Thopha sessiliba clamoris, Moulds & Hill, 2015

Moulds, M. S. & Hill, Kathy B. R., 2015, Phylogeny for the Tribe Thophini (Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) with the Description of a New Subspecies of Thopha sessiliba Distant from Western Australia, Records of the Australian Museum 67 (2), pp. 55-66 : 56-58

Thopha sessiliba clamoris subsp. n.

Figures 1–5

Type material. Holotype ♂, c. 221 km S of Newman , site code WA.GRN, 25°06.355'S 119°22.369'E, 545 m, 14 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ( WAM) . — Paratypes (24 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀): 1♂ (molecular voucher 06.AU. WA.KUM.10), c. 167 km S of Newman , 24°42.759'S 119°36.513'E, 607 m, 13 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ; 1♂, 1♀, 45 km S of Gascoyne River, 146 km NNE of Meekatharra , site code WA.GRS, 25°35.579'S 119°14.173'E, 545m, 18 Feb. 2009, K. Hill and D. Marshall ( AMS) . 1♂, 3♀♀, Landor Meekatharra Road, 26°28'04.00"S, 118°06'19.70"E, 41 km W of Meekatharra, 19.i.2014, Allen M. Sundholm, T. M.S. Hanlon ( AS) . 1♂, 210 km S of Newman , site code WA.KSC, 25°01.126'S 119°24.560'E, 559 m, 13 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ; 1♂, c. 221 km S of Newman , site code WA.GRN, 25°06.355'S 119°22.369'E, 545 m, 14 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ; 1♂ (genitalia preparation THOP23 , molecular voucher 06.AU.WA.GRS.04) , 1♀, 146 km NNE of Meekatharra , 25°35.579'S 119°14.173'E, 545m, 14 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ; 1♂, 1♀, 55 km NNE of Meekatharra , site code WA.YAL, 26°08.225'S 118°41.721'E, 478 m, 18 Feb. 2009, K. Hill and D. Marshall ( MSM) . 1♂, 192 km N of Meekatharra , 7 Mar.2006, P. Hutchinson ; 7♂♂, 146 km N of Meekatharra , 7 Mar. 2006, P. Hutchinson ; 2♂♂, 57 km N of Meekatharra , 6 Mar. 2006, P. Hutchinson ( PH) . 1♂, 1♀, c. 221 km S of Newman , site code WA.GRN, 25°06.355'S 119°22.369'E, 545 m, 14 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ; 1♂, 146 km NNE of Meekatharra , site code WA.GRS, 25°35.579'S 119°14.173'E, 545m, 14 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ; 2♂♂, 1♀, 45 km S of Gascoyne River, 146 km NNE of Meekatharra , 25°35.579'S 119°14.173'E, 545m, 18 Feb. 2009, K. Hill and D. Marshall ; 1♂, 55 km NNE of Meekatharra , 26°08.225'S 118°41.721'E, 478 m, 14 Feb. 2006, Hill, Marshall, Moulds ; 2♂♂, same locality, 18 Feb. 2009, K. Hill and D. Marshall; ( WAM). All Western Australia .

Etymology. The subspecific epithet is derived from the Latin clamor, meaning loud call.

Description

Male ( Figs 1a–c , 5 ). Head muddy orange; vertex with a reddish brown fascia between eyes terminating just short of each eye and ill-defined around ocelli; much of ventral surface reddish brown. Postclypeus mostly reddish brown, pale muddy orange dorsally. Anteclypeus reddish brown and a little paler than postclypeus; narrowly edged black; often reddish brown along part of or entire midline, with a small median expansion. Lorum reddish brown with muddy yellow margin. Rostrum with mentum and labium muddy orange; labium dark reddish brown along groove, apical portion partly black; reaching almost to apices of hind coxae. Antennae with scape and pedicel reddish brown, the latter very dark to nearly black apically; flagellum black or nearly so.

Thorax. Pronotum muddy orange, pronotal collar tending slightly paler; lateral margin of pronotal collar partly narrowly edged black or dark reddish brown; midline boldly marked by a dark reddish brown fascia (often with a pale narrow interior) that does not quite reach the anterior pronotal margin or the postclypeus, this fascia expands abruptly at its distal end and gradually expands towards its anterior end; lateral and submedian sigilla dark reddish brown, sometimes nearly black; midline usually with a dark reddish brown fascia, narrowly tapering and pointed anteriorly and reaching submedian sigilla, the posterior end reaching to cruciform elevation and sometimes expanded to merge with similarly coloured scutal depressions; white pubescent band along lateral margin adjacent to wing groove, tapering posteriorly. Metanotum muddy orange. Thorax on underside muddy orange to dark reddish brown; extensively covered by fine white pubescence.

Wings hyaline and without infuscations. Fore wing venation muddy orange; subcosta jet black along basal cell, jet black along 2A+3A in the vicinity of basal membrane. Basal cell opaque muddy orange but usually with a small window adjacent to CuA. Basal membrane bright orange. Hind wing venation yellow or orange; plaga following CuP+2A and 3A orange.

Legs dark reddish brown tending partly muddy orange. Coxae usually with dense white pubescence on outer face; fore coxae with muddy pale orange stripe for full length on outer face; mid and hind coxae usually tending muddy orange. Fore femora tending muddy orange on outer face, dark reddish brown on inner face. Pretarsal claws black with dark brown suffusion at base.

Opercula with their apices clearly not meeting but nevertheless close; muddy yellow but usually covered by pure white pubescence.

Abdomen. Tergites very dark reddish brown to almost black; tergite 2 with a large central patch of fine white pubescent “dusting”, epipleurites 3–7 with similar white pubescence extending onto adjacent sternites; tergite 8 usually completely covered by white pubescence. Sternites very dark reddish brown to almost black; sternites I and II with some white pubescence, usually most distinct on distolateral extremities of sternite I and along anterior margin of II.

Timbals. Timbal covers dark reddish brown, usually with dense, pure white pubescence below adjacent to rim. Timbals s imilar to those of other Thopha species; four long ribs, the first against the margin of the timbal plate and second very broad and joined dorsally with third; one short, very broad rib between second and third long ribs.

Genitalia ( Figs 1b–c ). Distal shoulders of pygofer weakly developed with distal portion bluntly pointed and turned backwards. Pygofer basal lobes not well developed, completely or substantially hidden in lateral view. Uncus deeply divided into a pair of long, gently-tapering, toothlike lobes, in dorsal view diverging, in lateral view angled downwards at about 45°; ventral tooth completely fused with uncal lobe except towards apex which is short, bluntly rounded, shorter than uncal lobe.

Female. Similar to male. Tergite 8 covered by pure white “dusting” of microscopic pubescence. Abdominal segment 9 very dark reddish brown to black; much of lateral surface and adjoining distal half or so of dorsal midline covered by white pubescent “dusting”.

Measurements. Range and mean (in mm) for 10 males and 6 females; includes smallest and largest of available specimens. Length of body (including ovipositor): male 42.8–49.1 (46.4); female 44.4–48.4 (47.0). Length of fore wing: male 55.0–59.8 (57.6); female 55.0–59.5 (58.0). Width of head (including eyes): male 20.0–21.8 (21.1); female 20.1– 22.0 (21.6). Width of pronotum (across lateral angles): male 17.7–19.6 (18.7); female 17.2–19.4 (18.9).

Distinguishing morphological features. Thopha sessiliba clamoris ( Fig. 5 ) can be distinguished from T. sessiliba sessiliba ( Fig. 5 ) and all other species of Thopha by the lack

of bold, jet-black markings on head and thorax, the presence of a bold, dark reddish brown central fascia on the pronotum, and the similar colouration on the pronotum and pronotal collar. Further, the dark reddish brown fascia across the head between the eyes terminates just before the eyes, whereas this fascia nearly always meets the eyes in T. s. sessiliba . Also, in T. s. clamoris there is always obvious dark reddish brown pigmentation surrounding the scutal depressions; in nearly all specimens of T. s. sessiliba the scutal depressions are clearly marked but the dark pigmentation does not extend beyond the depressions.

Distribution and habitat ( Figs 1f–g , 2 ). Known only from the eastern fringe of the Pilbara region, Western Australia. Specimens have been taken at several locations along the Great Northern Highway between 167 km south of Newman and 55 km NNE of Meekatharra. The region is semi arid receiving approximately 200–300 mm average annual rainfall that comes mainly as summer thunderstorms and cyclones.

Adults frequent river gums, Eucalyptus camaldulensis , preferring the main trunk and limbs. For the most part these trees grow along sandy or stony stream banks that the northern limit of its range sometimes occurring with T. hutchinsoni ), with several individuals occupying a single tree or group of adjacent trees. The larger a tree, usually the greater the aggregation within it.

Adults emerge after heavy summer and early autumn rains and have been taken in mid-February and early March. Because of this dependence upon heavy rain for emergence, combined with the unreliable nature of the rainfall, the appearance of adults is probably erratic.

Singing occurs during the heat of the day and at dusk. The song is a loud, drone-like pulsating whine, very similar to that of the other Thopha species ( Figs 1d , 3 ). See below for analysis of song and comparisons to T. s. sessiliba and T. hutchinsoni .

Figures

Figure 1. Thopha sessiliba clamoris subsp. n. (a) male live on Eucalyptus sp.; (b, c) male genitalia, lateral and ventral views respectively, specimen from 146 km NNE of Meekatharra, Western Australia, bl = basal lobe, ds = distal shoulder, un = uncus, vt = ventral tooth; (d) partial song phrase from male specimen 09.AU.WA.GRS.01 (see Table 2), oscillogram shown above sonogram; (e) nymph shell on Eucalyptussp.; (f) Eucalyptus sp. habitat at 55 km NNE of Meekatharra, WesternAustralia; (g) distribution map showing known locations in Western Australia.

Figure 2. Distribution of Arunta species (both strictly coastal) and Thopha species including that of T. sessiliba clamoris subsp. n. Numbers are localities of specimens used in the molecular analyses as detailed in Table 2.

Figure 3. Plot of mean peak song frequency (dominant pitch) versus mean pulse rate (timbal click rate) for Thopha sessiliba clamoris subsp.n.,T.sessiliba sessiliba andT.hutchinsoni. TheWA.KRH is a potentiallocation of contactbetween T.s.clamoris andT.hutchinsoni.

Figure 4. Phylogenetic relationships of the Thophini (viz. Thopha and Arunta species), with respect to the outgroup Henicopsaltria rufivelum. Tip numbers correspond to locations in Table 2. (a) tree from parsimony analysis of morphological characters; (b–d) trees from maximum-likelihood analyses of the combined genetic data, the mtDNA COI data alone, and the nuclear-gene data alone.Numbers at nodes are bootstrap percentages from 1000 replicates (morphology) and 200 replicates (molecular). Morphological character transformations are shown as: black bars = non-homoplasious forward change; grey bars = homoplasious forward change; white bar = reversal (whether homoplasious or not); * =100%.lnL scores of the molecular treesare as follows:combined lnL = 7331.59, COI =5676.00, EF-1α = 1605.37.

Figure 5. Thophini phylogeny of combined molecular data superimposed with morphological transformations (the two trees being identical in topology) together with habitus images of all seven Thophini species. See Fig. 4 for explanation of tree data.