A new subspecies of Locusta migratoria-Tibetan migratory locust Locusta migratoria tibetensis subsp n

In the present paper a description is given of a new subspecies of Locusta migratoriafrom different localities in Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Besides, a comparisonwith the oriental locust and migratory locust on certain taxonomic and morphome-trical characters is mentioned. A key is also given for the separation of the 3 knownsubspecies of the Locusta migratoria in China. The tibetan migratory locust is readily distinguishable from the oriental locust(L. migratoria manilensis) and migratory locust (L. migratoria migratoria) in beingsmaller, with shorter elytra and femora in the solitary phase. These differences aremade quite obvious when the standard measurements and ratios of the 3 subspecies arecompared (see table 1 2). The table shows at a glance that tibetan migratory locust (tibetensis) is moreclosely allied to the Palaearctic subspecies rossica than to the African migratorioides andcapito of Madagascar. In its size, tibetensis is the smallest of the three. The E/F ratioshows very little difference according to the subspecies in the solitary phase. On theother hand, very significant difference is shown in the ratios expressing the structure ofthe pronotum and head. The P/C, M/C, H/C ratios of tibetan migratory locust aremore larger than the other subspecies. The characteristics of this subspecies can be bet-ter seen from Table 1 where the maximum, minimum and average measurements ofspecimens from various localities are given. Unfortunately, the gregarious phase iswanting. This subspecies is sufficiently stable in its characters. There is no doubt,therefore, that the tibetan migratory locust should be regarded as a distinct subspeciesof Locusta migratoria. Holotype ? Tibet: Shigatze (3800M., 12. Ⅵ. 1961. Collected by L. Y. Wang). Allotype ? Tibet: Shigatze (3800M., 20. Ⅷ. 1961. Collected by L. Y. Wang). Paratype: 54??, 42?? Tibet: Shigatze, Giangtze, Tzedang, Lhatze (1960-1961.Collected by C. K. Wang and L. Y. Wang). All type specimens are kept in the In-stitute of Zoology, Academia Sinica.