Femotyche Constant & Semeraro, 2024, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Constant, Jérôme
name: Semeraro, Linda
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Dictyopharidae
Femotyche

description: Genus Femotyche gen. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 4468FAEF-9E8D-4956-96CD-604C6030F2BD
Type species
Femotyche kerryae sp. nov. (here designated).
Diagnosis
Ground colour pale grey with anterior femora and tibiae black (Figs 1A, 2A); profemora with a strong tooth in ventroapical angle (Figs 1A–B, D, 2A–B, D); vertex more than 2.5 times as long as wide (Figs 1G, 2F); posterior margin of the pygofer with a strong process (Fig. 3A, E); laterodorsal processes of the phallobase strongly sinuate (Fig. 3F, H, J).
Differential diagnosis
The distinctive characters allowing the separation of Femotyche gen. nov. from both Cleotyche (Cleotyche) and Cleotyche (Griseotyche) are the presence of a strong posterodistal tooth on protibiae and the more elongate vertex (more than 2.5 times as long as wide vs less than 2.2 times in all taxa of Cleotyche). Furthermore, it can be separated from Cleotyche (Cleotyche) by its pale grey body colour (dark brown with white band along apical margin of tegmina in Cleotyche (Cleotyche )), the strong process of the posterior margin of the pygofer (posterior margin rounded in Cleotyche (Cleotyche )) and the strongly sinuate laterodorsal processes of the phallobase (not sinuate in Cleotyche (Cleotyche )); from Cleotyche (Griseotyche), by a more pyriform shape of the body in dorsal view, with sides of abdomen parallel in basal ¾ (body shape oval in Cleotyche (Griseotyche) with abdomen regularly tapering towards the posterior).
Etymology
The new genus name is formed from ‘ femur -oris ’ (noun, Latin) meaning ‘thigh, femur’, referring to the generic characters on the profemora, and ‘- tyche ’, arbitrarily chosen to remind of the genus name ‘ Cleotyche ’ and the placement of the new genus in the same tribe Cleotychini. Gender feminine.
Description
LENGTH. About 4–5 mm.
COLOUR (Figs 1A–E, 2A–E). Generally grey dorsally and black ventrally including clypeus; protarsi white.
HEAD (Figs 1G–I, 2F–H). Elongate and narrow. Vertex elongate, strongly projecting beyond eyes, roundly pointed anteriorly, with weak median carina and with lateral margins carinate; posterior margin roundly incurved. Frons elongate, weakly concave in lateral view, with sides subparallel, narrowing along eyes, anteriorly pointly rounded in perpendicular view, with median and lateral carinae (along lateral margin) extending to apex of clypeus and intermediate, incomplete, longitudinal carinae from margin of cephalic process reaching to level of middle of eye. Clypeus elongate and narrow, triangular, tricarinate. Eyes rather large, moderately protruding laterally. Antennae with scape short and cylindrical; pedicel short, inflated, barrel-shaped and with large sensory plates on ventral portion. Labium elongate and narrow, reaching posterior trochanters and with apical segment elongate, about half as long as penultimate one.
THORAX (Figs 1G–I, 2F–H). Pronotum smooth with anterior margin strongly bisinuate, roundly projecting anteriorly behind vertex and roundly emarginate behind eyes, and posterior margin weakly incurved; median longitudinal carina and two lateral carinae on disc merging anteriorly along anterior margin; paranotal lobe angularly rounded posteroventrally. Mesonotum short, about as long as pronotum, smooth with three hardly visible obsolete carinae prolongating pronotal ones. Tegulae absent.
TEGMINA (Figs 1G, I, 2F, H). Brachypterous; tegmina slightly elongate in dorsal view, about 1.5 times as long as broad, slightly broadening from base to apex, broadly, roundly truncate apically, convex, smooth; no trace of venation.
LEGS(Figs1A–D, 2A–D).Profemora and protibiae elongate,dorsoventrally flattened,moderately foliaceous; profemora with ventroapical strong tooth; median legs elongate and slender, much shorter than anterior legs; posterior legs elongate and slender, metatibiae broadening towards apex, with two lateral spines, one near tibiofemoral joint and one in distal half of tibia, and 6 apical spines; first and second metatarsomeres with strong spine at each side and apical row of 12 platellae ventrally. Metatibiotarsal formula: (2) 6/2/2.
ABDOMEN (Figs 1 A–D, 2A–D). Dorsoventrally flattened and smooth.
Male terminalia (Fig. 3)
Pygofer (Py) (Fig. 3A–E) curved in lateral view, with strong process projecting posterad on posterior margin, suboval in posterior view. Gonostyli (G) (Fig. 3A–E) moderately developed, elongate in ventral view; dorsal margin with lateral hook and dorsal process.Aedeagus (ae) (Fig. 3F–K) moderately elongate and rather wide in dorsal view, with strongly sinuate laterodorsal processes of phallobase in lateral view; connective (cv) with well-developed tectiductus. Anal tube (An) (Fig. 3A–E) massive, curved in lateral view and with large laterodistal lobe projecting ventrad.
Female terminalia (Fig. 4)
Anal tube (An) (Fig. 4A, C–F) wide and dorsoventrally flattened. Gonocoxae VIII (Fig. 4J–K) with two membranous and flattened endogonocoxal processes (GxP) on endogonocoxal lobe, both with inner elongate sclerotized plate. Gonapophyses VIII (Fig. 4J–K) with anterior connective lamina (ACL) elongate and sclerotized, with teeth of varying sizes and shapes. Gonapophyses IX (Fig. 4L) with posterior connective lamina elongate, symmetrical, fused basally with intergonocoxal plate. Gonoplacs (Gp) (Fig. 4B–C, E–I) unilobous, largely sclerotized.
Species included (type locality)
Femotyche hortorum sp. nov. (Western Australia, York)
Femotyche kerryae sp. nov. (Western Australia, Perth)
description: Published as part of Constant, Jérôme & Semeraro, Linda, 2024, Cleotychini planthoppers from Perth region in Western Australia: The new genus Femotyche gen. nov., and more … (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Dictyopharidae), pp. 98-118 in European Journal of Taxonomy 968 on pages 100-102, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.968.2709, http://zenodo.org/record/14026260