The Arabian Peninsula lies between the continents of Africa and Asia, providing a bridge between the two, and the area hosts a mixture of African and Asian wildlife. The area also contains a wide range of micro-habitats, particularly where large expanses of arid desert separate isolated areas with moister climates. These isolated micro-habitats are often home to endemic species, not found anywhere else.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 8 June 2017, Bruno Massa of the Department of Agriculture at the University of Palermo describes a new species of Grasshopper from Wadi Ayun in the Dhofar Governate of Oman.
The new species is placed in the genus Sphodromerus, and given the specific name carapezzanus, in honour of Attilio Carapezza, the Italian heteropterologist (scientist that studies True Bugs, Heteroptera), who collected the specimens from which the species is described, during an expedition to the area by the Museum of Cardiff in 2016. The species is described from two specimens, one male and one female. Both are dark brown in colour with a rough surface and some lighter spots, the female being slightly larger than the male.
Sphodromerus carapezzanus. Male (top) and female (bottom). Massa (2017).
