Pauropsalta subtropica POPPLE 2013, sp. nov.
Creators: name: POPPLE, L. W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadidae
Pauropsalta
Pauropsalta subtropica

description: <i>Pauropsalta subtropica</i> sp. nov. (Figs 2I, 4J, 22D, 27C–D, 28, 31A, 32–33) <b>Types:</b> <b>Holotype:</b> &amp;male; ‘ 1km N. of Auburn River N.P. /SW. of Mundubbera /SEQ’, ‘ 2.xi.2002 ’, ‘ L. Popple &amp; S. Billington’, ‘440-0002’, ‘ QM Reg. No. T 156326’ (<b>QM</b>); <b>Paratypes:</b> QUEENSLAND: 23&amp;male; 21&amp;female; Qld: 25°43'S 151°03'E, Auburn River N.P., 200m, 24–25.xii.2005, MV light, Monteith, 12521 (<b>QM</b>); 37&amp;male; 35&amp;female; 1km N. of Auburn River N.P., SW. of Mundubbera SEQ, 2.xi.2002, MV light, Popple &amp; Billington (<b>LWP</b>); 1&amp;female; 1km N. of Auburn River N.P., SW. of Mundubbera SEQ, 2.xi.2002, Popple &amp; Billington, 440-0007 (<b>QM</b>); 6&amp;male; 4&amp;female; 25°37'S 151°29'E, Robinson's P [roper]ty via Binjour, 26.xi.2004, Popple &amp; Finlay-Doney (<b>LWP</b>); 1&amp;male; Blackdown Tablelands, 23°49.2'S 149°2.67'E, 18.xii.2000, Maywald (<b>MC</b>); 1&amp;male; 2&amp;female; [Stony Creek car park], Blackdown Tableland, 13–20.x.1985, Moss &amp; Ewart (&amp;male; recorded) (<b>AE</b>); 3&amp;male; 5&amp;female; Cape R. 100km S. of Charters Towers Qld, 21.xii.1983, Moulds &amp; Moulds (<b>MSM</b>); 2&amp;male; 3&amp;female; L[ake] Awoonga, 12km SE. of Calliope Qld, 11–14.xi.1985, Leggett (<b>AE</b>); 1&amp;female; 2.5km E. of Mourangee H [ome]s[tea]d nr Edungalba C. Qld, 13.xi.1986, Adams (<b>MSM</b>). <b>Description. Male</b> (Figs 4J, 22D, 27C, 31A). <i>Head</i>. Dorsal surface black with a yellow-brown triangular depression between the lateral ocelli, pointing anteriorly, with flat side against posterior margin of head; long silver pubescence behind eyes, with shorter yellow pubescence over remainder. Genae and vertex black, with long silver pubescence. Mandibular plate black with a narrow outer marginal ridge that is pale, and which extends to suture between genae; long silver pubescence. Antennae dark brown to black. Ocelli pinkish-red. Eyes red in live specimens, darkening to reddish-brown or pinkish-brown in dried specimens; distinct furrow between eyes and pronotum. Postclypeus black anteriorly, with reddish-brown margin and a small yellow-brown to reddish-brown dorsal spot on midline extending onto dorsal surface; short and long silver pubescence along ventral surface, except down midline; short yellow pubescence along posterior ventral surface. Anteclypeus black, with long silver pubescence. Rostrum pale brown grading to black apically, with silver pubescence; extending to mid coxae. <i>Thorax</i>. Pronotum black; central fascia brown to yellow-brown, forming a smear that widens anteriorly and tapers abruptly posterior to head, not extending to posterior or anterior margins; silver-yellow pubescence, especially along oblique fissures; pronotal collar brown, pale brown laterally. Mesonotum, including submedian and lateral sigilla, black, with medium to dark brown dorsolateral fasciae in area between submedian and lateral sigilla and additional fascia along lateral margins, present in all but the darkest specimens; dorsolateral fascia triangular, rarely merging medially; cruciform elevation and immediately adjacent area of the posterior mesonotum entirely yellow-brown to orange-brown, sometimes with black colouration on anterior edge; ridges between wing grooves pallid; long silver-yellow pubescence, most evident around cruciform elevation. <i>Legs</i>. Coxae black with narrow longitudinal reddish-brown fasciae along margins of fore coxae; fore femora pink with broad, dark brown longitudinal fasciae; mid and hind femora dark brown, becoming pale brown apically; fore and mid tibiae dark brown, pale brown dorsally; hind tibiae pale brown; tarsi and claws medium to pale brown, paler on hind legs; spines dark brown. <i>Wings</i>. Fore wing venation pale brown to medium brown, becoming darker towards apical cells and ambient veins; fore wing costal veins pale brown; slight angulation of fore wings at node; pterostigma pale reddish-brown; hind wing with 5 or 6 apical cells, infuscation spots distinct. <i>Timbals</i>. Long ribs 1–3 fused ventrally; long ribs 1–4 fused dorsally to basal spur. Long rib 5 typically extending ventrally just beyond adjacent intercalary rib. <i>Opercula</i>. Roughly sickle-shaped, obliquely elongated; central region domed, shiny black; medial and lateral margins pallid; parallel to body axis. <i>Abdomen</i>. Tergites mainly black with contrasting yellow posterior margins between tergites 3 to 8; narrow areas of orange-brown colouration extend dorsolaterally; silver-yellow short pubescence conspicuous laterally. Sternites yellow to yellow-brown with prominent black medial fascia. <i>Genitalia</i>. Pygofer black anteriorly, grading to yellow-brown posteriorly; upper lobes prominent, erect, roughly terminally rounded and slightly hooked; lower lobes weakly distinct, bulbous, with an inner tooth strongly developed on inside of each lobe; inner lobes enlarged, acute, posteriorly tapering; claspers with a pair of hooked processes; aedeagus with dorsal pseudoparameres that bifurcate and join theca near gonocoxite IX; pseudoparameres apically curved, tapering; theca gradually curved posteriorly, sclerotized, tapering posteriorly; apex simple, narrow in vertical width, with small spine ornamentation. <b>Female</b> (Fig. 27D). Similar colouration and patterning to that of male, though typically paler, with more extensive orange-brown colouration. Head colouration similar to that of male, except often with yellow-brown vertex lobes. Pronotum black; central fascia orange-brown, often broader than that of male and reaching anterior margin, extending further posteriorly and dorsolaterally to form a pair of outward-pointing, wedge-shaped patterns. Mesonotum black with dark brown to yellow-brown dorsolateral fasciae and between submedian and lateral sigilla and additional fasciae along lateral margins. Legs similar in colour to those of male. Abdomen with tergites similar in colour to those of male; abdominal segment 9 sandy-brown with a pair of longitudinal near-dorsal black fasciae that extend to the anterior edge and ventrolaterally to some extent; sternites sandy-brown with a broad and more or less regular median black fascia from sternites II to VII; ovipositor sheath extending approximately 1.0 mm beyond termination of abdominal segment 9. <b>Distinguishing features</b>. Male specimens of <i>P. subtropica</i> can be distinguished from all others in the <i>P. annulata</i> group, with the exception of <i>P. torrensis</i>, by their pale brown upper pygofer lobes that have a slightly hooked posterior ventral termination. In addition, the apex of their theca is of lesser vertical width than any part of the shaft, a feature that is shared only with <i>P. kobongoides</i> and <i>P. torrensis</i>. They differ from <i>P. kobongoides</i> in having five functional timbal ribs, with long rib 5 not attached to the anterior cuticle. It is not possible to reliably distinguish <i>P. subtropica</i> males from those of <i>P. torrensis</i> based on morphology, so the differences in calling song and/or geographical distribution should be used as an alternative means of identification. Females of <i>P. subtropica</i> are brightly coloured orange-brown and matte black, which distinguishes them from all species in the <i>P. annulata</i> group, except for some specimens of <i>P. annulata</i>, <i>P. n. notialis</i>, <i>P. n. notialis</i> x <i>incitata</i> hybrid individuals and <i>P. torrensis</i>. They differ from <i>P. annulata</i> by the length of the ovipositor sheath, which extends approximately 1.0 mm beyond the apex of the abdomen, (as opposed to ~ 0.5 mm). For all of the remaining taxa, females may not reliably be distinguished based on morphology, and differences in geographical occurrence should be used instead. <b>Measurements</b>. N= 30 &amp;male; 30 &amp;female;. Ranges and means (in parentheses), mm; BL: &amp;male; 11.0–13.6 (12.6); &amp;female; 12.1–15.1 (13.5); FWL: &amp;male; 13.1–16.2 (15.2); &amp;female; 15.2–17.7 (16.4); FWB: &amp;male; 4.7–6.0 (5.4); &amp;female; 5.1–5.9 (5.5); HW: &amp;male; 3.7–4.4 (4.1); &amp;female; 4.0–4.6 (4.3); PW: &amp;male; 3.0–3.6 (3.3); &amp;female; 3.1–3.7 (3.4); AW: &amp;male; 3.0–3.9 (3.4); &amp;female; 2.9–3.9 (3.3); OL: &amp;female; 4.2–5.3 (4.7). <b>Etymology</b>. The species name is derived from its widespread subtropical distribution, not shared to the same extent with any other species in the complex. <b>Distribution and Ecology</b> (Figure 28). Subtropical Queensland, from the eastern edge of White Mountains National Park and west of Charters Towers south to Chinchilla, Auburn River National Park via Mundubbera and near Binjour. Adults occur primarily on box/ironbark eucalypts (section <i>Adnataria</i>), mainly as <i>E. melanophloia</i> and <i>E. populnea</i> and red gums (section <i>Exsertaria</i>), including <i>E. camaldulensis</i> (subsp. <i>obtusa</i>). These cicadas typically emerge in large numbers during November or December and adults have been collected until the end of January. <b>Geological and Pedological Associations</b>. Adults are associated with plants that occur in soils derived from silica, quartz and feldspar rich rocks, including igneous felsic intrusives, such as granite, granodiorite and rhyolite, and sediments such as sandstone. Some occurrences are also associated with soils on rises derived from ferruginous duricrusts and laterite. <b>Calling Song</b> (Figs 2I, 32–33). The lilting component is prominent in <i>P. subtropica</i>, with repeated phrases comprising a long echeme (4–8 syllables, 0.048 – 0.102 s) followed by a short silence (0.031 – 0.061 s), then a short echeme (1–2 syllables, 0.017 – 0.038 s) and a long silence (0.075 – 0.196 s) (all statistics, n=12 individuals). Individuals sporadically emit a brief bout of short echemes punctuated by short silences, that is, in effect, a short buzzing component. In many ways the song resembles that of <i>P. tremula</i> and has a similar phrase repetition rate of 0.171 – 0.380 s and syllable repetition rate of 90–110 Hz. However, in <i>P. tremula</i> the silent gaps between echemes are near equal in duration and this is never the case for <i>P. subtropica</i>. Another notable difference between them is in the highest amplitude dominant frequency, which in this species ranges from 9.5–11.3 kHz, with a plateau from 8.0–14.0 kHz. Instances of male–female duetting have yet to be recorded from this species.
description: Published as part of <i>POPPLE, L. W., 2013, </i><i> <strong> A revision of the <em> Pauropsalta annulata Goding &amp; amp; Froggatt species group (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) based on morphology, calling songs and ecology, with investigations into calling song structure, molecular phylogenetic relationships and a case of hybridisation between two subspecies , pp. 1-102 in Zootaxa 3730 (1)</em></strong></i><strong><em> on pages 52-55, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3730.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5268476</em></strong>