Oropedium Flórez-V 2022, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Flórez-V, Camilo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Membracidae
Oropedium

description: Oropedium gen. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 26B00DDC-7120-4773-95BF-14BFEA067C62
Type species: Oropedium tatamaense sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Head octogonal, area around ocelli convex above, concave below; supra-antennal ledges and inferior margin of frontoclypeus foliaceous, slightly folded forward. Pronotum plateau-shaped anteriorly, metopidium outline in lateral view vertical, forming almost an angle of 90º, descending abruptly at posterior third to the acute posterior process apex; one dorsolateral carina on each side, extended from dorsomedial carina above metopidium to above humeral angles; humeral angles triangular, slightly laterally produced; lateral surface of pronotal posterior process undulate. Forewing vein R initially divided into R 1+2+3 and R 4+5. Pro- and mesothoracic tibia foliaceous. Metathoracic tibia with row I and II of cucullate setae enlarged as spines. Abdomen finely punctate.
Description: Male. Head (Fig. 3): Octagonal in frontal view, area around ocelli convex above, concave below; supra-antennal ledges and inferior margin of frontoclypeus foliaceous, slightly folded forward. Thorax (Fig. 3): Pronotum plateau-shaped, metopidium forming an angle of 90º with dorsal outline, descending abruptly at posterior third to the apically acute posterior process; dorsomedial carina elevated and foliaceous; one dorsolateral carina, extended from dorsomedial carina above metopidium to above humeral angles; humeral angles triangular, slightly laterally produced; lateral surface of pronotal posterior process undulate, slightly depressed behind humeral angles, then inflated at anterior 1/3, depressed behind and then slightly inflated again at posterior 1/3 and then depressed again toward apex of posterior process. Forewing vein R initially divided into R 1+2+3 and R 4+5, 2 m-cu crossveins, 1 s crossvein, often with one or two additional r-m crossveins and/or irregular veins toward apex, clavus acuminate. Hindwing with 1 r-m and 1 m-cu crossvein, first and third apical cell slightly longer than second apical cell. Tibia foliaceous, tarsi subequal in length, metathoracic tibia with cucullate setal row III smaller than rows I and II, rows I and II enlarged as spines. Abdomen (Fig. 4): Male genitalia. Subgenital plate divided almost from base, each lobe barely narrowing at apex; lateral plate suboval, globular; style apex hooklike, slender throughout; aedeagus Ushaped, broad throughout, with minute teeth on anterior and anterolateral surfaces of the apex of the posterior arm.
Female, egg masses, and nymphs unknown.
Distribution: COLOMBIA: Risaralda: Santuario (páramo de Tatamá, 3750 masl) (Fig. 1).
Species included: Oropedium tatamaense sp. nov.
Etymology: The name ‘ Oropedium ’ refers to the Latin word ‘ oropedium ’, which means “plateau”. It denotes to the plateau-shape of the pronotum. The gender is neutral.
Remarks: The new genus Oropedium belongs to the subfamily Membracinae based on the following combination of characters: pronotum well-developed, covering scutellum, wider at humeral angles than head width, forewing with two m-cu crossveins, metathoracic tibia with cucullate setal row III greatly reduced in comparison with rows I and II (Dietrich et al. 2001). Following Dietrich and McKamey (1995), Creão-Duarte and Sakakibara (1998) and Dietrich et al. (2001), this genus could be related to Aconophorini or Hypsoprorini, based on R vein divided in R 1+2+3 and R 4+5 on forewings, the non-clavate metathoracic tibia, and metathoracic tarsi subequal in length to pro- and mesothoracic tarsi. Despite overall body shape resemble species in Membracini (e.g. Leioscyta and Tropidoscyta) and Talipedini (e.g. Erechtia), Oropedium exhibits a unique combination of characters, and a comprehensive phylogenetic and taxonomic revision of Membracinae will be necessary to establish its correct position.
Oropedium differs from the Membracinae tribes by the following characters: the new genus lacks a lateroapical carinae in the pronotum (unlike Talipedini; Sakakibara 2012); the lateral edges of the metathoracic tibia are parallel and tarsi are subequal in length, different from the metathoracic tibia clavate like Hoplophorionini (McKamey and Deitz 1996) or club shaped like Talipedini (Sakakibara 2012); the pronotum covers a small portion of the apical limbus of the forewing, the apical limbus does not extended over the clavus and the abdomen is finely punctate (unlike Hypsoprorini; Dietrich and McKamey 1995); the pronotum has a dorsolateral carina on each side, the metopidium outline in lateral view is vertical, forming almost an angle of 90º with dorsal outline (unlike Aconophorini; Dietrich and Deitz 1991); and the R vein of forewing is initially divides into R 1+2+3 and R 4+5 (unlike Membracini and Talipedini; Dietrich and McKamey 1995, Creão-Duarte and Sakakibara 1998, Dietrich et al. 2001, Sakakibara 2012).
The forewing R vein divided into R 1+2+3 and R 4+5 is consistent among the three specimens examined in the new genus, and this branching pattern is like in Aconophorini, Hypsoprorini and Hoplophorionini (Fig. 5G, 5I, 6B), and different to Talipedini and Membracini where the R vein initially divided into R 1 and Rs (Fig. 5H, 5J, 6A). The branching pattern of vein R is apparently constant among tribes (Creão-Duarte and Sakakibara 1998). Phylogenetic analyses have shown Hypsoprorini as the sister group of the other Membracinae (Dietrich et al. 2001, 2017; Lin et al. 2004). Then, Aconophorini has been recovered as the sister group of a clade comprising Hoplophorionini +Tali pedini+ Membracini (Lin et al. 2004), while another phylogeny has recovered Hoplophorionini as the sister group of Aconophorini + Talipedini + Membracini (Dietrich et al. 2017). The relationships within this clade have not been resolved consistently, and Membracini has not been recovered as monophyletic in these analyses. Although this clade it is not fully resolved, it seems that bifurcation of R 1 and Rs is a derived character.
The overall shape of the new genus resembles species in Leioscyta and some species of Membracinae in incertae sedis (see Sakakibara 2012 for a complete list of these species) which exhibit a lateral carinae on each side of the pronotum and lack accessory carinae (like Enchenopa -related groups, Fig. 5H) or suprahumeral carinae (as Talipedini, Fig. 5J). However, the branching pattern of vein R in these species is different from that in Oropedium, where the R vein initially divided into R 1 and Rs seems to be consistent among Leioscyta species (Fig. 6C) and Membracinae species in incertae sedis. This branching pattern along with other features such as the octagonal head, pronotum plateau-shaped, abdomen finely punctate distinguish the new genus from this group of species.
This genus also differs in other external traits. The frontoclypeus is wider than long and subfoliaceous, different from Hypsoprorini (Fig. 5C) and many Membracini (e.g. Fig. 5B, 5E), while the supra-antennal ledges are slightly expanded over the frontoclypeus (Fig. 3A). The abdominal terga do not bear dorsal fenestrae or tuberosities as in some Aconophorini, Talipedini and Hoplophorionini, and they are finely punctate (Fig. 4C), contrary to the coarsely punctate pronotum in Hypsoprorini and Membracini species related to Bolbonota (Fig. 6D–F).
Other features of the new genus resemble species in other groups. The overall shape of the head and pronotum of Oropedium resembles some Talipedini (e.g. Talipes appendiculatus and T. fenestratus, Fig. 5J). It has a lateral carina at each side as in Talipedini (Fig. 5J) and some Membracini (e.g., Enchenopa, Enchophyllum, Leioscyta, Tritropidia, Fig. 5H). The forewing has extra crossveins like some Hoplophorionini (Fig. 6B) and Hypsoprorini (Fig. 5I). The metathoracic tibia is subfoliaceous and tarsi are subequal in length like some Membracini (Fig. 6A), Aconophorini and Hypsoprorini (Fig. 5I).
The single species of Oropedium has irregular and not well pronounced carinae in the posterior third of the posterior pronotal process (Fig. 3B–D). Using different light sources and views, it is possible to observe variation in the carinae among the three examined specimens. Members of Talipedini exhibit one pair of latero-apical carinae at the posterior third of posterior process (Sakakibara 2012). However, this carina in talipedines is well-marked, parallel to the lateral margins and merges with the median carina at the apex of the posterior process (Sakakibara 2012), while in Oropedium, this carina is irregular, barely elevated and not parallel to the lateral margins.
description: Published as part of Flórez-V, Camilo, 2022, A new genus and a new species of treehopper (Hemiptera: Membracidae) from the páramo of Tatamá in Colombia, pp. 143-154 in Zootaxa 5195 (2) on pages 144-146, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5195.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/7184659