A new species of Diplatys (Insecta, Dermaptera, Diplatyidae) earwig from the Western Ghats of India

Abstract

To explore diversity of earwigs (Dermaptera) in different agricultural ecosystems of South India, an extensive taxonomic survey was conducted in 2020 during which an undescribed species of Diplatys was collected. Twenty-one species of the genus Diplatys (Diplatyidae, Diplatyinae) have been reported to date from India, of which six species are known from Karnataka, South India. Based on a male specimen collected from a sugarcane field in Karnataka, a new species, Diplatys sahyadriensis sp. nov., is described as the twenty-second species of this genus from India. A revised key to the males of Diplatys species from India and Sri Lanka is provided. This new record adds to the known species diversity in the Sahyadri Ranges of the Western Ghats in Shivamogga District, Karnataka, part of the Southern Plateau and Hills agro-climatic region of India.