baghdad, one female, September 3, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Four larvae from Baghdad and one from Hinaidi may also belong
to this species.

Platypterna obtusa Salfi.

Iran: Tehran, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Known from the Aras (Araxes) Valley, Armenian S.S.R., and
from 'Iraq-i-'Ajam and Kushanin, Iran.

Platypterna acuta I. Bolivar.

Iraq: Baghdad, two males, 16 females, some larvae, March 8,
April 16 and 18, 1934; June 8, September 3, 1935; March 8-22,
1936; Yusuf Lazar.

Known to occur in Palestine, Iraq (Babylon, Baghdad, and
Basra), and southwestern Iran.

Platypterna uvarovi Salfi.

Iraq: Zakho, north of Mosul, one female, June 18, 1934; H. Field.

1938 ORTHOPTERA— UVAROV 445

Occurring from Ordubad in Armenian S.S.R., down to Mandali,
in Iraq.

Duroniella lucasi (I. Bolivar).

Iraq: Baghdad, two females, October 10 and 15, 1934; three
females, March 3, 1935; one male, seven females, July, 1935; three
males, 23 females, March, 1936; Yusuf Lazar.

Known from Tunis, Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, and Iraq.

Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg).

Iraq : El Ba'ayar, near Tall 'Afar, one male, two females, May 29,
1934; H. Field.

Notostaurus anatolicus (Krauss).

Iran: Tehran, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Aiolopus strepens (Latreille).

Iraq: Ba'adri, east of Mosul, one male, June 13, 1934; H. Field.

Aiolopus affinis (I. Bolivar).

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, numerous specimens, July-Sep-
tember, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Aiolopus thalassinus (Fabricius).

Iraq: El Ba'ayar, near Tall 'Afar, one female, May 29, 1934;
H. Field. Baghdad, four females, October 10, 1934; one female,
October 15, 1934; one female, December 20, 1934; two females,
March 8, 1935; numerous specimens, June, 1935-March, 1936;
Yusuf Lazar.

Hilethera maculata (Karny).

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, two females, July 21-29,
1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Acrotylus insubricus (Scopoli).

Iraq: Baghdad, one female, October 10, 1934; one male, two
females, February 27, 1935; one female, March, 1935; five males,
17 females, March, 1936; Yusuf Lazar. Hinaidi, near Baghdad,
one female, June 12, 1935; one female, September 2, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar. Sulaimaniya, southeast of Mosul, one larva, July 6, 1934;
H. Field.

Oedipoda miniata (Pallas).

Iraq: Ba'adri, east of Mosul, one male, June 13, 1934; H. Field.
Dohuk, north of Mosul, one female, June 14, 1934; H. Field.

446 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

Iran: Tehran, three females, August 2, 1934; H. Field. Yezd-i-
Khast, one female, August 21, 1934; H. Field. Isfahan, one female,
August 19, 1934; H. Field.

Sphingonotus savignyi Saussure.

Iraq: Baghdad, one male, two females, June 15, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Sphingonotus rubescens (Walker).

Iraq: Rutba, one male, May 14, 1934; H. Field.
Iran: Tehran, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Sphingonotus theodori Uvarov.

Iran: Takht-i-Jamshid (Persepolis), one male, three females,
August 26, 1934; H. Field and R. A. Martin.

Iraq: Baghdad, one female, August 21, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Described originally from Palestine, this species proved to be
widely spread, occurring from western Anatolia to Iran.

Sphingonotus vosseleri Krauss.

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, one male, July 18, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar.

Sphingonotus carinatus Saussure.

Iran: Tehran, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Iraq: Hinaidi, near Baghdad, numerous specimens, July-Sep-
tember, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Mistshenko has recently proved that the well-known S. mecheriae
Krauss is synonymous with S. carinatus Saussure (see Eos, 12, 1936).

Sphingonotus nebulosus persa Saussure.

Iran: Tehran, six females, August 2, 1934; H. Field. Yezd-i-
Khast, 1 male, August 25, 1934; H. Field.

Sphingonotus obscuratus obscuratus (Walker).

Iraq: Baghdad, two females, May 29, August 29, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar.

This subspecies has been known so far only from Libya, Egypt,
and Sinai; in Iran it is replaced by S. obscuratus brunneri Saussure,
1884. However, the difference between these two subspecies is
very slight.

Sphingonotus satrapes Saussure.

Iraq: Shui, near Mosul, one male, May 25, 1934; H. Field.
Baghdad, numerous specimens, May-August, 1935; Yusuf

1938 ORTHOPTERA— UVAROV 447

Hinaidi, near Baghdad, numerous specimens, June-July, 1935;
Yusuf Lazar.

Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus) ph. solitaria.

Iraq: Two males, four females, June-July, 1935. Hinaidi, near
Baghdad, two females, July-September, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Utubius syriacus (I. Bolivar).

Eremocharis syriaca I. Bolivar, Rev. Biol. Nord France, 5, p. 483, 1893.

Iraq: Rutba, one female, May 12, 1934; H. Field.

This is certainly the most interesting specimen in the whole
collection, since I. Bolivar's Eremocharis syriaca, described after a
single female, collected by Dr. Th. Barrois in the desert near Palmyra,
remained a problematic species. Its description was based on a
specimen previously preserved in alcohol and obviously discolored
and the type appears to have been lost, as all my attempts to trace
it proved fruitless.

The specimen before me now, although without the abdomen, is
certainly a female. It agrees with the description of Eremocharis
syriaca in every respect, except the dark coloration of the posterior
genicular arc, which in the type may have been due to bad preserva-
tion. The type is also a little larger, but it will be seen from the table
of measurements given below that the difference in this respect is
too small to be of taxonomic value.

Since Rutba, where our specimen was taken, is not far from
Palmyra, and certainly in the same natural area of the Syrian desert,
I feel justified in identifying the specimen with Eremocharis syriaca,
even in the absence of the type of the latter.

The insect, however, does not belong to Eremocharis, but to the
genus Utubius, recently described by me from the Kuwait Territory
on the Persian Gulf, in northeastern Arabia (see Journ. Linn. Soc.
Lond., Zool., 39, p. 544, 1936). I even consider that my Utubius
zahrae and Eremocharis syriaca represent only geographical races of
one species, since they differ only in the degree of development of
the black band on the hind wings. The species must, therefore, be
called Utubius syriacus (I. Bolivar), the northern race being subsp.
syriacus (I. Bolivar) and the Arabian race subsp. zahrae Uvarov.

The black wing band in subsp. syriacus is broad and continuous
(fig. 60, a), leaving an outer margin distinctly narrower than the
band. In subsp. zahrae the band is narrower than the margin
(fig. 60, c) and split up into series of spots, sometimes quite broadly
separated from each other. It is very interesting to note that an

448 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

analogous geographical variation in the wing pattern is observed in
the series of subspecies of Tmethis gibber (Stal), of which a subsp.
gibber with completely black wings (apart from white preapical area)
occurs in Syria; subsp. latus Uvarov with very broad black band is
known from Urfa, Aleppo vilayet, southern Turkey, and Erbil and
Kirkuk in Iraq; subsp. angustus Uvarov with narrow band is found in
Khanaqin, Iraq; and in southern Pusht-i-Kuh and Bushire, Iran,
lives the extreme subsp. reductus Uvarov with the band very narrow
and discontinuous (see Uvarov, Eos, 10, pp. 103-106, 1934).

As I have mentioned already, there are no other substantial
differences between subsp. syriacus and subsp. zahrae. If the female
of syriacus is compared with the type of zahrae, which is a male, a
rather striking difference can be observed in the structure of the
median carina in the prozona of the pronotum, since in syriacus this
carina appears very low (fig. 60, &), while in zahrae it is strongly
projecting. I was very fortunate, however, in receiving recently two
females of zahrae, taken in the original locality together with a male
which does not differ in any way from the type. The prozonal carina
in these females proved to be exactly as in syriacus, and very distinct
from what is observed in the male (fig. 60, e). This is, therefore,
a sexual character, and the unknown male of syriacus should be
expected to possess the carina as strongly developed as in the male
of zahrae.

Since the female of zahrae has not yet been described, I may
add that it does not differ from the male in other respects, and the
measurements of both sexes, as well as of the female of syriacus, are
given in the following table:

syriacus 9 zahrae

44 31.0

11 7.5

46 35.0

20 15.0

The Rutba specimen of Utubius syriacus syriacus was kindly
presented to the British Museum (Natural History).

Tmethis cisti (Fabricius).

Iraq: Jebel Golat, west of Mosul, two males, one female, May 27,
1934; H. Field. Karya Sheikh Khanis, near Tall 'Afar, one female,
June 2, 1934; H. Field. Tell as Shor, between Tall 'Afar and Jebel
Sinjar, one female, May 30, 1934; H. Field.

Length of body
Length of pronotum
Length of elytra

Type

. ... 43
. . . . 12
. . . . 50

Rutba
specimen
?

11.5

45.0

Length of hind femur. . . .

. ... 21

19.0

450 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

Tmethis gibber latus Uvarov.

Iraq: Jebel Golat, west of Mosul, one male, one female, May 27,
1934; H. Field. Tell as Shor, between Tall 'Afar and Jebel Sinjar,
three males, one female, May 30, 1934; H. Field.

Tmethis hotsoni Uvarov.

Iran: Isfahan, one male, August 19, 1934; H. Field.

This species was originally described by me from British Balu-
chistan, and subsequently recorded from many localities in Iranian
Baluchistan, Seistan, and eastern Khurasan (Trav. Inst. Zool. Acad.
Sci. U.S.S.R., 1, p. 212, 1933). It is, therefore, new from central Iran.
The only specimen from that area has very pale yellow wings, with-
out any trace of blue, and this may be a good subspecific character,
if it proves to be constant in a series.

Nocarodes sp.

Iraq: Shui, near Mosul, one female, May 25, 1934; H. Field.

This species is already known from specimens collected by
myself in the same country in 1932. It is almost certainly new,
but I refrain from describing it, until a thorough revision of this
difficult group can be undertaken.

Pyrgomorpha conica (Olivier).

Iraq: Baghdad, five females, March 8-June 12, 1935; Yusuf
Lazar. An Nasiriya, one female, March 16, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.
Hinaidi, near Baghdad, numerous specimens, March, 1936; Yusuf
Lazar.

Iran: Tehran, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

Dericorys albidula Serville.

Iraq: Baghdad, three females, June 5-15, 1936; Yusuf Lazar.

This species is known to occur from the Sahara to Turkestan and
Baluchistan, but its discovery near Baghdad is nevertheless of con-
siderable interest, since it is a typical inhabitant of sand hills.

Dericorys roseipennis lazurescens Uvarov.

Iran: Isfahan, one male, one female, August 19, 1938; H. Field.

Thisoicetrus littoralis asiaticus Uvarov.

Iraq: Baghdad, one female, October 10, 1934; three males, two
females, June-October, 1935; Yusuf Lazar. Hinaidi, near Baghdad,
11 females, July-November, 1935; Yusuf Lazar. Shui, near Mosul,
one female, May 25, 1934; H. Field.

1938 ORTHOPTERA— UVAROV 451

Thisoicetrinus pterostichus (Fischer- Waldheim).

Iran: Takht-i-Jamshid (Persepolis), three males, eight females,
August 26-28, 1934; H. Field and R. A. Martin.

The specimens have apparently been collected in the same spot,
but there is remarkable variation in their size, as will be seen from
the following table:

cPc? 99

Length of body 28-33 39-52

Length of elytra 18-23 26-39

Length of hind femur 15-19 21-29

Calliptamus siculus deserticola (Vosseler).

Iran: Tehran, five females, August 2, 1934; H. Field. Takht-i-
Jamshid (Persepolis), five females, August 26-28, 1934; H. Field
and R. A. Martin.

Kripa coelesyriensis (Giglio-Tos).

Iraq: Jebel Golat, west of Mosul, one female, May 27, 1934;
H. Field.

Anacridium aegyptium (Linnaeus).

Iraq: Baghdad, and Hinaidi, near Baghdad, numerous specimens,
1935; Yusuf Lazar. An Nasiriya, one male, one female, March 14,
1935; Yusuf Lazar.

Iran: Tehran, two males, one female, August 2, 1934; H. Field.

TETRIGIDAE
Hedotettix alienus Uvarov.

Iraq: Baghdad, one female, February 27, 1935; Yusuf Lazar.
Hinaidi, near Baghdad, numerous specimens, July-September, 1935;
Yusuf Lazar.