Oncometopia orbona Fabricius 1798
Creators: name: Rakitov, Roman
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Oncometopia
Oncometopia orbona

description: Oncometopia orbona (Fabricius 1798)
(Figs. 1 A–H, 2)
Cicada undata Fabricius 1794: 32 [n. sp., preoccupied, nec Cicada undata DeGeer 1773: 185] Oncometopia undata; Schröder 1959 [described, pl. 1, figs. 7-9]
To Oncometopia (Oncometopia) nigricans; Metcalf 1965: 571 [catalogued, error] To Oncometopia (Oncometopia) orbona; Young 1968: 229 [n. syn.] Cicada undata; Young 1974: 1699 [lectotype designated]
Oncometopia (Oncometopia) orbona; McKamey 2007: 310 [catalogued] Cicada orbona Fabricius 1798: 520 [n. sp.]
Cicada orbona; Young 1965a: 15 [lectotype designated]
Oncometopia (Lebora) orbona; Metcalf 1965: 588 [catalogued]
Oncometopia (Oncometopia) orbona; Young 1968: 229 [figs. 207, 208] Oncometopia (Oncometopia) orbon a; McKamey 2007: 310 [catalogued] Proconia plagiata Walker 1851: 788 [n. sp.]
Proconia plagiata; Young 1965: 188 [lectotype designated]
To Oncometopia (Oncometopia) nigricans; Metcalf 1965: 571 [catalogued, error]
To Oncometopia (Oncometopia) orbona; Young 1968: 229 [n. syn.] Oncometopia (Oncometopia) orbon a; McKamey 2007: 310 [catalogued]
Description. Length: male 10.5–12.5 mm, female 11.5–13.0 mm. Head bluntly produced, outer contour of antennal ledges in dorsal view slightly to distinctly angular, with inconspicuous short setae, on lower portion lightly pubescent with longer hairs. Thorax dorsally with inconspicuous short setae, on ventral and lateral parts pubescent with longer, light setae. Pronotal disc with anterior portion smooth, sculpted by few relatively large depressions and knobs and forming two semicircular posterior expansions approximately behind each ocellus, and posterior portion punctate and rugose. Scutellum without transverse striae. Forewing with apical membrane including apical cells and distal portions of subapical cells, elsewhere coriaceous and punctate, covered with short setae (more densely in females near middle of costal area, see Rakitov 2004), claval veins subparallel, fused in a point, or connected by crossvein. Protibiae not dilated. Metafemur with apical setal formula 2+0, 2+1, or 2+1+1. Metatibiae with macrosetae of anteroventral tibial row strongly sexually dimorphic, elongate and curved in females (Rakitov 2004). First metatarsomere equal to lengths of 2nd and 3rd metatarsomeres combined. Other external characters as in the genus description (Young 1968).
Coloration. Head (Fig. 2 A) with ground color yellow, irregularly peppered with minute purple dots, with brown to black linear markings. Crown with markings delimiting closed pyriform or “8”-shaped anteromedian areola, extending anteriorly to apex of head, posteriorly to anterior branches of coronal suture, and laterally to areas of muscle impressions, and four pairs of lateral markings radiating from areola: (1) apical markings emerging as pair of lateral triangles, continued as poorly distinct lines along anterior margin of head to antennal ledges, their most lateral parts often vanishing, (2) oblique markings extending anterolaterally to anterior head margin, absent in some specimens, (3) arcuate markings extending posterolaterally to apices of lateral frontal sutures, and (4) arcuate markings extending posterolaterally to each ocellus. Vertex on each side with pair of transverse markings near anterior and posterior inner eye angles, often fused into semicircular or bracket-shaped marking, on posterior margin with pair of small round spots equidistant between midline and each eye and with another pair on each side of median, often contiguous along occipital margin. Antennal ledges with rectangular marking along entire dorsal margin, extended anteriorly along inner margin. Frontoclypeus with median streak extending from apex of head to 1/3 to 2/3 frontoclypeus length, pair of oblique linear markings crossing each muscular impressions area, converging ventrally, extending to transverse arcuate macula above transclypeal suture, in some specimens with additional, less distinct pair of similar oblique markings more laterally, dorsally reaching antennal ledges. Transclypeal suture with pair of lateral markings or entirely dark. Apex of anteclypeus darkened.
Pronotum disk (Fig. 2 A) with smooth anterior part yellow, mostly enclosed within variable black contour tending to resemble spectacles; remainder of disk blue or grayish with pits and rugae, unpigmented or brown to black. Mesonotum yellow, with pair of arcuate lines delimiting anterolateral angles, in central area usually with two longitudinal lines merging posteriorly into single median line, and additional variable small markings, black. Scutellar suture with black transverse mark, on each side dividing into anterior branch reaching posterior end of anterolateral arcuate mark of mesonotum and posterior branch delimiting anterolateral angles of scutellum; remainder of scutellum yellow.
Thoracic pleura and sterna mostly yellow with indistinct diffuse purple pattern; posterior half of proepimeron concolorous with pronotal disc; transverse band along posterior margin of katepisternum, produced anteriorly on each side, most of metepisternum, and variable markings on sutures (typically including spot on anepisternum behind midlength of posterior margin of proepimeron, and linear marking between anepisternum and katepisternum), brown to black. Legs yellow, except coxae partly dark, femora with diffuse reddish markings, and apices of metatibiae darkened.
Forewings (Fig. 1 A–H) blue (pink in teneral specimens), concolorous with posterior portion of pronotum or somewhat darker, setiferous pits surrounded with confluent dark areas, producing overall mottled pattern.
Abdominal sterna III–VII yellow, each anteriorly with transverse brown area, which can be shaped as band, inverted trapezoid, triangle, or pair of contiguous triangles; terga III–VII yellow with median portions black, terga VIII–IX yellow, lateroterga yellow, peppered with diffuse brown or purple dots.
Male terminalia. Pygofer with scattered setae of variable size, larger setae occurring on posterior portion, in lateral view with posterior margin uniformly broadly rounded, ventral margin with posteriorly directed process approximately 3.5–4.5x longer (measured along dorsal margin) than its basal width, not hooked apically (Fig. 2 E, F). Valve laterally fused with pygofer, transverse, narrow, with posterior margin straight. Subgenital plates triangular, approximately 1.5x as long (measured along commissural margin) as wide at base, not reaching pygofer apex in lateral view, their lateral margins with concavity at 1/3 of plate length, with apex narrowly rounded; ventral surface with scattered setae, lateral surface with fine setae, particularly long in basal half, dorsal surface with bare sclerotized area extending along lateral margin from base to approximately 1/3 of plate length (Fig. 2 D, hatched), apical portion of this area with granulose microsculpture and with or without small dentiform projection apically near style apex, with patch of long fine setae along lateral margin posteriorly of sclerotized area. Connective (Fig. 2 D) broadly triangular, not reaching style apices, anteriorly with median dorsal keel. Style (Fig. 2 D) in dorsal view nearly straight, with preapical lateral lobe indistinct, with preapical patch of setae on ventrolateral surface, apex roughly sculptured along inner margin, curved ventrally. Aedeagus not compressed laterally, in lateral view (Fig. 2 C) approximately as long as tall; base long, its dorsal margin in lateral view only slightly shorter than height of shaft, often with small dentiform projection near transition to shaft, ventral surface of base extended into robust ascending process, approximately as long as shaft; atrium in caudal view broad, membranous; shaft in caudal view (Fig. 2 B) approximately parallel-sided, on ventral surface near middle with bulging weakly sclerotized expansion bearing spiniform process, both of variable shape. Dorsal apodemes at base of aedeagus well developed (Fig. 2 B, C, hatched). Anal tube with basal segment wider than long, its ventral posterior margin slightly produced.
Female terminalia. Pygofer densely covered with sensilla, appearing under light microscope as minute pores, and scattered setae. Gonoplacs not extending beyond posterior margin of pygofer, unsculptured, with few small setae apically and along ventral margin. 1st valvulae (Fig. 2 K, L) beyond basal curvature straight or slightly recurved, sculptured above ramus with oblique rugged ridges, below ramus with preapical irregularly sculptured area, with both ventral and dorsal margins serrate immediately before symmetrically pointed apex. Bases of 1st valvulae (Fig. 2 I, J, K, arrow) well produced anterad of articulation with 1st valvifers, with spinose microsculpture, in dorsal view narrowly inflated along anterior margin (Fig. 2 J). 2nd valvulae (Fig. 2 M, N) bladelike in posterior 3/ 4, with dorsal and ventral margins subparallel, dorsally with approximately 33 triangular teeth, not fused basally, each minutely serrate on its posterior slope, ventral margin with distinct preapical prominence, more apically serrate and concave, apex rounded (Fig. 2 N).
Sternum VII (Fig. 2 G) uniformly setose, slightly carinate along midline, not depressed, median lobe of posterior margin short and broad, wider than 1/3 of posterior margin, 3– 6x wider than long. Vestibulum in dorsal view (Fig. 2 H) with posterior margin transverse, not produced. Sternum VIII (Fig. 2 H, shaded) convex in dorsal view, sclerotized as single triangular plate with posterolateral angles produced into lobes, each sculptured with oblique ridges resembling screw thread, or as pair of plates corresponding to such lobes. Genital chamber sclerites absent.
Distribution. Central and eastern U.S.A. (Fig. 4 R), extending north into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec (Maw et al. 2000). Schröder (1959) mentioned having seen specimens from northern Mexico in Melichar's collection at the Moravian Museum in Brno; this record requires confirmation. The southernmost locality confirmed in this study is Victoria, Texas.
Types. The lectotype, male, in the collection of the Zoologisches Museum der Universität Kiel (ZMUK), Germany, has been designated by Young (1965a) and was not examined in this study. The locality given in the original description is “ Carolina ”.
Material examined. 313 specimens from all parts of the range.
Notes. The species is recognizable by the structure of the male aedeagus (Fig. 2 B, C) and female sternum VIII sclerites (Fig. 2 H), both unique. Putative hybrids with O. nigricans and additional differences between the two species are discussed under O. nigricans. A detailed account of the biology of this species in Georgia has been given by Turner & Pollard (1959). For the egg-laying behavior, related leg morphology, and development of brochosomes, see Rakitov (2000, 2004).
description: Published as part of Rakitov, Roman, 2016, The Oncometopia orbona species group (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Proconiini), pp. 109-133 in Zootaxa 4168 (1) on pages 112-115, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4168.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/256418