Nicidus Stal 1858
Creators: name: Constant, Jerome
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Eurybrachidae
Nicidus

description: Genus Nicidus Stål, 1858
Nicidus Stål, 1858: 451; Melichar, 1903: 69; Distant, 1906: 220, 229; Kirkaldy, 1906: 446; Schmidt, 1908: 242; Schmidt,
1911: 216; Metcalf, 1956: 30.
Type-species (by monotypy): Nicidus fusconebulosus Stål, 1858. Kandiana Distant 1892, synonymised by Melichar, 1903: 69
Type-species (by monotypy): Kandiana lewisi Distant 1892
Etymology. Nicidus: possibly derivated from the name of the Ancient Greece character Nikidès.
— Kandiana: the name is assumed to refer to the city of Kandy (Sri Lanka) where the specimen had probably been collected.
Diagnosis. The genus is recognizable by the following combination of characters: (1) medium sized insects (~ 15–22 mm in length); (2) tegmina narrow, more than 3 times longer than broad; (3) infraocular spine well developed, visible from above; (4) frons flat or slightly concave, not convex, at least twice as wide as long (e.g., Figs 16 and 21); (5) first segment of hind tarsi without pad of microsetae (Fig. 2); (6) hindwings narrowing and rounded apically; (7) clavus of tegmen open; (8) anterior tibiae flattened but not foliaceous. Known distribution restricted to the Oriental region.
Redescription. General coloration: greyish brown suffused with red to reddish brown.
Head: dorso-ventrally depressed, slightly broader than thorax; vertex nearly flat, twice broader than long, with all margins carinate, hind margin concave and anterior margin roundly pointed; lateral margins sinuate in lateral view (e.g., Figs 17 and 22); sides of head, infraocular spine and antennae largely visible from above; frons 2.0–2.4 times broader than long, with anterior margin rounded and carina on anterior margin of disc parallel to frons margin; nearly flat or with slight transverse depression in middle (e.g., Figs 16 and 21); clypeus reaching median coxae; labium surpassing median trochanters; apical segment of labium (Fig. 1) longer than broad, shorter and more narrow than penultimate, obliquely cut apically (Fig. 1); ocelli absent; antennae with scape very short and pedicel longer than broad, subcylindrical; infra-ocular spine well developed.
Thorax: about 1.4 times broader than length of pro- and mesonotum together; pronotum with oblique carina on each side of disc anteriorly and obsolete median carina; mesonotum with median carina, obsolete carina on each side of disc, and joint of scutellum distinct.
Tegmina: flat, elongate and narrow, subrectangular, about 3.3–3.8 times longer than broad; apex rounded; clavus open. Venation: vein C distinct on less than first third; veins Sc and R separated close to base; first fork of vein M well beyond Sc-R separation; veins A1 and A2 fused before apex of claval joint; cross-veinlets numerous, more abundant near apex.
Hind wings: well developed; as broad as, and 25–33% shorter than, tegmina, roundly pointed apically; not reaching apex of tegmina at rest; anal area well developed; cross-veinlets numerous; infuscate with transverse darker and paler bands near apex.
Legs: I and II short with femur and tibia dorso-ventrally flattened, elongate, not foliaceous; tibia III with 5–6 lateral and 8–9 apical spines; first hind tarsomere (Fig. 2) with 12–14 teeth ventrally near apex and without pad of microsetae (Fig. 2).
Genitalia ɗ: pygofer longer than broad, subtriangular in lateral view; gonostyli with postero-dorsal process; anal tube flattened dorso-ventrally, surpassing gonostyli; phallic complex reduced, with dorsal pair of processes.
Genitalia Ψ: anal tube elongate, curved postero-ventrad, surpassing gonoplacs, v-shaped in cross section; gonoplacs large and unilobous; gonapophysis IX much smaller than gonoplacs; gonapophysis VIII strongly reduced; gonocoxae VIII well developed ventrally and pilose; anterior vagina placed ventrally and showing longitudinal grooves, smaller than posterior vagina; spermatheca attached postero-laterally, not apically; posterior vagina developed vertically, sinuate and grooved; bursa copulatrix large, elongate, attached dorso laterally to and much larger than posterior vagina.
Sexual dimorphism: no evident sexual dimorphism has been observed; males only slightly smaller than females.
Size: 15–22 mm
Distribution: Oriental region, known from Sri Lanka, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo.
Biology. Nothing is known of the biology of this genus.
description: Published as part of Constant, Jerome, 2008, Revision of the Eurybrachidae (XII). The Oriental genus Nicidus Stål, 1858 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha), pp. 45-55 in Zootaxa 1842 on pages 46-47, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.183218