Neoaliturus fenestratus ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1834 )

Tishechkin, Dmitri Yu., 2021, Review of the Neoaliturus fenestratus (Herrich-Schäffer, 1834) species group (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Opsiini) from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia, Zootaxa 5039 (2), pp. 201-221 : 202-206

1. Neoaliturus fenestratus ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1834)

Figs. 1–8 , 44–57 , 142–156

Neoaliturus lituratus Dubovskiy, 1966: 151 . Syn. n.

Description. Male black, shiny, with milky-white translucent spots on clavus, in subapical part of forewings, and sometimes also at costal margin ( Figs. 1–4 ). In lightest specimens, small light spots present on head, pro-, and mesonotum ( Fig. 1 ). Female similar to male, but forewings usually with spots only in subapical part and on clavus ( Figs. 5–7 ).

Penis smoothly widened at base in posterior view ( Figs. 44–48 ), moderately widened at base in lateral view, tapered distally, with rather thick stems ( Figs. 49–52 ). In lateral view, stems form an angle of about 30 degrees or more with main part ( Figs. 49–52 ). Pygofer appendage relatively short, abruptly tapered in the middle ( Figs. 53–57 ).

Differs from all other species by the shape of pygofer appendage.

Body length (including tegmina): ♂, 2.5–3.1 mm; ♀, 3.0– 3.4 mm.

Hosts. Usually, on Asteraceae ( Cichorium intybus , Achillea spp. , Artemisia spp. , Inula spp. , etc.), sometimes on herbaceous plants from other families (e. g., on Cynanchum acutum , Asclepiadaceae ). In several localities was also collected from elms ( Ulmus pumila , Ulmus sp. , Ulmaceae ).

Calling signal. Signals of males from the following localities were investigated.

1. Greece, Corfu Island , environs of Nissaki Village, ca. 10 km north of Kerkyra, the road to Pantokrator Mtn., 12. IX. 2019, signals of two males recorded at 25 oC .

2. Crimea, environs of Pereval’noe Village (halfway from Simferopol to Alushta), 18. VI. 1997, signals of three males were recorded at 25–27 oC .

3. Southern European Russia, Rostov Oblast, Oblivskiy Region, environs of Sosnovy (=Oporny) Village on the Chir River , 10. VIII. 1991, signals of three males were recorded at 30 oC .

4. Southern European Russia, northern part of Saratov Oblast, environs of Khvalynsk, near Ulyanino Village , 15. VI. 1996, signals of two males were recorded at 21 and 23 oC .

5. Southern European Russia, East of Saratov Oblast, two localities in the environs of Ozinki Town , 26. VI. 1996 and 29. VI. 2004, signals of three males were recorded at 32–34 and 27 oC .

6. Southern European Russia, Volgograd Oblast, the Ilovlya River about 5 km from the mouth, 10. VI. 1996, signals of one male were recorded at 25 oC .

7. Southern European Russia, Dosang Railway Station , about 60 km north of Astrakhan, 7. VII. 2000, signals of one male were recorded at 26 oC .

8. South Urals, the Guberlya River near Guberlya Railway Station, 25 km west of Orsk, 9. VII. 1996, signals of three males were recorded at 26–27 oC.

9. Southern Kazakhstan, Almaty, 1. VII. 1994, signals of two males were recorded at 31 oC .

10. Southern Kazakhstan, Zailiyskiy Alatau Mtn. Range, ca. 60 km east of Almaty, environs of Tauturgen Village , mountain slope, 29. VI. 2019, signals of one male recorded at 33 oC .

11. Southeastern Kazakhstan, the floodplain of the Lepsy River near its exit from the foothills of Dzhungarskiy Alatau Mtn. Range to the plain (13 km south of Kolbay Village), 19. VI. 2019, signals of one male were recorded at 26–27 oC .

12. Kyrgyzstan, West Tien Shan , eastern part of Chatkal Mtn. Range, environs of Arkyt Village, meadow on riverbank, 16. VII. 2009, signals of two males recorded at 22–23 oC .

13. Kyrgyzstan, Batken Oblast , the shore of the Tortkul Reservoir, ca. 12 km southwest of Batken, 9. VII. 2014, signals of two males recorded at 30 oC .

The calling signal is a phrase consisting of syllables following each other with a period of about 1–2 s ( Figs. 142–156 ). Each syllable includes rather prolonged more or less monotonous fragment consisting of partially merged pulses and followed by 5–6 short discrete pulses; sometimes discrete pulses are absent ( Fig. 147 ). Quite often gradual change of a syllable pattern can be observed within the same phrase ( Figs. 142, 143, 145 ).

Distribution. Europe, southern half of European Russia (northwards as far as Saratov Oblast), South Urals, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia. Record from Moscow Oblast ( Tishechkin, 2007) refers to N. albilacustris sp. n. (see below).

Remarks. Identification of this species is based on the original description ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1834) and on drawings of genitalia in Ribaut (1952). Despite the fact that the drawing in the original description is somewhat fuzzy, the characteristic external traits of this species are clearly displayed on it ( Fig. 8 ). These are black coloration without brown tint, a large white spot on clavus, and an additional small spot located slightly closer to the base of the wing.

The shape of the pygofer appendage in Neoaliturus lituratus Dubovskiy, 1966 described from the Ferghana Valley is typical for N. fenestratus ( Fig. 57 ). Also, these two forms do not differ significantly from each other in penis shape (cf. Figs. 46 and 48 ). For this reason, I establish the synonymy N. fenestratus = N. lituratus syn. n. In addition, N. fenestratus is one of two species of this group inhabiting the Ferghana Valley region, which also confirms the established synonymy.

Figures

FIGURES 1–24. Neoaliturus spp., dorsal view. 1–8―N. fenestratus, 9–11―N. hui, 12–17―N. albilacustris sp. n., 18–24― N. carbonarius. 1–4, 9, 12–15, 18–20―males, 5–7, 10, 16–17, 21–24―females. 8―after Herrich-Schäffer, 1834, 11―after Chang, 1938.

FIGURES 44–69. Male genitalia. 44–57―N. fenestratus, 58–69―N. albilacustris sp. n. 44–48, 58–61―penis, back view, 49–52, 62–65―same, lateral view, 53–57, 66–69―pygofer appendage. 48, 57―after Dubovskiy, 1966. Hereinafter, if the mate- rial on one species from several regions is presented, the localities are given under the figures.

FIGURES 142–156. Neoaliturus fenestratus, calling signal oscillograms. Faster oscillograms of the parts of signals indicated as “149–156” are given under the same numbers.