Versicolora ziyongi Wei & Wang & Hayashi & He & Pham 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wei, Cong
name: Wang, Siyue
name: Hayashi, Masami
name: He, Miao
name: Pham, Hong Thai
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadidae
Versicolora
Versicolora ziyongi

description: Versicolora ziyongi sp. nov. (Figs 1–3)
Type material. Holotype: ♂ (NWAFU), China: Mt. Jiulian, Lianping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Prov., 5.V.2016, coll. Cong Wei. Paratypes: 1♂, 6♀♀ (NWAFU), same data as holotype except for coll. Cong Wei and Hong He; 2♂♂, 5♀♀ (NWAFU), same locality as holotype, 3.V.2017, coll. Cong Wei and Yunxiang Liu; 1♂ (ELKU), China: Nanling, Shaoguan, Guandong Prov., 24.IV.2005, T. Tano leg.
Measurements (in mm; n = 5♂♂, 11♀♀). Body length: ♂ 32.5–38.4, ♀ 25.3–30.0; forewing length: ♂ 40.9– 45.3, ♀ 43.5–46.5; width of forewing: ♂ 13.4–15.0, ♀ 13.5–14.8; width of head including eyes: ♂ 8.3–8.8, ♀ 8.2–9.1; pronotum width (including pronotal collar): ♂ 11.8–13.6, ♀ 12.2–13.7; mesonotum width: ♂ 9.7–10.1, ♀ 9.7–11.3.
Etymology. The specific name is after Ziyong Shi (in Chinese, Ɓṉẘ), the discoverer of this new species.
Description of male.
Head (Fig. 1 A–D). Mostly green, with black markings along frontoclypeal suture and posterior margin of head and a large median black spot enclosing ocelli. Eyes greyish-green, with dense golden hair along posterior margin; ocelli red. Postclypeus green, with series of black transverse fasciae. Anteclypeus green, with small black patches laterally. Rostrum yellow, with black apex extending to hind coxae. Genae yellowish-green, with dense, long silvery hairs.
Thorax (Fig. 1A, C). Pronotum almost green, with pair of central black fasciae extending from anterior margin to posterior end and irregular black spots near lateral fissures and paramedian fissures; pronotal collar reddish brown, with pair of black spots on posterolateral area, posterior margin rippled. Mesonotum mostly green, covered with silvery hair; with curved black fascia surrounding each submedian sigilla and longitudinal black fascia along each lateral sigilla. Cruciform elevation reddish brown, with black spots centrally.
Legs (Fig. 1D, H). Yellow to green with black patches. Fore femur with only two spines: primary spine long and erect; secondary spine triangular with acute tip, obliquely extending.
Wings (Fig. 1A, B). Hyaline, tinged with light blue particularly on basal half. Forewing with distinct tawny markings at bases of apical cells 1–5 and 7 and a marginal series of triangular tawny markings near apices of longitudinal veins in apical cells; costal margin bright green in living individuals with a series of dark brown obscure spots; veins M and CuA with alternating white and dark brown bands, which are particularly distinct in living specimens (Suppl. Fig. 1). Hind wing with indistinct markings at bases of apical cells 1 and 2.
Abdomen (Fig. 1 A–E). Cylindrical, longer than head and thorax together, brown with irregular black markings on each tergite. Timbal covers brown, rounded apically. Opercula greyish-green, apart from each other, with rounded apex just extending beyond posterior margin of sternite II. Abdominal sternites mostly brown, with pair of indistinct black triangular markings on sternites IV–VI laterally. Paired tubercle-like processes on centrolateral surface of sternite III distinctly longer than wide.
Genitalia (Fig. 1F, G). Pygofer elliptical in ventral view. Dorsal beak of pygofer well developed, broadly triangular in lateral view. Median uncus lobe short (variable in relative length), somewhat widened apically, curved ventrally, with apex bifurcated (triangularly incised at middle). Aedeagus thick, ventral margin smooth but with an acute spine at mid-ventral apex.
Description of female (Fig. 2 A–D). Opercula smaller than in males, mostly brown with green laterally. Abdominal sternite VII with posterior margin roundly incised at middle. Abdominal segment IX yellow with black markings in lateral view. Ovipositor sheath not protruding beyond abdominal segment IX (pygofer). Dorsal beak pointed, very slightly longer than anal styles. Other characteristics similar to male.
Description of exuvia (Fig. 3 A–G). Yellowish-brown, head and abdomen curved ventrally in lateral view, with sparse setae mainly on venter. Legs generally yellowish brown, tinged with black on apex of fore femur and tibia. Fore femoral comb with seven teeth, posterior tooth long and sharp, accessory tooth short with apex somewhat blunt, intermediate tooth robust, not apart from femoral comb. Fore tibia slightly arched, with apical tooth pointed; point of blade of tibia very small (Fig. 3E). Mid and hind legs with tibia with five apical spines respectively; fore tarsi well developed into a pair of claws of unequal sizes (Fig. 3 F–G). Forewing bud developed, reaching to middle of 4 th abdominal segment laterally; hind wing bud slightly developed (Fig. 3B). Abdomen oval, yellowish-brown, but in emerging adults with tergites II–IV dark brown (Fig. 3C, D).
Distribution. China (Guangdong).
Remarks. This new species can be distinguished in that the aedeagus is not concave near apex but with an apical spine on the mid-ventral margin of apex in lateral view.
Remarkably, this new species is very unique, because living individuals, besides camouflaging themselves on the bark of the host-plant Castanopsis fordii Hance (Fagaceae), can change their body colour, particularly the light colour on lateral parts of abdomen and the proximal part of forewings in female, gradually from greenish brown to yellowish brown when captured. The changed colour can gradually return back to normal in several minutes when the disturbance stopped (Suppl. Fig. 1, Suppl. Video 1). It is the first and only known species that exhibits colourchanging behaviour in Cicadoidea to our knowledge. This provides innovative information for ecomorphological study of this remarkable species and other cicadas that potentially exhibit this behaviour.
description: Published as part of Wei, Cong, Wang, Siyue, Hayashi, Masami, He, Miao & Pham, Hong Thai, 2020, New genus and species of Leptopsaltriini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae) from China and Vietnam, with colour-changing behaviour reported for the first time in Cicadoidea, pp. 277-286 in Zootaxa 4759 (2) on pages 278-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4759.2.10, http://zenodo.org/record/3737507