Parvopsalta, Moulds & Marshall, 2022

Moulds, Max & Marshall, David C., 2022, New genera and new species of Western Australian cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 5174 (5), pp. 451-507 : 476-477

Parvopsalta gen. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B0C146E2-485E-4BFA-BBF0-CFA4B21805A8

( Figs 4 , 36–38 )

Type species: Parvopsalta victoriae sp. n., here designated.

Included species. Monotypic, Parvopsalta victoriae sp. n.

Etymology. From the Latin parvus meaning little and referring to the size of this species, and from psalta, a traditional ending for cicada generic names (which probably originates from the Latin psaltria meaning a female harpist). Feminine.

Distribution ( Fig. 36 ). Inland districts of southwest Western Australia southwest from Coolgardie.

Diagnosis ( Figs 4 , 37 ). Head including eyes as wide as mesonotum; supra-antennal plate almost meeting eye; postclypeus broadly rounded transversely across ventral midline, in lateral profile rounded between ‘top’ and ‘sides’. Thorax: pronotum in dorsal view parallel-sided or widening towards posterior; pronotal collar width at dorsal midline much less than diameter of eyes; paranota confluent with adjoining pronotal sclerites, no mid lateral tooth; cruciform elevation with its dome wider than long; epimeral lobe not reaching operculum. Forewings hyaline; with 8 apical cells; subapical cells absent; ulnar cell 3 angled to radial cell; basal cell long and narrow; costal vein (C) clearly higher than R+Sc; costa parallel-sided to node; costa of male gently and evenly curved; pterostigma present; vein CuA only weakly bowed so that cubital cell no wider than medial cell; veins M and CuA with their stems completely fused as one; vein CuA 1 divided by crossvein m-cu so that proximal portion shortest; distance between crossveins r and r-m about equal to or a little shorter than between r-m and m; wing outer margin developed for its total length, never reduced to be contiguous with ambient vein. Hindwings with five apical cells; no infuscation on ambient vein; width of 1st cubital cell at distal end more than twice that of 2nd cubital cell; anal lobe of medium width with vein 3A curved, long, and separated from wing margin. Foreleg femoral primary spine unusually large, erect. Male opercula more or less reaching margin of tympanal cavity, directed towards distomedial margin of tympanal cavity, apically broadly rounded, not meeting. Male abdomen wider than thorax; in cross-section with sides of tergites straight or weakly convex; epipleurites reflexed ventrally from junction with tergites; tergite 2 wide along midline, about as wide as any other of tergites 3–7; sternites III–VII convex in cross-section, not unusually swollen. Timbals with four long ribs and one anterior one short; basal dome large; timbals extended below the level of the wing bases; posterior margin of timbal cavity rounded and completely lacking a ridge on lower half or so.

Male genitalia ( Figs 37a–d ). Pygofer in ventral view ovoid to sub ovoid, distal portion of upper pygofer lobes not the widest point, not strongly tapered from upper pygofer lobes to base; pygofer with distal shoulders not developed; upper lobes flat, small to moderately developed, set well away from dorsal beak, rounded; basal lobes undivided, moderately developed, broadly rounded in lateral view, abutted against or partly tucked behind pygofer margin; dorsal beak present as a pointed apex (visible in dorsal view) and a part of chitinized pygofer. Uncus small, short, flattened, more or less duck-bill shaped. Claspers well developed; restraining aedeagus; wide in lateral view, outer face with a deep overhanging lip along margin; unfused; distally diverging but their apices not widely separated. Aedeagus with basal plate in lateral view undulated, weakly depressed on dorsal midline, in dorsal view longer than broad, apically broadened with ‘ears’; ventral rib completely fused with basal plate; junction between theca and basal plate with a functional ‘hinge’ that possesses a chitinous back; thecal shaft gently and evenly curved; pseudoparameres long, much longer than theca, slender, lateral of theca and originating at its base, unfused throughout their length, gradually diverging in dorsal view, in lateral view aligned with thecal shaft for its length; endotheca concealed; no ventral support; flabellum absent; conjunctival claws absent; vesical opening apical on theca.

Female with sternite VIII deeply incised in a V shape; abdominal segment 9 a little wider than long (excluding dorsal beak); dorsal beak with a developed apical spine.

Distinguishing features and relationships. Small cicadas. Distinguished from all other genera in having, in combination, forewing veins M and CuA meeting the basal cell with their stems completely fused as one; the hindwings with 5 apical cells and without infuscation; the paranota lacking a small mid lateral tooth, the male abdomen wider than the thorax and male genitalia with pseudoparameres much longer than the theca (almost half as long again).

A molecular phylogeny by Marshall et al. (2016: fig. 2) placed Parvopsalta gen. n. (as “podgy black”) in a clade with four other undescribed Western Australian species, that in turn was sister to the monotypic genus Urabunana Distant, 1905 from Queensland and New South Wales. Parvopsalta gen. n. differs most notably from Urabunana in having the head including eyes no wider than the pronotum (wider in Urabunana ) and pseudoparameres that arise from the thecal base, are unfused throughout their length, and almost half as long again as the theca (in Urabunana the pseudoparameres arise distal of the thecal base, are only a little longer than the theca, and are dorsally fused almost to their apices).

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. (1a) Illyria viridis sp. n., male; (1b) Illyria viridis sp. n., female; (2) Pedana hesperia gen. et sp. n., male; (3a) Chrysocicada trophis sp. n., male; (3b) Chrysocicada trophis sp. n., female; (4) Parvopsalta victoriae gen. et sp. n., male; (5) Ewartia adusta sp. n., female; (6) Pegapsaltria lutea gen. et sp. n., male; (7a) Kalarko ferruginosus gen. et sp. n., male; (7b) Kalarko ferruginosus gen. et sp. n., female.

FIGURES 36–37. Parvopsalta victoriae sp. n. (36) distribution; (37a) male genitalia in lateral view; (37b) same in ventral view; (37c) dissected aedeagus in lateral view; (37d) basal plate in dorsal view.

FIGURE 38. Parvopsalta victoriae sp. n., male calling song. (38a, b) oscillogram and spectrogram showing several short-long syllable pairs from a caged male (23°C); (38c) further detail of syllable structure.