Pycna semiclara Germar, 1834

Midgley, John M., Bouwer, Nicolette & Villet, Martin H., 2013, The final instar exuvium of Pycna semiclara Germar, 1834 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), African Invertebrates 54 (1), pp. 171-175 : 172-174

Pycna semiclara Germar, 1834

Figs 1–3

Pycna semiclara: Germar 1834: 82 .

Description:

Exuvium.

Body 1.9 cm long, light brown, not narrow or elongated; profile curved. Legs and ventral side sparsely covered with bristles ( Fig. 2 ).

Head. In dorsal view, including eyes, about twice as wide as long; slightly wider than anterior margin of pronotum. Antenna small, not extending past clypeus; with six segments. Clypeus in dorsal view rounded, bulbous; profile rounded. Rostrum reaching base of metacoxae.

Thorax. Pronotum in dorsal view about half the length of mesonotum. Metanotum very small compared to pronotum and mesonotum. Apex of fore wing reaching third abdominal segment; hind wing reaching third abdominal segment ( Fig. 2 ). Legs and ventralregion of thorax with sparse setae. Profemur ( Fig. 3A ) with posterior tooth long, sharp, curved forward slightly; about 3× as long as wide at base. Accessory posterior tooth small, blunt. Intermediate tooth present. Diastema betweenintermediate tooth (itf) and posterior tooth (ptf) wide; diastema between itf and ptf longer than length of ptf. Profemoral comb with 7 teeth.Apical toothof comb slightly blade-like; pointed. Protibia ( Fig. 3A ) withwell-developed blade; untoothed; with one pointed, well-developed, preapical tooth. Apical tooth about 1.5× as long as width of base; separated from previous tooth by deep notch. Protarsus ( Fig. 3A ) two-segmented; apical tarsomere elongated; protarsal claws of unequal size. Mesotibia ( Fig. 3B ) without lateral spines or protrusions; with five apical spines, one much smaller than the others. Mesotarsus two-segmented; apical tarsomere elongated; mesotarsal claws of unequal size. Metatibia ( Fig. 3C ) with four large apical spines and two or three much smaller spines situated slightly higher up on leg and between the larger spines. Hind tarsus ( Fig. 3C ) two-segmented, apical tarsomere elongated; metatarsal claws of unequal size.

Abdomen ( Fig. 2 ). Short, cylindrical in cross section; in dorsal view, lacking distinct waist; with few ventral setae. Abdominal tergites without transverse rows of setae; tergites 6–10 with sparse hairs; tergite 7 with dark spot either side of midline. Sternites three-quarters the width of abdomen proximal to thorax, tapering distally to onetenth the width of abdomen; covered with white tomentum. Sternite 1 lacking median protruberance. Sternite 10 of male with a single protrusion, pointed apically.

Material examined: SOUTHAFRICA: Eastern Cape: 2 exuviae, 1 teneral adult, Grahamstown, 33°19'06"S 26°32'06"E, 19.xi.2011, J.M. Midgley, fromleaves of Bulbine sp. growing under Dais cotinifolia L. (exuvium and adult) and nearby trunk of Grevillea robusta (Cunn.) (exuvium) ( AMGS 61197–61199 ) ; 1 exuvium, 2 adults, East London, 32°58'48"S 27°54'05"E, 23.xii.2011, C.A. Coombes, from stem of Syzygium sp. ( AMGS 61673–61675 ) .

Figures

Fig. 1. Distribution of Pycna semiclara.

Fig. 2. Lateral view of exuvium of Pycna semiclara. Scale bar = 5 mm.

Fig.3. Exuvium ofPycna semiclara: (A) outer lateralview ofright foreleg; (B) tibiaand tarsus ofmid leg; (C) tibia and tarsus of hind leg.Abbreviations: acf – accessory tooth of femur, apt – apical tooth of tibia, bt – blade of tibia, f – femur, fc – femoral comb, itf – intermediate tooth of femur,pbt – point of blade of tibia, ptf – posterior tooth of femur, t – trochanter, ti – tibia, ta – tarsus. Scale bars = 2 mm.