Miclucha australiensis Locker 2006, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Löcker, Birgit
name: Fletcher, Murray J.
name: Larivière, Marie-Claude
name: Gurr, Geoff M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2006
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cixiidae
Miclucha
Miclucha australiensis

description: <i>Miclucha australiensis</i> Löcker sp. nov. (Figs 4A–D, 32A–F) <i>Type material</i> Holotype, &amp;male;, AUSTRALIA, NT: 9 km N by E of Mudginbarry HS, 12.31S 132.54E, 26.v.1973 (Upton, McInnes) (ANIC). <i>Colour</i> Vertex dark brown, carinae light brown; face light to mid brown, carinae light brown; pronotum light brown, carinae paler; mesonotum mid brown, carinae paler; legs light brown; forewing hyaline colourless with brown marks along crossveins and apices of apical veins, veins light to mid brown, tubercles concolorous with veins, pterostigma light to mid brown; abdominal sternites mid to dark brown. <i>Morphology</i> Body length: &amp;male; 6.3 mm. Head: Vertex (total length) 3.0 times longer than wide; basal emargination acutely angled or rectangular. Postclypeus with well­developed median carina. Thorax: Hind margin of pronotum obtusely angled. Mesonotum with well­developed median and sublateral carinae and evanescent to well­developed lateral carinae. Forewing 3.5 times longer than wide; costa with 9 tubercles; 9 apical cells. Hind leg: tibia with 3 lateral spines; 6 large apical teeth; 1 st tarsomere with 8–9 apical teeth and no platellae; 2 nd tarsomere with 7 apical teeth and no platellae. Male genitalia: Anal tube as in Figs 32D–F; pygophore and genital styles with long, slender, sclerotised, dorsal process as in Figs 32B–C. Aedeagus (Fig. A): Phallotheca with a moderately curved spine (a); a slightly curved spine (b); an almost straight spine (c); and a very long, strongly curved spine (d); phallotheca ventrally with 3 sheetlike ridges. Flagellum sclerotised, unarmed. <i>Remarks</i> The general structure of the aedeagus and the shape of the genital styles is similar to those of <i>M. niuginiensis</i> (Van Stalle), a species described from Papua New Guinea. <i>M. australiensis</i> differs, however, in the forking of the subapical carina from the lateral margin which is about 2/3 of the total length in <i>M. australiensis</i> and more than 3/ 4 in <i>M. niuginiensis</i> and the two other species in <i>Miclucha</i>. Regarding the chaetotaxy of the hind legs, <i>M. australiensis</i> and <i>M. niuginiensis</i> share 7 apical teeth on the second tarsomere (7–8 in <i>M. incerta</i> and 9 in <i>M. laratensis</i>) but differ in the number of apical teeth on the first hind tarsomere which is 7 in <i>M. niuginiensis</i> and 8–9 in <i>M. australiensis</i> (7–8 in <i>M. incerta</i> and 9 in <i>M. laratensis</i>). Further features in which <i>M. australiensis</i> differs from other species in the genus are: median carina in <i>M. australiensis</i> 1/4–1/2 (in <i>M. laratensis</i> and <i>M. incerta</i> 1/2–3/4) as long as median length of vertex, and hind tibia with 6 large apical teeth (in <i>M. laratensis</i> and <i>M. incerta</i> 5 large and 1 very small apical tooth). Nevertheless, <i>M. australiensis</i> has been placed in <i>Miclucha</i>, because it has the characteristic feature of the genus as defined by Emeljanov (2001b): genital styles with a long, slender, sclerotised dorsal process. A similar process also occurs in the <i>acanthopygophoris</i> group of <i>Oliarus</i>, although slightly less sclerotised and shorter, and in <i>Cordoliarus</i>, where is mounted in a different position.
description: Published as part of <i>Löcker, Birgit, Fletcher, Murray J., Larivière, Marie-Claude &amp; Gurr, Geoff M., 2006, The Australian Pentastirini (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae), pp. 1-138 in Zootaxa 1290 (1290)</i> on pages 16-17
description: {"references": ["Emeljanov, A. F. (2001 b) The genus Oliarus s. str. and related genera from the Oriental Region (Homoptera: Cixiidae). Zoosystematica Rossica, 10, 71 - 72."]}