Online social media tells a story of Anaselina, Paraselina, and Selivinga (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae), rare Australian pygmy grasshoppers

Abstract

Knowledge on the pygmy grasshoppers of Australia is, despite the numerous endemics being described from this unique continent, still scarce. Of interest is the Vingselina genus group, including genera Anaselina Storozhenko, 2019, Paraselina Storozhenko, 2019, Selivinga Storozhenko, 2019 and Vingselina Sjöstedt, 1921. The systematic position of this group, currently assigned to Batrachideinae (Bufonidini), is probably not correct. In this study new records are presented of Anaselina minor (Sjöstedt, 1921), Paraselina brunneri (Bolívar, 1887), P. trituberculata (Sjöstedt, 1932), and Selivinga tribulata Storozhenko, 2019, all except A. minor the first records of the species since their original descriptions. The first photographs of living specimens of A. minor, P. brunneri, P. trituberculata and S. tribulata are provided and their habitats described. All the records were compiled by citizen scientists who use online social media, such as iNaturalist. Lastly, P. multifora (Rehn, 1952) syn. nov. represents a junior synonym of P. brunneri.