Nelcyndana tener ( Stal , 1870)

Duffels, Joannes Petrus, 2010, The genus Nelcyndana Stal (Hemiptera, Cicadidae, Taphurini) with description of three new species from Borneo, ZooKeys 61, pp. 11-31 : 12-16

Nelcyndana tener ( Stal, 1870) Figs 1-2

Tibicen (Nelcynda) tener Stål 1870: 716. Lectotype ♂: "Ins. / Philipp", “Semper”, "Tibicen / tener / ♂ Stål”, “Typus” [printed in black cadre; red paper], "NHRS-HEMI 000000009" [examined].

Tibicen tener Distant 1890: Pl. vi, figs 5, 5a-b; Distant 1892: 130.

Nelcyndana tener Distant 1906: 139 (Equals Tibicen (Nelcynda) tener Stål); Moulton 1923: 157; Metcalf 1963: 234-235; Duffels & Van der Laan 1985: 245; Lee 2010: 14, 26 [For further references before 1980 see: Metcalf 1963 and Duffels & Van der Laan 1985].Not: Nelcyndana tener ; Zaidi and Ruslan 1997: 232 [The specimen mentioned here from Pahang, Rompin probably belongs to a new undescribed species endemic to the Malayan Peninsula]; Zaidi and Ruslan 1998: 369; Zaidi et al. 2000b: 217; Zaidi et al. 2000a: 331; Zaidi et al. 2004: 131-133, 137. [The specimens mentioned in these publications come from Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak), and belong to one of the species from Borneo described here as new to science or to another new species.]

General.

The identity of Nelcyndana tener is established by the description given below. I have tried to find more specimens of Nelcyndana tener in various collections, but did not find one.

Nelcyndana tener can be distinguished from the other species of the genus from Borneo described here by the yellowish to reddish brown anterior and ventral parts of the postclypeus and the unpaired appendage of the theca. The Borneo species have a differently coloured postclypeus and a pair of more or less similar thecal appendages.

Lectotype designation for Nelcyndana tener ( Stål).

Dr Gunvi Lindberg, curator of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, kindly sent me the type specimens of Nelcyndana tener for examination, viz., one male labelled holotype and two females labelled paratype. She also wrote me: …’ all curators seem to agree that the [type] labels are from the 20th century (thus not from Stål)’. In order to establish the identity of Nelcyndana tener , I designate here the male type specimen as the lectotype of Nelcyndana tener and the female type specimens as paralectotypes.

The lectotype is very fragile and partly damaged: the apical half of the wings is missing and the right tegmen is somewhat glued together; sternite 8 is partly damaged; the abdomen is glued to the head and thorax. The pygofer is taken out for the greater part. It is most likely that this damage to the lectotype was caused by an earlier student attempting to pull out the pygofer. The most characteristic feature of the genus Nelcyndana , viz., the four instead of five apical areas of the wing, already mentioned by Stål (1870) in his original description of the genus and the species, is not visible anymore in the lectotype.

The two paralectotypes are in good condition. One paralectotype bears the following labels: "Ins. / Philipp", “Semper”, "Tibicen / tener Stål”, “Allotypus” [printed in black cadre; red paper], "NHRS-HEMI 000000010". The other paralectotype bears the labels: "Ins. / Philipp", “Semper”, "Tibicen / tener Stål / ♀", “Paratypus” [printed in black cadre; red paper], "NHRS-HEMI 000000011"

Description of male lectotype.

Ground colour reddish brown.

Head. Vertex reddish brown with a pair of comma-shaped dark brown markings next to paired ocelli, a faint brownish ring around each of the ocelli, and dark brown colouration along mediodistal margin of eye. Postclypeus protruding weakly, yellowish to light reddish brown, dorsally with a pair of lateral dark brown spots, anterior and ventral parts of postclypeus with two paramedian series of 7 dark reddish brown transverse grooves. Anteclypeus light reddish brown without marking. Rostrum yellowish brown with brown apex reaching beyond posterior margin of middle coxae. Lorum black but anterior third reddish brown. Gena light reddish brown with a black line along posterior eye margin. Antenna, supra-antennal plate and vertex lobe yellowish brown to reddish brown.

Thorax. Pronotum with a pair of large, rounded rectangular, dark reddish brown to black brown markings that are enclosed by the reddish brown anterior margin of pronotum, the light reddish brown pronotum collar, and a broad median, light reddish brown fascia that strongly widens to anterior margin of pronotum and to pronotum collar. A lanceolate black-brown marking connects the broadly black-brown anterior and posterior oblique fissures.

Mesonotum with a pair of paramedian, black-brown, obconical spots, those are fused at anterior margin of mesonotum and reach to one fourth of mesonotum disk. Scutal depressions in front of cruciform elevation with light brownish suffusion. Lateral sigillae clouded with dark brown and anteriorly slightly wider than anterior part of paramedian obconical spots, gradually narrow to their distal ends near anterior angles of cruciform elevation. Cruciform elevation yellowish.

Legs. Yellow-brown to brownish. Fore femora with four yellow-brown spines with brown apices: a long spine at proximal end of lower ridge of femur, a second spine, half as long as proximal spine, at half-length of lower ridge, a third spine, one third as long as proximal spine, at three fifths of lower ridge, and a tiny spine near distal end of lower ridge.

Tegmina and wings. Hyaline. Venation of tegmina and wings brownish to reddish brown variegated with dark brown.

Operculum. Sickle-shaped with narrowly rounded apex reaching to almost anterior margin of abdominal segment 2, strongly narrowed from base to one fourth of its length, and gradually narrowing from one fourth of length to apex. Apical half with sparse long setae, especially along operculum margins.

Abdomen. Timbal with 7 evenly spaced long ribs and very faint intercalary ribs. Tergite 1 dark reddish brown, tergites 2-7 with a laterally widening, dark reddish brown fascia along anterior margin, medially reaching to half-length or two thirds of tergite, and a laterally narrowing reddish brown fascia; tergite 3 also with a narrow yellowish fascia along posterior margin. Tergite 8 with a laterally narrowing dark reddish brown fascia along anterior segment margin and a laterally narrowing reddish brown fascia, both two fifths as long as tergite and a yellowish fascia along posterior margin, one fifth as high as the tergite. Sternite 2 yellowish, sternites 3 to 6 and anterior half of sternite 7 reddish brown, posterior half of sternite 7 and whole sternite 8 yellowish.

Genitalia (Figs 1-2). Pygofer with convex lateral sides. Dorsal beak about equitriangular, brownish and with somewhat darker brown, fairly long and narrow apex. Basal pygofer lobe long and weakly convex, narrowed to acute apex, that is incurved and reaches to half-length of anal segment. Upper pygofer lobe very short, rounded and widely separated from basal pygofer lobe. Claspers juxtaposed, fairly narrow, incurved; lateral margin distinctly concave at base and weakly convex to narrow and slightly outcurved apex; medial margin very weakly convex; lateral clasper lobes protruding and spherical. Theca with one strongly chitinized appendage (Fig. 2), which is apically divided in a long, curved, dagger-shaped stem with a strong spine at base and a shorter, more widened, dagger ending in an acute spine. Aedeagal basal plates in ventral view triangular.

Description of female paralectotypes.

There are two female paralectotypes, one fully coloured and one with obsolete marking. A description of the fully coloured female follows here:

Head. As in male lectotype but anteclypeus black-brown with light brownish anterior margin and keel, and vertex with additional dark brown marking between paired ocelli and eyes.

Thorax. Pronotum as in male lectotype. Mesonotum as in male lectotype but paramedian obconical spots reaching to one third of mesonotum disk and lateral sigillae black-brown.

Legs, tegmina and wings. As in male lectotype.

Operculum. Basal half broad, narrowed at half its length to two thirds of basal width; apical part curved mediad with narrowly rounded apex reaching to just beyond anterior margin of sternite 2.

Abdomen. Tergite 1 light reddish brown. Tergite 2 reddish brown with laterally narrowing, black fascia along anterior margin medially reaching to two fifths of seg ment length. Tergites 3-7 with a laterally widening, black fascia along anterior margin, medially reaching to half or three fifths of segment length, a slightly narrower reddish brown fascia at about half-length of tergite and a narrow yellowish green fascia along posterior margin. Tergite 8 with laterally narrowing, black fascia along anterior margin medially reaching to one fourth of segment length, a broad reddish brown fascia and a fairly narrow, yellowish green fascia along posterior margin. Sternite 2 with dark brown transverse marking, sternites 3 to 6 with dark brown transverse band, which is a little less than half as wide as sternite and reaches from anterior sternite margin to two thirds or three fourths of sternite length. Sternite 7 medially dark brown. Segment 9 dorsally with a pair of oblong, paramedian, black-brown markings reaching from anterior margin of segment to three fourths of its length, and laterally with a pair of, round, black-brown spots.

The female paralectotype with the more obsolete marking has no marking on anteclypeus, no additional brown marking on vertex, very light brown lateral sigillae on mesonotum, light reddish brown abdominal tergites with much narrower black marking along their anterior margins, and only small brown median spots on sternites 5 and 6.

Measurements (in mm; 1♂, 2♀). -Body length ♂: 10.2 ♀: 11.5; tegmen length ♂: 10.9, ♀: 12.9-13.5; head width ♂: 3.2, ♀: 3.7-3.8; pronotum width ♂: 3.1, ♀: 3.6-3.7.

Distribution. The type specimens of Nelcyndana tener bear a label with the unspecified locality "Ins. / Philipp". I have tried to find more specimens of this species in various collections, but did not find one. Lee (2010) recorded Nelcyndana tener from Mindanao, Philippines, but this record needs confirmation since several undescribed species of Nelcyndana occur in the Philippines.