Rouxalna scabens Delorme 2018, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Delorme, Quentin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadidae
Rouxalna
Rouxalna scabens

description: Rouxalna scabens sp. nov.
(Figs. 3–7)
Material examined. Holotype male (MNHN 23543), New-Caledonia, Province sud, Païta, Mont Mou, 12/I/2013, Quentin Delorme, caught by net. Coll. Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle Paris (MNHN), 1 male, New- Caledonia, Province sud, Saint-Louis, Pic Malaoui, 10/I/2013, Quentin Delorme, caught by net. (MNHN); 5 males, New-Caledonia, Province sud, Païta, Mont Mou, 08/II/2013, Quentin Delorme, caught by net (QDC), 1 male New- Caledonia, Province sud, Progny, 19/I/2013, Quentin Delorme, caught by net (MNHN), 2 males New-Caledonia, Province sud, Dumbea, cascade des Koghis 13/I/2013, Quentin Delorme, caught by net (MNHN); 1 male New- Caledonia, Province sud, Dumbéa, vallée des Dzumacs, 14/II/2013 Quentin Delorme, caught by net (MNHN), 1 male, New-Caledonia, Province sud, Thio, Petit Borindi, 19/II/2015, Quentin Delorme, caught by net (CXMNC).
Body measurements (in mm, n= 12, mean [range]). FL: 16.8 [15.0–17.7]; BL: 15.1 [13.9–16.1]
Etymology. From Latin “scabere” meaning “scratch” because of the male calling song.
Diagnosis. Among Rouxalna species, R. scabens sp. nov., can be distinguished from R. rouxi by the smaller size (body length less than 16 mm); the long ribs 1 and 2 which are fused ventrally (R. rouxi has ribs 1 and 2 unfused ventrally) and ribs 1 to 4 fused dorsally (R. rouxi has the long rib 4 unfused dorsally). Rouxalna villosa sp. nov., differs by the presence of dense long black hair on the body.
Morphology. Description of male (Figs. 3–6). Head. VerteX mostly black with pink ocelli. Epicranial suture ochraceous, wide and deep. Frons entirely black. Dorsal postclypeal area flat, ochraceous with sparse short hair. Supra-antennal plate black with wide orange margin. Antennal flagella and pedicel black. Postclypeus contrasted; laterally brown with black median section; slightly domed with seven to eight transverse grooves. Anteclypeus mostly black, eXcept a brown median part; covered by sparse long black hair. Rostrum with labrum and mentum brownish, eXcept apeX which is darker; rostrum reaching base of mid coXae; covered by sparse short silver hair.
Thorax. Pronotum mostly black with wide median linear ochraceous fasciae, covered by sparse short silver hair. Pronotal collar ochraceous, and lateral parts black. Mesonotum and parapsidal suture ochraceous; submedian and lateral sigilla black; scutal depression distinct. Cruciform elevation ochraceous eXcept black anterior branches. Opercula more or less reaching margin of tympanal cavity, directed towards distomedial margin of tympanal cavity, apically broadly rounded; whitish at base becoming blackish at tip and bearing sparse silver pubescence.
Wings. Fore wing hyaline; venation pale brown, becoming darker towards apical cells and ambient veins; pterostigma partly obscur. Hind wings hyaline; venation brownish.
Legs. Covered by sparse short silver hair; fore femora brown to black at lateral margins. Mid and hind femora brown to ochraceous. Fore and mid tibiae dark brown, becoming blackish apically. Fore and mid tarsi and claws dark brown. Meracantha sharp, black with whitish margin, much shorter than opercula.
Abdomen. Tergites covered by short silver pubescence; tergites 1 and 8 uniformly black; tergite 2 black with wide ochraceous posterior margin; tergite 3 to 7 mostly black with narrow ochraceous margin and greenish posterior margin. Sternite I to VIII uniformly brown. Timbals bearing siX long ribs; ribs 1 and 2 fused ventrally; ribs 1 to 4 fused dorsally; ribs 5 and 6 unfused ventrally and dorsally; rib 6 much shorter than other ribs; five intercalary ribs.
Genitalia. Pygofer entirely dark brown to blackish; upper lobes black, roundish; lower lobes rounded, not prominent but distinct. Median lobe of uncus, blackish, flat, as long as wide. Thecal pseudoparameres slender, apically divergent, sharp. Claspers brown, unfused, distally parallel to each other; their apices affiXed; apically obtuse, not hooked.
Acoustic behavior. Male calling song (Fig. 7) is formed by a regular succession of phrases emitted at a rate of 4 per second. Each phrase is formed by 2 syllables: a group of 7 echemes and one isolated echeme. Frequency ranges from 5,000 to> 20,000 Hz. The dominant frequency is located between 8,000 and 11,000 Hz and the maXimum of power is located at 9,500 Hz.
Description of female. Unknown.
Distribution. Endemic to south of New Caledonia Main Island.
Habitat and ecology. Rouxalna scabens sp. nov., inhabits shrubbery vegetation of mining scrub formation where Niaouli trees (Melaleuca quinquenervia) are scattered or absent. The populations discovered at Mont Mou, Pic du Pin, Dzumacs, Parc Provincial de la Riviere bleue and Petit Borindi, are localized on ultramafic soil. No information on seasonality and peak period of emergence is recorded.
description: Published as part of Delorme, Quentin, 2018, Germalna, a new genus for the New Caledonian cicada previously assigned to the genus Melampsalta Kolenati, plus a complement to the description of the genus Rouxalna Boulard, with the description of two new species (Insecta: Hemiptera, Cicadoidea, Cicadidae) in Zootaxa 4377 (1), DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4377.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/1163266