Zeoliarus Larivière & Fletcher

Larivière, Marie-Claude & Fletcher, Murray J., 2008, A new genus, Zeoliarus, for the endemic New Zealand species Oliarus atkinsoni Myers and O. oppositus (Walker) (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae: Cixiinae: Pentastirini), Zootaxa 1891, pp. 66-68 : 67-68

Zeoliarus Larivière & Fletcher , gen. nov.

Type species ( Fig. 1 ). Oliarus atkinsoni Myers, 1924 , here designated.

Description. Head. Vertex (total length) 0.9–1.7 times as long as wide; lateral carinae slightly to moderately elevated; subapical carina forking from lateral margin at 3/4 or more of total length of vertex; median carina 1/4 to about 1/ 2 as long as median length of vertex. Position of maximum width of frons more or less around centre of frontoclypeal suture; lateral carinae of frons convex (almost rectilinear apically) to somewhat s-shaped. Anteclypeus with a well-developed median carina.

Thorax. Forewings with fork of ScRA+ RP distad of fork of CuA1+CuA2; r-m crossvein basad of fork MA+MP; RP apically bifid (usually); MA apically trifid (usually); MP apically bifid (usually); fork of Pcu+A1 distinctly basad or more or less central within clavus. Hindlegs: tibiae with 2–3 lateral spines; 6 large apical teeth; 1st tarsomere with 7–8 apical teeth and no platellae; 2nd tarsomere with 13 teeth and 8–10 (usually 10) platellae.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus and genital style as illustrated ( Figs 2, 3 ): aedeagus, in ventral view, with 3 short spinose processes arising on the periandrium, flagellum with one process near its base and 2 at its tip ( Larivière, 1999); left genital style in ventrolateral view, stout, hammer-shaped, without long, sclerotised, spinelike, dorsal process.

Other characters as in description of “ Oliarus ” provided by Larivière (1999: 44).

Notes. In her description of the genus “ Oliarus ” Larivière (1999: 44) overlooked the presence of a median carina (or keel) extending from the base of the vertex, but figures 26 and 27 (p. 60, same work) clearly show the presence of this carina. The taxonomic revision of New Zealand “ Oliarus ” species by Larivière (1999) adequately addressed the taxonomy of the two species transferred to Zeoliarus gen. nov. and did not identify any undescribed pentastirine species. These taxa represent the full extent of the New Zealand Pentastirini fauna.

Löcker et al.’s (2006) key to genera of Australian Pentastirini is here modified to include Zeoliarus gen. nov., with couplet 1b inserted below between couplet 1 and couplet 2 of the original key:

1 Platellae on 2nd hind tarsomere absent.......................................................................................................................... 2 - Platellae on 2nd hind tarsomere present ...................................................................................................................... 1b 1b Platellae present on both 1st and 2nd hind tarsomere; 1st hind tarsomere with 12–16 apical teeth ........... Pentastiridius -1b Platellae present on 2nd hind tarsomere only; 1st hind tarsomere with 7–8 apical teeth .................. Zeoliarus gen. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Zeoliarus atkinsoni (Myers, 1924). Fig. 1, habitus, dorsal aspect (body length: 8 mm); fig. 2, male aedeagus, ventral aspect; fig. 3, male genital style, ventrolateral aspect. (Courtesy: Fauna of New Zealand Series)