Olonia maura
Creators: name: Constant, Jérôme
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Eurybrachidae
Olonia
Olonia maura

description: Olonia maura (Fabricius, 1775)
Figs 3, 27–31
Cicada maura Fabricius, 1775: 686 (described).
Cicada maura – Goeze1778: 158 (described, catalogued).— Fabricius 1781: 326 (described, catalogued); 1787: 272 (described); 1794: 40 (described). — Gmelin 1789: 2107 (described, catalogued). — Donovan 1805 (described, illustrated). — Turton 1806: 595 (described).
Flata maura – Fabricius 1803: 51 (described, catalogued, transferred to Flata). — Schaum 1850: 73 (listed).
Cicada matura [sic] – Donovan 1820: 120 (described).
Cercopis maura – Donovan 1820: 121 (described, transferred to Cercopis).
Lystra maura – Germar 1830: 55 (described, catalogued, transferred to Lystra).
Eurymela maura – Signoret 1850: 507 (described (based on a misidentified specimen according to Distant 1908: 105), transferred to Eurymela). — Walker 1852: 1149 (catalogued). — Kirkaldy 1906: 356 (listed).
Eurybrachys maura – Signoret 1858: xxxii (transferred to Eurybrachys).
Eurymeloides maura – Distant 1908: 105 (transferred to Eurymeloides).
Olonia maura – Evans 1933: 89 (transferred to Olonia). — Metcalf 1956: 64 (catalogued).
Note
Signoret (1850) based the transfer of this species to Eurymela (Cicadellidae) on a misidentified specimen (Fig. 26). This specimen indeed belongs to the tribe Eurymelini, identified as a member of the genus Platyeurymela Evans, 1933 or Pauroeurymela Evans, 1933 by M.J. Fletcher (pers. com., Apr. 2016) based on the examination of photographs of the specimen in NHMW.
Diagnosis
The species can be recognized by the following combination of characters:
(1) hind wings without orange marking (Figs 29E, 31E)
(2) pro- and mesofemora and -tibiae largely dark brown (Figs 29A–D, 31A–D)
(3) anal tube of male spatulate, constricted at half length (Fig. 30B)
(4) centroventral part of gonostyli with strong elongate process tapering distally and with 4–5 apical teeth (Fig. 30A, C)
(5) laterodorsal part of gonostyli with strong furcate process, elongate process strongly curved posterolaterally (Fig. 30A, C–D)
(6) rather small size: 7–8 mm
Females of O. maura are nearly impossible to separate from females of the sympatric O. picea and should be identified only if collected together with males.
Etymology
The species epithet maurus (adjective, Latin) means ʻMoorʼ, the inhabitants of North Africa, and by extension, ʻdark skinnedʼ. It refers to the dark colour of the species.
Material examined
Lectotype (here designated) AUSTRALIA • ♂; “Australia”, “63 47”, “ BMNH(E) # 668802 ”; here designated to provide a reference standard for the species; BMNH (Fig. 27).
Paralectotype AUSTRALIA • ♀; “63 47”, “ BMNH(E) # 668803 ”; BMNH (Fig. 28).
Note
The lectotype and paralectotype are placed together in the Banks collection under two labels: “ Cicada maura, Fab. Entom. p. 686.24”, “ Type ”. The specimens were collected by Joseph Banks and his team at the mouth of the Endeavour River (coordinates: 15°27′32″ S, 145°13′28″ E), when Captain James Cook’s ship Endeavour was beached and repaired, 17 Jun.–4 Aug. 1770 (Banks 1771).
Additional material
AUSTRALIA • ♂, paralectotype of O. picea; Cairns; 16°55′19″ S, 145°46′32″ E; Aug. 1904; BPBM • 1 ♂; Cairns; SAM • 1 ♂; Cairns; J.F. Illingworth leg.; on potato; BPBM • 1 ♂; Cairns; J.F. Illingworth leg.; on grass; ASCT • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; SAM • 1 ♂; Cairns; J.F. Illingworth leg.; on ti tree; BPBM • 1 ♂; Gordonvale; 17°04′34″ S, 145°47′40″ E; 1 Mar. 1922; E. Jarvis leg.; on Eucalyptus; BMNH • 1 ♂; same locality as preceding; 28 Jun. 1923; W.C. Dormer leg.; QM • 1 ♂; Port Douglas; 16°29′01″ S, 145°27′55″ E; 9 Jul. 1971; Z. Liepa leg.; ANIC • 1 ♂; Annan River, 3 km SW of Black Mt; 15°41′ S, 145°12′ E; 27 Sep. 1980; T. Weir leg.; ANIC • 1 ♂; Cooktown; 31 Apr. 1972; RBINS • 1 ♂; Atherton Tablelands; [coordinates of Atherton: 17°15′37″ S, 145°29′23″ E]; J.G. Brooks leg.; AM • 1 ♂; Meringa; 17°04′42″ S, 145°46′30″ E; 27 Dec. 1946; J. Rosser leg.; QM • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Meringa; Sep. 1919; F. Muir leg.; BPBM.
Note
One male labelled “Sol. Is., Guadalcanar I. [sic], 1-1921, J.A. Kusche coll., Collection of W.M. Giffard” from the BPBM has also been examined. This record from the Solomon Islands, very far off the Australian coast, is regarded as highly doubtful and a probable case of mislabeling.
Description
MEASUREMENTS AND RATIOS. LT: ♂ (n = 3): 7.2 mm (6.9–7.5); BV/LV = 3.6; BF/LF = 1.82; LP+ LM/BT = 0.62; Ltg/BTg = 2.4; LW/BW = 1.97.
Male
HEAD (Figs 27A–D, 29A–D). Vertex slightly concave, with anterior and posterior margins parallel, curved; medium to dark brown with sides slightly darker. Frons uniformly coloured, medium to dark brown. Clypeus elongate, entirely brown. Genae brown to black with yellowish markings along anterior margin. Labium brown to black, reaching metacoxae. Antennae black-brown; scape short, ring-shaped; pedicel subcylindrical, slightly narrowing towards apex.
THORAX (Figs 27A–D, 29A–D). Pronotum uniformly brown, sometimes variegated with yellowish; slightly wrinkled; 2 small impressed points on disc slightly marked; sometimes very obsolete median carina. Lateral fields of prothorax coloured as pronotum. Mesonotum medium to dark brown, somewhat darker than pronotum, sometimes variegated with yellowish; yellowish minute spot at apex of scutellum; median and peridiscal carinae weakly marked; median carina stopping before scutellum; slight impression before scutellum. Red ventrally. Tegulae medium to dark brown.
TEGMINA (Figs 27A, C, 29A, C). Medium to dark brown; often pale yellowish marking on vein A1 at midlength of clavus; marked with dark brown or black along costal margin, more broadly so on posterior half, and along posterior margin. Often darker, median, irregular marking at apical ¾; triangular white marking on costal margin on nodal line, sometimes reduced; sometimes, a number of minute white spots at apicosutural angle. Costal and sutural margins subparallel; costal margin nearly straight; apical margin obliquely rounded.
POSTERIOR WINGS (Fig. 29E). Brown, paler on anal area and progressively darker on apical half; small, subtriangular white marking at apicocostal angle, extending on 2–4 cells. Margin of anal area slightly sinuate; sutural margin with 1 slight cleft, cubital one nearly not marked.
LEGS (Figs 27A–D, 29A–D). Pro- and mesocoxae black-brown. Pro- and mesofemora black-brown variegated with brown. Pro- and mesotibiae medium to dark brown, sometimes with 3 paler obsolete rings. Pro- and mesotarsi black-brown with basal half of third tarsomere paler. Metacoxae reddish brown; metafemora reddish with apex brown. Metatibiae brown, with 3 lateral spines paler basally and 9 apical black-brown spines. Metatarsi brown with a ventral row of 6 black spines on first tarsomere.
ABDOMEN. Bright red with genital segments black-brown.
MALE GENITALIA (Fig. 30). Posterior margin of pygofer in lateral view sinuate, strongly roundly projecting at dorsal ¼, moderately broad ventrally (Fig. 30A, C). Anal tube with lateral margins parallel before epiproct, constricted at level of epiproct, then obovate in apical half, 1.95 times as long as broad, slightly curved ventrally in lateral view; apical margin rounded (Fig. 30A–B). Gonostyli fused on basal 2/5 of length of centroventral part and projecting posterodorsally (Fig. 30A, C). Centroventral part broad and dorsoventrally flattened on basal 2/5, then with 2 strong divergent processes projecting posterodorsally, with apex curved ventrally and bearing 4–5 strong teeth (Fig. 30A, C). Laterodorsal part of gonostyli elongate and directed posterolaterally, dorsoventrally flattened, shorter than centroventral part and strongly bifid, apically with the two processes subparallel; lateral process elongate, projecting anterolaterally and about as long as spoon-shaped process (Fig. 30A, C–D). Dorsal portion of phallobase with hooked process on each side, progressively narrowing from base to apex, directed posterocentrally, slightly converging posteriorly, curved in dorsal view and with apex pointing dorsally (Fig. 30E–F). Ventral portion of phallobase unilobed in dorsal view, with median lobe surpassing phallus (Fig. 30E– F). Phallus dorsoventrally flattened, rather broad, with apical margin deeply emarginate in middle (Fig. 30E–F).
Female
Similar to male, but without white spot on costal margin of tegmina at nodal line and with white spot at apicosutural angle of posterior wing strongly reduced, visible as a small, slightly paler marking (Fig. 31).
Distribution and biology
This species is currently recorded from an area around Cairns in North Queensland (Fig. 3), in the Cape York Peninsula Tropical Savanna and Queensland Tropical Rainforests bioregions. Specimens were collected in March, April, June, July and August. One specimen was collected on Solanum tubiferum L. (Solanaceae) and one on Eucalyptus sp.
description: Published as part of Constant, Jérôme, 2018, Revision of the Eurybrachidae XIV. The Australian genera Olonia Stål, 1862 and Stalobrachys gen. nov. (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha), pp. 1-97 in European Journal of Taxonomy 486 on pages 44-52, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2018.486, http://zenodo.org/record/2270151