Sapantangini Sanborn, Moulds & Marshall

Sanborn, Allen F., Marshall, David C., Moulds, Maxwell S., Puissant, Stéphane & Simon, Chris, 2020, Redefinition of the cicada tribe Hemidictyini Distant, 1905, status of the tribe Iruanini Boulard, 1993 rev. stat., and the establishment of Hovanini n. tribe and Sapantangini n. tribe (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 4747 (1), pp. 133-155 : 147

Sapantangini Sanborn, Moulds & Marshall , n. tribe

Type genus Sapantanga Distant, 1905 .

Diagnosis

Head including eyes narrow, less than width across lateral pronotal angles; supra-antennal plates extending nearly to eye; eyes protruding laterally from head; lateral ocelli widely spaced, the distance between the lateral ocelli being greater than between each lateral to the median; postclypeus dorsal length at least as long as dorsal vertex; postclypeus apex rounded in lateral view, rounded in transverse cross section below head. Pronotum with shallow median groove; pronotal collar with paranota weakly developed; mid lateral tooth absent. Mesonotum and metanotum lacking auxiliary sound-producing structures; scutellum cruciform. Opercula small, not covering the tympanal cavity; meracanthus long and thin, finger-like, at base much narrower than base of operculum. Foreleg femoral primary spine prostrate. Forewing costal vein equal in width and contiguous to radius (R) + subcostal (Sc) vein; radius anterior vein 1 (RA1) diverging from Sc in subapical region; forewing CuP and 1A abutted (or perhaps partly fused); forewing veins M and CuA unfused and widely separated at basal cell; forewing cubitus anterior vein 1 (CuA1) divided by mediocubital crossvein (m-cu) such that proximal section shortest. Hind wing cubital cell 1 width at distal end not twice or more the width of cubital cell 2; hind wing RP and M veins unfused. Male abdominal tergites with sides convex in cross section; tergites 4–7 tapering; epipleurites reflexed to ventral surface. Timbals extended below level of wing bases; timbal covers absent, partially formed ridge on dorsal and ventral posterior timbal cavity. Pygofer dorsal beak absent; distal shoulder undeveloped; upper lobe absent; basal lobe moderately developed. Uncus large, minimally divided, not retractable within pygofer, bent almost at right angle near base, angled caudally; claspers absent. Aedeagus with theca simple; conjunctival claws and pseudoparameres unknown.

Distinguishing features

Differs from all other tribes in having, in combination, the supra-antennal plates extending nearly to eye, forewing veins CuP and 1A abutted (perhaps partially fused), forewing veins M and CuA unfused and widely separated at basal cell, fore femora primary spine prostrate, the pygofer upper lobe absent, and a long non-retractable uncus that is significantly bent posteriorly near the base.

Sapantangini n. tribe can be distinguished from the Chilecicadini Sanborn, 2014 by the forewing vein CuA1 being divided by m-cu such that the proximal section is shortest, the diverging veins RA1 and Sc in the subapical forewing, the base of meracanthus not about as wide as the base of operculum, the lack of a broadening on abdominal tergite 2 posterior to the timbal cavity, the pygofer basal lobe not reaching to the level of the uncus, and the slightly divided uncus bent posteriorly at an approximate right angle. Sapantangini n. tribe can be distinguished from the Platypediini Kato, 1932 by the presence of timbals and the lack of thickened and bowed forewing costa for sound production. Sapantangini n. tribe differs from the Selymbriini Moulds & Marshall (in Marshall et al. 2018) in the head that is narrower than the lateral pronotal collar angles, the turned-back rim on the timbal cavity being restricted to the dorsal and ventral margins of the timbal cavity, the lack of a well-developed dorsal beak, and the lack of an upper pygofer lobe. Sapantangini n. tribe differs from the Tettigadini Distant, 1905d in the head being not as wide as the mesonotum, the lack of dilated pronotal margins, the lack of a mesonotal stridulatory apparatus, the lack of a coiled aedeagus, and the presence of a caudally bent uncus. Sapantangini n. tribe differs from the Tibicinini Distant, 1905e in the lack of a broadening of abdominal tergite 2 posterior to the timbal cavity, lack of a cylindrical abdomen (e.g. semicircular dorsal cross-section with transverse ventral surface), and the presence of a caudally bent uncus, although Sapantanga does share some distinctive character states with various genera of the Tibicinini . Finally, Sapantangini n. tribe can be distinguished from Hemidictyini by the metanotum being exposed on the dorsal midline, the lack of multiple reticulations of the forewing and other leaf-mimicry attributes, the unfused CuP and 1A forewing veins, and the absence of a deep division of the uncus.