Becquartina bicolor, Sarkar & Thangkhiew & Mahapatra & Mohapatra & Nair & Hajong, 2024

Sarkar, Vivek, Thangkhiew, Rodeson, Mahapatra, Cuckoo, Mohapatra, Pratyush P., Nair, Manoj V. & Hajong, Sudhanya R., 2024, Discovery of the cicada genus Becquartina Kato, 1940 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae) in India with the description of a new species from Meghalaya, Zootaxa 5432 (1), pp. 96-108 : 98-107

Becquartina bicolor sp. nov.

(Table 1; Map 1 ; Figures 1–3 )

Material Examined

Holotype. (saffron colour form). “ INDIA / Meghalaya / S.G.Hills / BNP/ 17.v.2017; NCBS-BH997 / 25°14'46.77"N, 90°51'41.83"E / 525 meters asl / V. Sarkar / 1”male)/ ( NCBS).

Paratypes. (white colour form) “ INDIA / Meghalaya / S.G.Hills / BNP/ 17.v.2017 / NCBS-BH998 / 25°14'46.77"N, 90°51'41.83"E / 525 meters asl / V. Sarkar / 1” female ( NCBS) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 18.v.2020; NEBIORES-259 and NEBIORES-260 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 2” female ( DZNH) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 18.v.2020; NEBIORES-261 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 1” female ( ZSIS) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 26.iv.2021; NEBIORES-262 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 1” male ( ZSIS) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 26.iv.2021; NEBIORES-263 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 1” male ( ZSIS) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 09.v.2021; NEBIORES-265 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 1” male ( DZNH) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 04.v.2021 and 09.v.21; NEBIORES-264 and NEBIORES-266 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 2” male ( DZNH); “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 09.v.2021; NEBIORES-267 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 1” female ( DZNH) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 09.v.2021; NEBIORES-268 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew /1” female ( DZNH) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 08.v.2022; NEBIORES-269 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew & S.R.Hajong / 1” female (DZNH) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 09.v.2022; NEBIORES-270 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew / 1” female ( DZNH) ; “ INDIA / Meghalaya / Ri Bhoi District / Nongpoh/ Nongkhrah community forest / 09.v.2022; NEBIORES-271 / N25°56.219’; E091°52.4’ / 560 meters asl / R.Thangkhiew & S.R.Hajong / 1” male ( DZNH).

Etymology: The species name bicolor was used in reference to the fact that there are two distinct colour forms of this species.

General Measurements: As given in Table-1

Description of Holotype (NCBS-BH997)

Head: Black head with overlaid golden brown hairs, both dorsal and ventral sides. Eyes piceous, ocelli pale sanguine. Two rich castaneous round spots, lateral to anterior arms of epicranial suture, adjacent to the lateral supra-antennal plate. Postclypeus shiny dark brown with a median dark region at the apex, dark transverse groove with overlaid golden brown hairs in between with few longer dark hairs. Junction between the lorum and postclypeus appears golden. In both live and pinned specimen due to thick overlaying of golden brown hairs. Anteclypeus same colour as the postclypeus, rostrum darker brown. Rostrum short, barely reaches 3 rd basisternum. Scape and pedicel of antenna dark, flagellum pale at the base and tip and dark in the middle.

Thorax: Dark chocolate brown thorax with areas overlaid with golden brown hair. Pronotum with a median ‘I’-shaped dark patch dorsally with mosaic of light to dark brown patches. Paramedian fissure and lateral fissure of pronotum light brown. In live specimen, the pronotal collar uniformly dark brown, same as the central dark patch, with thin pale lateral margin that briefly extends to the lateral angle. The colour of the pronotal collar is not as dark as the median, ‘I’-shaped mark, dark patch and the pale lateral margin is more distinct and extends prominently to lateral angle in pinned specimen. Mesonotum entirely dark chocolate brown except rich pale chestnut parapsidal suture and thin pale chestnut lateral margin which is paler anteriorly towards the pronotal collar and turns darker posteriorly towards metanotum and mix with the dark chestnut brown of the base colour. Scutal depressions are of the same colour of mesonotum and look distinct due to the over laying golden brown hair-like structures in the surrounding area. Scutellum has same dark chocolate brown colour as the mesonotum except for the basal pale chestnut edge, adjacent to the first abdominal tergite. Wing groove of the metanotum dark brown. The outer edge of the metanotum have a thick ridge which is brilliant turquoise in live specimens, with a brown inner part adjacent to the mesonotum. The turquoise edge of the metanotum turns pale brown in pinned specimens. Legs dark and covered with pale golden hairs. Tibia of second and third pair of legs with a thin and incomplete chestnut ring distal to femur-tibia joint. Opercula globous, short, barely exceed half of second sternite, edged with thick golden brown hairs. In live specimens, the opercula and ventral body are uniformly dark brown, almost blackish, whereas in pinned specimens the operculum is paler compared to the base colour of the ventral thorax. Meracanthus short, not exceeding the inner opercular margin.

Wings: Wings with two chromatic variations. Forewing with two fasciae, basal and post-internodal transverse, rich orange or chestnut. Forewing with three apical spots in the proximal portion of apical cells 3, 4, and 5. All forewing veins red except at the basal fasciae where arculus, cubitus posterior vein including first anal vein and base of cubital anterior and median veins same as the colour of the fascia torques pale greenish. The veins of the broad post-internodal transverse fascia of forewing green on teneral specimen, gradually turning red with time. This oblong, spindle shaped, post-internodal transverse fascia broad at the centre and narrow at both ends, runs from the costa to the hind margin without joining at both ends. Basal fascia covers entire clavus, more than half of cubital cell and the trace of it at the base of both medial cell and radial cell. Basal one third of hindwing rich saffron and apical two third matte black with prominent rich saffron squarish spots from 2 nd to 4 th sub-apical cells and traces of spot on 1 st and 5 th apical cells. These sub-apical spots collectively appear as a sub-apical patch, divided by thin black veins. The basal veins at the basal pale area same as the basal colour, rich saffron. Less than one third of basal anal lobe saffron and rest is darker.

Abdomen: Abdomen matte black dorsally and piceous below. Timbal cover greatly reduced, cursorily covering the timbal from posterior making the timbal exposed from above and side.

Male Genitalia: As shown in the image Figure-2.E. Genitalia simple. Median lobe of uncus is fused with claspers which bifurcates narrowly at the distal end. Clasper narrows gradually and become pointed at the tip. Aedeagus comes out from this bifurcation of claspers. The gonopore is elongated, slit like with shiny brown ridgelike structure on both sides adjoining the claspers. Distal shoulders prominent.

Female (NCBS-BH998)

Head: Similar to the male but the spot at the outer side of anterior arm of epicranial suture, adjacent to the supra-antennal plate pale greenish yellow.

Thorax: Thorax similar to male, dark chocolate brown with areas overlaid with golden brown hairs. Paramedian fissure and lateral fissure of pronotum lighter than the black base. Rich pale chestnut parapsidal suture of mesonotum and thin pale chestnut lateral margin paler towards the pronotum collar and turn darker gradually towards metanotum, mixing with the dark chestnut brown of the base colour. Rest of the thorax same as in the male. Opercula small and short, meracanthus exceeding distal opercular margin

Wings: Forewing with two fasciae, basal and post-internodal transverse fascia, greenish brown in live specimens and turning orange-yellow in pinned specimens. Three apical spots present on proximal portion of apical cells 3–5. All forewing veins red except at the basal fasciae where arculus, cubitus posterior vein including first anal vein and base of cubital anterior and median veins turquoise to pale greenish. The veins of the broad post-internodal transverse fascia of forewing green, even in older specimens. This post-internodal transverse fascia fleetingly broader than the fascia in males, enters into the basal area of 7 th and 5 th apical cells. This spindle shaped median fascia runs from the costa to the hind margin without joining at both ends, same as the male. Basal one third of hindwing pale, faintly greenish white and apical two third matte black with pale squarish spots from 2 nd to 4 th sub-apical cells and traces of spot on 5 th apical cell. These white sub-apical spots with off-white borders (Figue-1.F) collectively appear as a sub-apical patch, divided by thin black veins. The basal veins at the basal pale area yellowish off-white. Less than one third of basal anal lobe white and rest darker.

Abdomen: Abdomen matte black dorsally and piceous below, same as the male.

Female Genitalia: The ovipositor sheath not extravagantly long, slightly exceeds 9 th tergite. Gonocoxite IX dark brown with pale or yellowish white base. Tip of the ovipositor sheath hairy, almost looks like a tuft of hair at the end of the genitalia.

Colour forms: Two distinct colour forms were observed in individuals of both the sexes, this differences is more apparent in the transverse fascia of the forewing and in the anal region of the hindwing (Figure-1; Figure-2A, B, C, D; Figure-5). The two colour forms recognised in both the populations are as follows.

Colour form 1 (saffron colour form) ( Figure 5. A, B )

In form 1 the post-internodal transverse fascia on forewing is rich orange or chestnut. Basal one third of hindwing rich saffron and apical two third matte black with prominent rich saffron squarish spots from 2 nd to 4 th sub-apical cells and traces of spot on 1 st and 5 th apical cells. These sub-apical spots collectively appear as a sub-apical patch, divided by thin black veins (Figure-1.E). The basal veins at the basal pale area same as the basal colour, rich saffron. Less than one third of basal anal lobe saffron and rest is darker.

Colour form 2 (white colour form) ( Figure 5 : C, D)

The second or form 2, has a post-internodal transverse fascia on forewing which is greenish brown in live specimen and terns orange-yellow in pinned specimens. Basal one third of hindwing pale, faintly greenish white and apical two third matte black with pale squarish spots from 2 nd to 4 th sub-apical cells and traces of spot on 5 th apical cell. These white sub-apical spots with off-white borders (Figure-1.F) collectively appear as a sub-apical patch, divided by thin black veins. The basal veins at the basal pale area yellowish off-white.

Diagnosis: Becquartina bicolor is very different in appearance due to the lack of black veins and darker suffusion along the venation in the forewing, unlike B. decorata , B. electa , and B. bifasciata . Compared to B. ruiliensis , B. bicolor sp. nov. has a broad transverse fascia, three apical spots, and the basal fascia entering the radial cell on the forewing and differs from B. bleuzeni , which has a narrow transverse fascia and basal fascia reduced only to the claval area on the forewing, and with hindwing entirely black.

B. bicolor sp. nov., is a medium sized cicada with dark vestiture which morphologically resembles closely with B. versicolor . Becquartina bicolor sp. nov. has the following morphological differences:-the forewing has three apical spots at 3 rd to 5 th apical cell, all the veins are red; the basal one-third of the hindwing is pale, and the apical two-third is matte black with pale spots from 2 nd to 5 th apical cells, unlike all the variations of B. versicolor where the basal half of the hindwing is white or dark red or tinged with orange or significantly reduced to non-existent or even the entire hindwing may be chestnut in colour and with rest of the apical area yellowish brown without spots.

The claspers of B. versicolor are more elongated, oblong at the distal end, and rounded at the tip, whereas B. bicolor sp.nov. have tapered claspers that are pointed at the tip.

B. versicolor have a continuous call consisting of short (0.14 to 0.15 second), repetitive, and near-uniform oviform that are tightly compressed, 5 to 6 echemes per second. In contrast, complete male timbalisations of B. bicolor sp. nov. last for 60 to 110 seconds, consisting of multiple longer echemes between 7 to 10 second long each. The frequency intensity is highest at around 6kHz in the case of B. versicolor timbal call, whereas it is highest at around 4kHz in the case of B. bicolor sp. nov.

Distribution, biotype and behaviour: This cicada was first found in and around the plateau of Balpakram National Park of South Garo Hills District of Meghalaya state in the year 2017. Later in 2020 the species was recorded from Nongkhrah community forest near Nongpoh in the Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya. It has not been recorded from other parts of Northeast India as of now. In the Garo Hills, the species prefers the thick forest at the gorge of the Balpakram plateau making it almost impossible to collect and they are often seen in few fragmented parts of plateau which have tall trees (Figure-4A&B). In Ri Bhoi, the habitat consists of native vegetation of a mixed subtropical forest, especially vegetation located near low lying humid and shaded areas (Figure-4C).

This cicada was observed to be active from the third week of April to the middle of June. In the year 2017, the first cicada was observed in the third week of April and last cicada was recorded in third week of June, the peak was the second week of May at Garo Hills. In 2019, the cicada was observed from the last week of April to the first week of June in the same locality. The die out of this species at the end of its annual activity seems to be greatly influenced by the heavy, continuous monsoon shower at the Balpakram plateau. In Ri Bhoi, their appearance was recorded during the month of April and remained until around the first week of June as observed during 2020 to 2022.

At Garo Hills, the males call rigorously from 7.30 am to 9.30 am and in the evening until dusk in a pseudo-chorus. After the morning calling session, a male randomly calls once in a while, which often instigates the timbalising in other nearby males but not at the intensity they show in the morning and evening. These calls are random and with longer pauses between them. As the day progresses, the time between the calls reduces, and they call more frequently towards the afternoon, which turns into rigorous and continuous calls by 4.30 pm and continues at the same magnitude till dusk.

However, the calling pattern is bit different in Ri Bhoi District. Calls are heard during daylight hours beginning around 8.30 am in the morning and continues until around 3.30 pm in the afternoon. Moreover, it is more pronounced between around 10.30 am to 2.30 pm. Further, they were heard equally during warm and sunny or overcast days.

The new species is not a true heliophilous species, it settles at the shadowed canopies of higher perches of tall trees, but they do need sun in the morning for calling. If overcast, the morning calling sessions are reduced or absent or only participated by a few individuals. On 16 th May 2017, a large congregation of this cicada was spotted and observed at the plateau adjacent forest at Balpakhram National Park at around 5.15 pm. The cicadas were calling even after sundown, passing the calling hour of the Pomponia linearis (Walker,1850)

Bioacoustics: The complete male timbalization of B. bicolor lasts for roughly 60 to 110 seconds, consisting of multiple echemes (denoted as M). There is a brief pause (denoted as P) of ± 1.29 seconds (n=13) in between the echemes (M). The duration of these echemes (M) in a call are not equal and in decreasing order, the first echeme being the longest and the last being the shortest. This trend was seen in all the recorded calls. Figure-3.A shows the temporal oscillogram transcribing 70 seconds of the full timbal call revealing a sequence of seven echemes (M) with pauses (P) in between and the spectrogram corresponding to the previous oscillogram making these pauses (P) more perceptible, despite of surrounding interference of other cicada species such as Platylomia operculata Distant, 1913 . Each echeme of this call is in descending order temporally. The duration of the first module is for 10.146 seconds, followed by other modules of 9.746, 9.133, 9.057, 8.59, 8.499, and 7.408 seconds. A single selected module of Figure-3.A is stretched in a space-time unit in Figure-3.B, allowing a better appreciation of the composition of both phrases. The repetitive echemes (M) resemble prolonged arrowheads. Each echeme (M) has two distinct phrases, a loose (22 pulses per second, ± 2 pulses, n=9), prolonged crackling, initiation phrase, denoted as I, and a short, compact (66 pulses per second, ± 6 pulses, n=14), buzzer-like ending phrase, denoted as E, followed by an abrupt stop (Figure-3.B). The pulses of the later part of the initiation phrase (I) become looser right before the initiation of the ending phrase (E), forming longer gaps after every other pulse. The primary harmonic zone is staged between 3.5kHz and a little over 3.9kHz.

Proposed Common Name: Based on its appearance, the name ‘Bicolor Butterfly Cicada’ seems appropriate for this species.

Remarks: Boulard (2007, 2013) termed many of the slow-flying, colourful cicadas as ‘butterfly cicadas’; such as Gaeana , Talainga Distant, 1890 , and Becquartina , based on which this term was used for its common name. The species is a slow flier, fluttering flight resembles day flying moths or aposematic Sulphogaeana sulphurea (Westwood, 1839) or Gaeana maculata maculata (Drury, 1773) . In fluttering flight against the perpetual wind of the Balpakram plateau, sometimes few of the wandering cicadas appear to be still in the flight and are taken far with the wind current soon after giving up against the wind.

It is noteworthy to mention that in respect to its distribution, B. bicolor sp. nov. is recorded currently only from areas adjacent to the Balpakram area, so far it has not been recorded from other adjoining areas. Similarly the same species was recorded from a small community forest in Ri Bhoi district, which is also close to the Nongkhyllem Wildlife sanctuary. It appears that B. bicolor sp. nov., has a patchy or disjunct distribution pattern and occur in isolated patches of forests that have remained undisturbed. Only a future survey will reveal whether the distribution of B. bicolor sp. nov. extends to the Western Himalayas and the Western Ghats.

Figures

MAP 1. A. Map showing the location of Meghalaya on India map. B. Location of Meghalaya (type locality) on Northeast India. C. Map showing the distribution of Becquartina bicolor sp. nov. in Meghalaya.

FIGURE 1. Becquartina bicolor sp. nov. A, C, E, G: Lateral view, dorsal view, wings and Ventral view of the male Cicada, Form 1 (Holotype: NCBS-BH997). B, D, F, H: Lateral view, dorsal view, wings and Ventral view of the female cicada, Form 2 (Paratype: NCBS-BH998). (Photo by V. Sarkar.)

FIGURE 2. Becquartina bicolor sp. nov. A, C: Dorsal view and ventral view of the male Cicada, Form 1. (Holotype: NCBS- BH997). B, D: Dorsal view and ventral view of the female cicada, Form 2 (Paratype: NCBS-BH998). E, F: Posterior and lateral view of the male genitalia. (Photo by V. Sarkar.)

FIGURE 3. Becquartina bicolor sp. nov. A, B: Cards for Identification by Acoustics (CIA).

FIGURE 5. Colour forms of Becquartina bicolor sp. nov. Habitus: Paratype, A. Male (Saffron form). B. Female (Saffron form) C. Male (White form), D. Female (white form) (Bar=1 cm) (Photo. S.R.Hajong)