Austrimonus bidentatus, Fletcher & Dai, 2018

Fletcher, Murray J. & Dai, Wu, 2018, A new genus Austrimonus for Eutettix melaleucae Kirkaldy (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Opsiini) and nine new species, Zootaxa 4387 (2), pp. 310-330 : 323

Austrimonus bidentatus sp.nov.

zoobank.org:act:F852F7C8-FBCF-4095-9874-DCED03F9120A (Figs 17–18, 29)

Holotype male, 2 km W of Winton, Qld , 2.xi.1975, I.D. Galloway, D-vac, ASCTHE004625 (QM, ex QDPI, T207234).

Description. Head and thorax (Fig. 18) pale testaceous with faint brown markings. Tegmen (Fig. 17) whitish translucent with scattered brown speckling becoming darker towards apex.

Genitalia. Male: Subgenital plate ( Fig. 29B ) triangular with apices broken off in only known specimen. Paramere ( Fig. 29D ) with preapical lobe well developed, angular, apical lobe elongate, apically acute, angled laterally in apical portion. Connective ( Fig. 29C ) long with stem longer than arms. Aedeagus, in posterior view ( Fig. 29E ), with shafts elongate, divergent, straight with lateral triangular expansion below gonopore and shaft continuing beyond gonopore with second lateral triangular process before apex; in lateral view ( Fig. 29F ), shafts narrow throughout, evenly curved from base to apex, with triangular lateral processes extending posteriorly and apical process recurved strongly before acute apex. Basal apodeme ( Fig. 29F ), swollen above base before tapering to blunt apex, extended vertically, almost half length of shafts. Female: unknown.

Etymology. The species name reflects the presence of two short, triangular processes on the external margin of each aedeagal shaft.

Comments. This species is unusual in the simple structure of the aedeagal shaft and in the presence of lateral processes above and below the gonopore. It is assumed that the apex of each subgenital plate would taper evenly into a finger-like lobe as in other members of the genus although M. curvatus , M. litorus and A. biapicalis have this lobe undeveloped or poorly defined.

Figures

FIGURE29.A.bidentatus, male genitalia.A.terminalia,lateral view, B. subgenital plates and pregenital sternite, ventral view, C. connective, ventral view, D. paramere, E. aedeagus, posteroventral view, F. aedeagus, lateral view.