Notuchus kaori Hoch and Asche, 2006
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222930601046576 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/856A87EE-FF94-FFA9-8498-B446FCBEFF26 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Notuchus kaori Hoch and Asche |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Notuchus kaori Hoch and Asche View in CoL sp. nov.
( Figures 2–29 View Figures 2, 3 View Figures 4–13 View Figures 14–20 View Figures 21–23 View Figures 24–29 )
Description
Small, highly troglomorphic delphacids with compound eyes absent and tegmina vestigial. Head and thorax weakly pigmented, almost white, abdomen brown. Body with a distinct constriction at the base of the abdomen ( Figure 2 View Figures 2, 3 ).
Body length. Male 3.0 mm (n 52). Female 2.7 mm (n 51).
Colour. Head and legs pale yellow. Anterior margin and lateral portions of pronotum pale yellow, posterior margin white. Mesonotum white except for a median longitudinal yellow stripe. Vestigial tegmina white, anterior margin proximally yellow. First two abdominal tergites white, with a yellow median portion. Remaining abdominal tergites brownish, thus abdomen contrasting sharply with light anterior part of body ( Figure 2 View Figures 2, 3 ). This colour pattern, in combination with the petiole-like constriction between thorax and abdomen, results in a certain similarity with the habitus of the associated Paratrechina ants. Abdominal sternites 3–6 conspicuously coloured: laterally, posteriorly, and medially on each side with a brown margin, enclosing a white discoidal anterior area ( Figure 3 View Figures 2, 3 ).
Head. Vertex ( Figures 4, 7 View Figures 4–13 ) without distinct carinae, at posterior margin ca 1.6 times as wide as medially long; lateral margins more or less parallel, anterior margin broadly rounded; area of vertex convex, not distinctly separated from genae and frons. Compound eyes and lateral ocelli absent ( Figures 7, 8 View Figures 4–13 ). Frons ca 0.9 times as high as maximally wide, and 0.7 times as high as post- and anteclypeus together; frons widest below antennae. Frons and clypeus smooth, slightly convex, without median carinae. Frontoclypeal suture nearly straight, only slightly vaulted anteriorly. Rostrum very long, surpassing metatrochanters, in repose nearly reaching anterior margin of genital segment in male, and reaching posteriorly to mid-length of ovipositor in female. First antennal segment cylindrical, ca 2.3 times as long as its diameter; 2nd antennal segment club-like, proximally narrow, distally expanding, apically truncate, with conspicuous hair sensilla around distal margin, sensory fields concentrated around apical margin, proximally fringed by a single row of strongly developed setae curved medially ( Figures 8–10 View Figures 4–13 ).
Thorax. Pronotum ( Figures 2 View Figures 2, 3 , 4, 6 View Figures 4–13 ) short, at mid-length half as long as vertex, with lateral portions extending posteriorly. Mesonotum ( Figure 4 View Figures 4–13 ) short, ca half as long as maximum width, strongly vaulted dorsally, smooth, without longitudinal carinae, posterior margin truncate. Tegulae absent. Tegmina ( Figures 4, 5 View Figures 4–13 ) vestigial, narrowly lanceolate, surface smooth, veins reduced, but movable at base. Tegmina not tectiform as is common even in brachypterous delphacid species, but directed posteriolaterally, exposing junction of thorax and abdomen. Metanotum short, not bearing any wings or remnants thereof.
Legs. Hind tibia laterally unarmed, distally with one stronger triangular tooth and one or two minute teeth. Posttibial spur ( Figures 11, 12 View Figures 4–13 ) minute, movable. Metabasitarsus distally with four minute teeth in a row, 2nd metatarsus distally with two minute lateral teeth. Basitarus slightly longer than 2nd and 3rd tarsal segments together. Pretarsus ( Figure 13 View Figures 4–13 ) inconspicuous, arolium and claws well developed.
Abdomen. Tergites of first two abdominal segments narrow, abdominal tergites of segments 3–6 ca 1.5–2 times as wide, thus creating the impression of a ‘‘petiole’’. Fifth abdominal sternite laterally on each side bearing two distinctly visible sensory pits.
Male genitalia ( Figures 14–23 View Figures 14–20 View Figures 21–23 ). Genital segment in lateral aspect nearly triangular, four times as long ventrally as dorsally; in caudal aspect slightly higher than wide; ventral margin bilobate, caudally semicircularly incised between the lobes; caudal margins smoothly rounding into diaphragm; diaphragm filling the lower third of the caudal area; opening for parameres widely ovate. Anal segment hood-shaped, in dorsal aspect nearly round, caudal margin medially with a deep, bluntly V-shaped incision. Parameres simple, slender, slightly dilated in basal half, shallowly S-shaped, distally bluntly rounded, subtruncate. Aedeagus: periandrium of shaft sclerotized in basal two-thirds, membraneous distally. Shaft without spinose processes. Flagellum in repose exposed dorsally to left side, long, circularly curved. Ejaculatory duct well sclerotized, produced into an ampulla-shaped strucure near apex; phallotreme terminal ( Figure 22 View Figures 21–23 , arrow). Flagellum without spinose processes, but with a taeniform sclerite in membrane exposed towards shaft. Tip of taeniform sclerite laterally produced to the right into a lobate membranous process ( Figure 23 View Figures 21–23 , arrow).
Female genitalia. Anal tube short. Ovipositor complete, as in other Notuchus and Ugyopine species, ensiform, posteriorly not surpassing caudal margin of anal tube.
Larval morphology ( Figures 24–29 View Figures 24–29 ). Fifth instar nymph eyeless, body unpigmented, white. Carination of head and thorax distinctly pronounced. Lateral portions of frons with two irregular rows of sensory pits. Proportions of antennae and distribution of sensory fields and setae as in adults. Surface of abdomen smooth.
Distribution
Endemic to New Caledonia. Currently known from a single collection from Pic du Grand Kaori, a botanical reserve located in the extreme south of the main island, just south of the Plaine des Lacs.
Ecology
Collected in rainforest beneath a large, embedded rock together with ants of a species of Paratrechina ( Formicidae : Formicinae).
Diagnosis
Notuchus kaori sp. nov. adults can be easily distinguished from the epigeic Notuchus species by the light body colour and other troglomorphic characters, such as the loss of compound eyes and ocelli, and reduction of tegmina and wings.
Material examined
Holotype: male. New Caledonia, Pic du Grand Kaori; site 2; 250 m, 22 ° 179S, 166 ° 539E, 22–24 November 2004, rainforest (11772), QM Party ( MNHN) . Paratypes: two males, one female, same data as holotype ( QM) .
Additional material. Two nymphs (5th instar, females), QM.
| QM |
Queensland Museum |
| MNHN |
Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle |
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
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