Tsingya clarkei Hoch and Wessel, 2013

Hoch, Hannelore, Bourgoin, Thierry, Stelbrink, Björn & Wessel, Andreas, 2013, Small giants from Madagascan caves: autapomorphic giantism in the new cave-dwelling planthopper Tsingya clarkei gen. nov., sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Meenoplidae), Journal of Natural History 48 (15 - 16), pp. 919-935 : 927-930

Tsingya clarkei Hoch and Wessel sp. nov.

( Figures 1–9 )

Description

Habitus. Unusually large meenoplid, tegmina long, steeply tectiform, small compound eyes, pale bodily pigmentation.

Body length. Anterior margin of head to distal margin of tegmina. Males. 10.0– 10.6 mm (n = 2). Female. 11.5 mm (n = 1). Tip of head to distal margin of anal segment. Males. 6.9–7.0 mm (n = 2).

Colouration ( Figure 1 ). Body pale (white) throughout, except for compound eyes, these pigmented lightly red; tegmina translucent, venation white.

Configuration and proportions of head and thorax incl. legs, tegmina and wings as described for the genus ( Figures 2 and 3 ).

Male genitalia. ( Figures 4–7 ). Genital and anal segments as described for the genus. Parameres with ventral branch more strongly developed, dorsal branch differentiated into a strong, finger-shaped process bent medially, and a short, stout, apically blunt appendage, densely beset with setae, directed laterodorsally. Aedeagus with dorsal and ventral processes arising from a short, wide common base: dorsal trilobate process forming a half-pipe, with median part hood-shaped, distally subacute with phallotreme located medially at apex, phallotreme exposed ventrally; lateral lobes apically rounded, in lateral aspect slightly surpassing median lobe; ventral aedeagal process tongue-shaped, dorsally at base concave, distally taeniform, narrow, apically acute, its tip curved dorsally.

Female genitalia. ( Figures 8 and 9 ). As described for the genus.

Diagnosis

Tsingy clarkei sp. nov. is characterized by a unique combination of characters pertaining to the male genital structures: parameres bifurcate with ventral branch more strongly developed, aedeagus with a dorsal, trilobate process forming a halfpipe, and phallotreme situated medially at apex and a ventral, tongue-shaped, taeniform and apically acute process.

Etymology

The species is named in honour of the collector, Arthur Clarke (Honorary Research Associate in the School of Zoology , University of Tasmania) in Hobart, Tasmania ( Australia), ardent cave explorer, dedicated cave ecologist and biospeleologist, reliable caving buddy and good friend .

Distribution

Known only from Anjohy Manitsy (translates as “Cold Cave”) in the southernmost Petit Tsingy (“Little Tsingy ”) section of the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park east of Bekopaka, just north of the Manambolo River, in western Madagascar. Likely to be a narrow range endemic, T. clarkei is known only from Madagascar.

Ecology

Clarke (2003) reported that some substantial trees occur in the dense thickets of vegetation formed in the canyons and fault grabens between the elevated blocks of pinnacle karst. However, above the caves the karst surface is generally devoid of large trees and almost barren. Among the perilously razor sharp karren flutes, the surface vegetation in the tsingy itself is unique with many endemic xerophytic and/or water storage plants. Although the Bemaraha tsingy receives torrential downpours in the wet season, very little water remains on the surface and in the dry season the only moisture for 6–7 months is the nightly dew, so the karst is essentially an arid environment for much of the year. The “arid” flora of the Bemaraha karst surface typically includes cactiform succulents such as Euphorbia and Cynanchum , numerous bulbous stemmed plants or trees that hold water in their internal pith (e.g. Pachypodium, Adenia and the occasional baobab), the many thorned, narrow or spiny leafed xerophytic or xerophilous species such as Pandanus and Dracaena and the unusual leafless plants such as Commiphora with its photosynthesizing trunks and branches ( Clarke 2003).

Access to the enclosed cave collection site involved passing through a lushly forested canyon, before commencing a traverse of 40–50 m along a narrow 1.0– 1.5m wide, 30–40m high diaclase (roofless cave) rift with abundant tree roots. The entrance elevation (altitude) of the diaclase is approximately 130 m above sea level. Among the green-leafed foliage in the canyon and in the outer extremities of the diaclase, a number of vertebrate species were observed, including three smaller species of lemur: the common brown lemur Eulemur fulvus , the grey mouse lemur Microcebus murinus and a large nocturnal species the Milne-Edwards’ weasel lemur Lepilemur edwardsi and several reptiles. Along with one of the leaf-tailed Uroplatus geckos, three species of chameleons were noted; two species of Brookesia , Brookesia ebenaui and Brookesia perarmata , and the much longer Malagasy Giant Chameleon Furcifer oustelati . A colubrid snake Madagascarophis colubrinus occidentalis was also spotted in a Pandanus tree (A. Clarke, unpublished records, pers. comm.).

In the subdued daylight/twilight inner reaches of the Anjohy Manitsy diaclase rift heading into the roofed cave, several specimens of a locally known so-called nocturnal butterfly (a noctuid moth) were found on the rift walls. In the outer twilight section of the cave, two species of land snails were seen among tree roots and rootlets on the moist sandy floor: Kalidos griffithshauchleri (Ariophantidae) and Acroptychia bathiei (Cyclophoridae) . Two frogs were observed in this same outer part of cave: the grey-legged, red and brown-backed Mantella betsileo (Mantelidae) and a speckled brown frog, possibly the Mascarene Ridged Frog Ptychadena mascareniensis (Ranidae) . In this outer twilight zone, there was also a dark brown coloured flatworm 12–14 cm long, with broadly flattened bulbous head, which may possibly predate on the cavernicolous species including the planthoppers. All three specimens of Tsingya clarkei were found in the inner high humidity dark transition zone of the cave, collected from the subterranean roots of an unidentified surface tree and from smaller rootlets in clay soil adjacent to the cave wall. Among the other cave-dwelling invertebrates in Anjohy Manitsy, there were unidentified species of depigmented isopods, entomobryid springtails and millipedes.

Remarks

With 10.0– 11.5 mm in length, Tsingya clarkei sp. nov. is the largest known meenoplid to date.

Material examined

Holotype male: MADAGASCAR, Anjohy Manitsy , Petit Tsingy , Tsingy de Bemaraha , east of Bekopaka, western Madagascar, May 2003, Arthur Clarke leg., MNHN.

Paratypes. 1 male, 1 female, same data as holotype, MNHN .

Figures

Figure 1. Map of Madagascar (composed and modified from satellite photos provided by Google Earth™), the simplified geology shows the limestone areas (red = Tertiary limestones + marls and chalks; yellow = Mesozoic limestones + marls (incl. “tsingy”), modified after Du Puy and Moat 1996: Figure 1), area enlarged (bottom right): southernmost Petit Tsingy (“Little Tsingy”) section of the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park east of Bekopaka, just north of the Manambolo River. Upper right corner: Tsingya clarkei sp. nov. (still images from the wildlife documentary “Voyage to the center of the stone”: Gabriel 2003), see also supplementary movie.

Figure 2. (A) Head and thorax, dorsal aspect; (B) head, ventral aspect. Scale bar 0.5 mm.

Figure 3. Right tegmen, maximal aspect. Scale bar 1 mm.

Figure 4. (A) Male genital segment, caudal aspect; (B) male genitalia, in situ, left lateral aspect. Scale bar 0.5 mm.

Figure 5. Male genitalia, dissected. Male anal segment, dorsal aspect. Scale bar 0.1 mm.

Figure 6. Malegenitalia, dissected.Aedeagus (A)dorsal aspect,(B) ventral aspect.Scale bar 0.1 mm.

Figure 7. Male genitalia, dissected. Parameres, ventral aspect. Scale bar 0.1 mm.

Figure 8. External female genitalia, in situ. (A) Right lateral aspect; (B) ventral aspect. Scale bar 0.5 mm.

Figure 9. Internal female genitalia, dissected, right lateral aspect. Scale bar 0.5 mm.