Strepuntalna renaudetii, Delorme, Quentin, 2017

Delorme, Quentin, 2017, Description of four new genera and five new species of cicadas from New Caledonia (Insecta: Hemiptera, Cicadoidea, Cicadidae), Zootaxa 4243 (1), pp. 97-124 : 106-109

Strepuntalna renaudetii sp. nov.

( Figs. 9–14 )

Material examinated. Holotype male ( MNHN 19330 ) and one paratype male ( MNHN 19331 ), Nouvelle- Calédonie, Province Sud, Monts Dzumac, 14/II/2013, Quentin Delorme rec, caught by net, ( MNHN) . Other specimens: 3 males, Nouvelle Calédonie, Prony, Pic du Pin 19/I/2013, Quentin Delorme rec, (Delorme personal collection) ; 3 males, same locality, 25/I/2015, Quentin Delorme rec, ( MNHN) .

Body measurements (in mm, first value refers to holotype and second to paratype). FL: 13.0, 14.5; FW: 5.0, 5.1; HW: 4.0, 3.9; HL: 1.1, 1.1; BL: 11.7, 11.5.

Description of male ( Figs. 9–13 ). Head. Vertex blackish with pink ocellus. Each ocellus set on black part of the vertex. Epicranial suture ocher. Dorsal postclypeal area ocher with black lateral margin. Scape and supraantennal plate ocher with short golden hairs. Pedicel and antennal flagella black. Postclypeus brownish, slightly domed with seven black transverse grooves. Anteclypeus bicolor; lower part brownish to ocher and upper part black with short golden hairs; rostrum with labrum and mentum greenish. Labium greenish with brown tip. Apex of rostrum reaching posterior trochanter. Gena and lorum blackish with dense and long golden hairs.

Thorax. Pronotum ocher with black ornamentations. Pronotal collar and lateral parts green to ocher. Lateral and paramedian fissure black. Mesonotum ocher; lateral sigilla and submedian sigilla black. Scutal depression marked by circular black patch. Metanotum and cruciform elevation entirely ocher. Opercula separated, as long as wide, greenish, with sparse long hairs on posterior margin.

Wings. Forewings hyaline; venation orange becoming darker towards apex. Hindwing hyaline; venation blackish.

Legs. On fore legs, coxa greenish with wide longitudinal brown patches along the medially and laterally margins; trochanter greenish with two brownish patches. Femur entirely greenish. Tibia greenish with short golden hairs; tarsus greenish with pretarsal claw brownish. On mid legs, coxa greenish with a wide linear brown spot on the anteromedian side; trochanter, femur, tibia and tarsus entirely yellowish green covered by short golden hairs. Hind legs similar to mid legs.

Abdomen. Tergite 1 brownish to blackish. Tergite 2 bicolor, with anterior margin black and posterior margin brown. Tergite 3 brown with black anterior margin and thin green posterior margin. Tergites 4, 5 6 and 7 brown with green posterior margin. Timbals with 5 long ribs free ventrally; long ribs 1 to 3 fused dorsally; long rib 5 very short; three intercalary ribs. Sternites bicolor; anterior margin brown and posterior margin green except sternites 7 and 8 entirely brown.

Genitalia. Pygofer brownish. Pseudoparamere of aedeagus straight and affixed to each other, curved downwards. Clasper affixed, curved downwards.

Acoustic behavior. Male calling song ( Fig. 14 ) composed of sequences lasting between 5.4 to 9.4 s and separated from each other by an interval of 0.85 to 1.2 s; each sequence is composed by 13 to 23 phrases (C). Phrase duration is around 0.4 s; each phrase is separated by an interval of 0.10 to 0.17 s. Phrases are formed by three parts. The first part, lasting about 0.12 s, is a series of echemes separated by interval of 0.005 to 0.006 s. The second part, lasting around 0.22 s, is a series of echemes repeated at a lower rate, with interval of 0.010 to 0.011 s.

The third part is a short isolated echeme separated by an interval of 0.2 s from the second part. The frequency content of the first part is slightly different from that of the second part because of its narrower range. Sound frequencies in the first part range from 14 to 22 kHz; those of the second part range from 10.5 to 22 kHz. Across all parts of the song, the dominant frequency lies between 15.5 and 21 kHz, with a maximum of energy at 16.5 kHz.

Males generally sing from within a dense shrub.

Description of female. Unknown

Derivation of name. Species kindly dedicated to ornithologist Ludovic Renaudet, who gave me the opportunity to discover this species at Monts Dzumac.

Distribution. Endemic to south of New Caledonia Main Island ( Fig. 31 )

Habitat and ecology. Strepuntalna renaudetii sp. nov., inhabits shrubbery vegetation of mining scrub formation where Niaouli trees ( Melaleuca quinquenervia ) are scatted or absent. The two population discovered, at Monts Dzumac and “Pic du Pin”, are localized on ultramafic soil. No information on seasonality and peak period of emergence is recorded.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Strepuntalna renaudetii sp. nov., aedeagus (Drawing: Delphine Cury)

FIGURE 10. Strepuntalna renaudetii sp. nov., dorsal view of holotype male (Photography: Laurent Fauvre, MNHN)

FIGURE 11. Strepuntalna renaudetii sp. nov., ventral view of holotype male (Photography: Laurent Fauvre, MNHN)

FIGURE 12. Strepuntalna renaudetii pygofer lateral view of holotype male (Photography: Laurent Fauvre, MNHN)

FIGURE 13. Strepuntalna renaudetii pygofer ventral view of holotype male (Photography: Laurent Fauvre, MNHN)

FIGURE 14. Strepuntalna renaudetii sp. nov. Nouvelle-Calédonie, Monts Dzumac, 14 / II / 2013, 12 h 00. Graphic representation of a typical male calling song. A) Oscillogram of a record of 27 seconds showing three wall sequences. B) Oscillogram of a 6 s sequence showing 14 phrases. C) Spectrogram of a 6 s sequence, showing 14 phrases; D) Oscillogram of five completes phrases. E) Spectrogram of five completes phrases. F) Power spectrum.

FIGURE 31. Distribution map of species.