Nycheuma Fennah, 1964

Hou, Xiao-Hui & Chen, Xiang-Sheng, 2014, Revision of the planthopper genus Nycheuma Fennah (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Delphacidae), ZooKeys 462, pp. 47-57 : 48

Taxon classification Animalia Hemiptera Delphacidae

Nycheuma Fennah, 1964 Figs 1-36

Nycheuma Fennah, 1964a: 145; Kuoh et al. 1983: 81; Yang 1989: 95; Ding 2006: 247.

Type species.

Dicranotropis capensis Muir, 1926, by original designation.

Description.

The characters used by Fennah (1964a), Kuoh et al. (1983), Yang (1989) and Ding (2006) are modified as follows:

Body size. Macropterous form, body length (including forewing): male 3.20-3.44 mm, female 3.70-4.32 mm.

Coloration. General color light yellowish brown to yellowish brown. Pronotum and mesonotum with carinae and border pale yellowish brown. The terminal of first segment and the base of second segment antennae dark brown (Figs 2, 14, 26). Metapleura with round spot dark brown. Abdomen brown to dark brown. Forewings hyaline, veins dark brown (Figs 3, 15, 27). Hindwings hyaline with veins dark brown.

Head and thorax. Head, including eyes (Figs 1, 13, 25), as wide as pronotum or slightly wider. Vertex quadrate, shorter submedially than wider at base about 1:1.2, moderately rounding into frons, apical margin transverse with submedian carinae moderately prominent, Y-shaped carina feeble, submedian carinae not uniting at apex, basal compartment of vertex wider at base than greatest length about 2.2:1, than medium length about 2.7:1. Frons (Figs 2, 14, 26) in midline longer than wide at widest part about 2.0:1, widest at level of ocelli, lateral margins straight and converging distad beyond this level, median carina forked at base. Postclypeus in profile apical part of median carina bend. Rostrum with apical segment about as long as subapical. Antennae cylindrical, reaching slightly beyond frontoclypeal suture, basal segment longer than wide about 2:1, shorter than second about 1:2 (Figs 2, 14, 26). Pronotum (Figs 1, 13, 25) with lateral carinae not attaining hind margin. Spinal formula of hind leg 5-7-4. Posttibial spur with about 20 teeth.

Male genitalia. Pygofer short dorsally, long and strongly convex ventrally (Figs 5, 17, 29), posterior opening about as long as wide, laterodorsal angle not produced, lateral margins rather feeble, medioventral processes present (3 or 1 small processes) or absent (Figs 7, 19, 31). Diaphragm deeply impressed with dorsal margin membranous (Figs 6, 18, 30). Phallus rather long, laterally compressed, with a long retrose process at apex (Figs 8, 9, 20, 21, 32, 33). Suspensorium in posterior view Y-shaped (Figs 10, 22, 34). Genital styles simple, rather narrow, tapering distally, rectangulately or subacutely bent dorsad, if produced caudad at point of flexure, then lobe narrow and very small, divergent in opposite direction apically (Figs 11, 12, 23, 24, 35, 36). Anal segment of male (Figs 4, 5, 8, 16, 17, 20, 28, 29, 32) short, lateroapical angles widely separated, each produced ventrad in a spinose process.

Host plant.

Paspalum orbiculare Forst ( Ding 2006).

Distribution.

Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Australian and Pacific regions.

Remarks.

In the genera of Delphacini , this genus is most similar to Euidopsis Ribaut, 1948 (with the single species Euidopsis truncata Ribaut, 1948), but differs in the following: Frons median carina forked level of ocelli (in Euidopsis , frons median carina forked above level of ocelli); antennae reaching the level of frontoclypeal suture (in Euidopsis , antennae reaching the level of end part of post-clypeus); metatarsal tibial spur with 20 small teeth on lateral margin (in Euidopsis , metatarsal tibial spur with 30 small teeth on lateral margin); pygofer ventral margin with medioventral processes (3 or 1) or absent (in Euidopsis , pygofer ventral margin with 1 small medioventral process); diaphragm without armature (in Euidopsis , diaphragm with 1 armature); aedeagus with 1 long retrose process arising near apex (in Euidopsis , aedeagus with 2 long retrose processes arising near apex).

Key to known Chinese species of Nycheuma