Taphura surinamensis ( Kirkaldy, 1909 ) Sanborn, 2020

Sanborn, Allen F., 2020, The cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of Suriname including the description of two new species, five new combinations, and three new records, Zootaxa 4881 (3), pp. 453-481 : 472-473

Taphura surinamensis ( Kirkaldy, 1909) n. comb.

Cicada marginella Olivier 1790: 757 . ( Surinam)

Cicadetta surinamensis Kirkaldy 1909 nom. nov. pro Cicada marginella Olivier 1790 nec Cicada marginella Fabricius, 1787: 390 .

Remarks. An analysis of the origins and distribution of the Cicadettini Buckton, 1890 showed there are no known South American species ( Marshall et al. 2015). Marshall & Hill (2017) erected a new genus for the species of Cicadetta Buckton, 1890 inhabiting North America and Hispaniola. The uncertain status and lack of specimens of Cicadetta surinamensis meant they were unable to consider its placement with respect to their new genus so it remained in the genus Cicadetta ( Marshall & Hill 2017) .

The drawing of Cicada marginella in Olivier (1797) suggests the species is in fact a member of the genus Taphura rather than Cicadetta . The eight apical cells in the fore wings along with the six apical cells depicted in the hind wings eliminate most of the smaller South American genera to which the species could be transferred, e.g. Calyria Stäl, 1862 or Parnisa Stäl, 1862 . The eyes protruding beyond the anterior pronotum, the anteriorly extended postclypeus, the trapezoidal pronotum that is shorter than but wider than the mesonotum, fore wing basal cell being longer than broad, fore wing cubitus anterior and median vein separated when exiting the basal cell, the length of the abdomen being about the length of the distance between the anterior postclypeus and posterior cruciform elevation, and the posterior extensions on the pygofer all suggest it is a species of Taphura ( Sanborn 2017a) . The extensions drawn on the pygofer also eliminate it as a species of Cicadetta . Based on these characteristics, I reassign the species to the genus Taphura to become Taphura surinamensis ( Kirkaldy, 1909) n. comb. A number of Taphura specimens from across Suriname need to be collected to determine if this species is a synonym of one of the two currently known species that inhabit Suriname. The red costal margin and basal areas of the wings in Olivier’s (1790) description suggest it is different from the currently known species.

Distribution. The species has been reported only from Suriname ( Metcalf 1963c).