A revision of the Ewartia oldfieldi (Distant) species complex (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettinae) with five new species from eastern and northern Australia Popple, Lindsay W. Zootaxa 2017 4263 3 401 449 8JSHV [151,347,1331,1357] Insecta Cicadidae Ewartia Animalia Hemiptera 38 439 Arthropoda species thamna sp. nov.     Types. Holotype: ♂[typed] ‘ AustraliaNT’ / ‘AU.NT.MTE 76 kmE of Mataranka’/ ‘ 14°54.888’S 133°42.780’E’/ ‘  77m  3 Feb. 2006’ / ‘Hill, Marshall, Moulds’ (  NTM);   Paratypes: ♀same data as holotype (  NTM);  1♂ 1♀same data as holotype ( QM);  2♂same data as holotype ( AE);  2♂same data as holotype ( LWP);  21♂ 2♀same data as holotype (  MSM).   Etymology. Latinised from the Greek word thamnos, meaning shrub. The name reflects the occurrence of the species in low, shrubby habitats.   Description. Male(Plate 2C; Figs 2E, 8E, 24B).  Head(including eyes) approximately as wide as mesonotum; ventral surface mainly pale green to pale yellowbrown; postclypeus and anteclypeus green to pale brown; rostrum pale brown anteriorly, becoming dark brown towards apex; dorsal surface entirely pale green to yellow-brown; ocelli pink; with scattered silver pubescence throughout and long silver pubescence behind eyes. Eyes faded to brown in preserved specimens. Antennae dark brown.  Thoraxwith scattered silver short pubescence. Pronotum pale green to yellow-brown throughout; pronotal collar mainly green to pale green, yellow-brown medially. Mesonotum pale green to pale brown, with a narrow brown midline extending posteriorly from between the submedian sigilla to the posterior margin; submedian and lateral sigilla yellow-brown, subtle; cruciform elevation brown; wing grooves and metanotum yellow-brown, with silver long pubescence.   FIGURE 30.Wave plots illustrating the complex calling song mode of  Ewartia thamna  n. sp., presented in expanded detail and labelled with relevant acoustic terminology. A: five complete subphrases. B: expanded diagram of the final subphrase showing syllable and accentuation components. C: detailed composition of a single syllable and the accentuation component, which in this case contains an echeme followed by a long gap, a macrosyllable (syllable doublet) and another long gap. The recording was obtained from 76 km E. of Mataranka (14°55'S 133°43'E) using RS5 (see Methods).  Legswith coxae and femora pale green to pale yellow-brown; tibiae pale green to pale yellow-brown; tarsi pale brown becoming darker towards apex of claws.  Wingswith fore wing costal veins pale green to pale yellow-brown; pterostigma pale brown to brown; basal membranes orange; veins CuA, CuP and M green to pale brown; other veins brown; with eight apical cells. Hind wing veins pale brown or pale green, becoming darker on the posterior side of the apical cells; plaga surrounded by white and pale brown coloration anteriorly, otherwise transparent; with six apical cells.  Operculabroadly rounded, pale green to pale brown, with plates relatively flat.  Timbalswith five long ribs; short (intercalary) ribs present between each long rib. Long ribs 1–3 attached to basal spur. Long rib 4 comparatively shorter. Long rib 5 narrow and short. All ribs sclerotised, pale and of very low contrast against timbal membrane.  Abdomen.Tergites mainly pale green to olive-brown, often yellow-brown along lateral posterior margins; darker midline coloration> 1 mmwide, approximately as wide as midline on mesonotum, brown, tending yellowbrown dorsolaterally. Sternites pale green to yellow-brown.  Genitalia.Pygofer, including dorsal beak, pale green to yellow-brown; upper lobes prominent, with apices rounded; basal lobes in lateral and ventral views broadly rounded. Uncus pale brown, in lateral view extended with apex rounded; claspers prominent with posterior section dark and outwardly curved, with apices broadly rounded ventrally. Aedeagus with pseudoparameres extending well beyond theca; endotheca fleshy; ventral support not extending to the same extent as endotheca.  Female(Plate 2D). Markings and coloration identical to male. Abdominal segment 9 green to olive-brown, with a brown midline; ovipositor sheath extends < 0.5 mmbeyond termination of this segment.  Measurements. N= 10♂ 2♀. Means and ranges (in parentheses), mm; BL ♂13.9 (12.7–14.8), ♀16.9 (16.4– 17.3); FWL: ♂17.5 (16.1–19.1), ♀19.6 (19.0–20.1); FWW: ♂5.9 (5.5–6.6), ♀6.7 (6.6–6.8); HW: ♂4.1 (3.7– 4.4), ♀4.4 (4.3–4.5); PW: ♂4.1 (3.7–4.5), ♀4.4 (3.9–4.8); AW: ♂4.5 (4.0–4.7), ♀4.2 (3.8–4.5).  Distinguishing features.  Ewartia thamna  n. sp.is distinctive in appearance relative to other species in the genus. It is a relatively uniform green to yellow-brown cicada, with a narrow, brown, dorsal stripe, which extends medially posteriorly from the centre of the mesonotum to the apex of the abdomen ( Fig. 2E). In overall appearance, it is most similar to  E. cuensis, which lacks the dorsal stripe entirely. It can also be distinguished readily from the remaining species in the genus by its narrow head width ( 3.5–4.5 mm; c.f.>5.0 mm for  E. brevis,  E. carina  n. sp.,  E. etesia  n. sp.,  E. lapidosa  n. sp.,  E. oldfieldiand  E. roberti  n. sp.).   Distribution and habitat.  Ewartia thamna  n. sp.is described from a single locality at the southern edge of the Top End of the Northern Territory, some 76 kmeast of Mataranka ( Fig. 25). Adults were found in low bushes and in grass in dry open shrubland on weathered sediments. Specimens have been collected in early February. The distribution of  E. thamna  n. sp.overlaps with  E. etesia  n. sp.and both species have been collected at the same site (the typelocality of  E. thamna  n. sp.).  Calling song. The only available recordings of  E. thamna  n. sp.made by David Marshall and Kathy Hill (n=5) do not appear to contain a definitive simple calling song mode. Due to this limitation, only the complex calling song mode is described here. This calling song mode ( Fig. 30) contains a sequence of 5–12 syllables (each 0.010– 0.012 sduration) or short macrosyllables (each comprising 2 syllables, 0.021– 0.027 sduration), each separated by a gap of 0.033– 0.144 sduration. This is followed by a shorter sequence of 3–5 of the short macrosyllables separated by a shorter gap of 0.008– 0.044 sduration. The subphrase then either concludes with a gap of 0.051– 0.114 sduration or proceeds rapidly to the accentuation. The accentuation comprises a single long macrosyllable or short echeme (0.052– 0.127 sduration) followed by a gap of 0.063– 0.168 sduration. Some interruptions are apparent in a few passages of successive subphrases that do not contain the accentuation, which may indicate a potential transition to a simple calling song component. These interruptions are formed by an atypically large gap of up to 0.327 s, typically occurring after the third syllable in the initial syllable sequence of each subphrase. The calling song exhibits no apparent change in frequency spectra between song modes. In each mode the calling song typically has a highest amplitude frequency plateau between 12.0 and 19.1 kHz, with a dominant frequency between 15.7 and 16.3 kHz (mean=16, n=3; e.g. Fig. 29C). As a consequence, the call is higher pitched than other examples in the  Ewartia oldfieldispecies complex. This includes  E. etesia  n. sp., which has been found at the same location as  E. thamna  n. sp.( Fig. 25), and produces a calling song with a similar temporal structure (cf. Figs 26, 27with Fig. 30). 1502352960 2006-02-03 NTM Australia 77 -14.9148 Mataranka' 1 133.713 38 439 1 1 holotype 1502352959 [777,1281,1473,1498] 2006-02-03 NTM Australia 77 -14.9148 Mataranka' 1 133.713 38 439 1 1 paratype 1502352961 2006-02-03 NTM Australia 77 -14.9148 Mataranka' 1 133.713 38 439 2 1 1 paratype 1502352966 [425,784,1509,1534] 2006-02-03 NTM Australia 77 -14.9148 Mataranka' 1 133.713 38 439 2 2 paratype 1502352964 [798,1179,1509,1534] 2006-02-03 NTM Australia 77 -14.9148 Mataranka' 1 133.713 38 439 2 2 paratype 1502352962 2006-02-03 MSM Australia 77 -14.9148 Mataranka' 1 133.713 38 439 23 2 21 paratype