Tettigomyiinae Distant, 1905e

Sanborn, Allen F., 2021, The cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) of Madagascar including a new tribe, five new genera, twelve new species, four new species synonymies, five revised species status, ten new combinations, new tribal assignments for four genera, one new subtribe synonymy, a checklist and key to the species, Zootaxa 4937 (1), pp. 1-79 : 47-48

Subfamily Tettigomyiinae Distant, 1905e

Remarks.—Species of Tettigomyiinae are distinguished by the unique mid lateral flange of the long, non-retractable uncus, the partially fused fore wing cubitus posterior and anal vein 1, the fused bases of the hind wing radius posterior and median veins, male opercula that are not S-shaped nor do they possess a deeply concave lateral margin, males lack abdominal timbal covers but may have a partially turned back rim along the timbal cavity, the developed male pygofer distal shoulder, the lack of pygofer upper lobes, the lack of claspers, an aedeagus that lacks a ventrobasal pocket and is restrained before or below the uncus, and the lack of lateral lobes on the apical theca ( Moulds 2005; Marshall et al. 2018).

Tribe Malagasiini Marshall & Moulds, 2018 (in Marshall et al. 2018b)

Malagasiini Marshall & Moulds 2018 (in Marshall et al. 2018): 49.

Anopercalnina Boulard 2008: 173. n. syn.

Remarks.—The tribe was recently erected based on a five gene phylogenetic tree to incorporate a group of genera primarily from Madagascar with a couple South African genera ( Marshall et al. 2018b). Species of the tribe are distinguished by the adjacent rather than separated costa and radius & subcostal veins, the pygofer dorsal beak, an aedeagus that is restrained by a ventral encapsulation of the basal uncus, the uncus is not very wide and duck-bill shaped, and the spatulate terminus of the aedeagus ( Marshall et al. 2018b). The presence of an anterior extension of abdominal sternite II over the posterior tympanal cavity of the male is also found in most species. Boulard (1980b) called this structure the sternal pallet or tympano-protective pallet.

Several genera are transferred here to Malagasiini based on the presence of structures, particularly the large, non-retractable uncus, characteristic of genera of the tribe. Anopercalnina Boulard, 2008 n. syn. is made a junior synonym of Malagasiini with a reassignment of the type genus from the Taphurini . The distinguishing characteristic of the subtribe, a lack of opercula, is considered a generic character and does not warrant continued subtribal rank within Malagasiini as there are other genera with unique features of the sound system that would also then require assignment to subtribal rank.

The synonymy of Anopercalnina n. syn. leaves Taphurini as a tribe composed entirely of Neotropical genera. The reassignment of multiple genera from Taphurini by Marshal et al. (2018) left what appeared to be an artificial grouping of primarily Neotropical genera and the Malagasy genus Anopercalna Boulard, 2008 . The reassignment of Anopercalna to the Malagasiini with genera that share similar morphological characteristics simultaneously clarifies the composition of Taphurini into a tribe of genera that now appear to be related evolutionarily to one another.