Auritibicen, Lee, Young June, 2015

Lee, Young June, 2015, Description of a new genus, Auritibicen gen. nov., of Cryptotympanini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with redescriptions of Auritibicen pekinensis (Haupt, 1924) comb. nov. and Auritibicen slocumi (Chen, 1943) comb. nov. from China and a key to the species of Auritibicen, Zootaxa 3980 (2), pp. 241-254 : 243-244

Genus Auritibicen gen. nov.

Type species. Tibicen intermedia Mori, 1931 [type locality: Mt. Songnisan, Korea; Fig. 2 ], by the present designation.

The species is designated as the type species for its plentifulness of shared characteristics with congeners. As its name intermedius suggests, the species stands in an intermediate position among congeners when their morphologies are considered. The species is found to inhabit a large area of the eastern Asian continent, which is another merit of this species.

Description. Head including eyes distinctly wider than base of mesonotum. Pronotum with lateral margin weakly ampliated, not dentate. Marginal area of the pronotum yellowish. Inner area of the pronotum reddish brown to ochraceous. Mesonotum black and/or castaneous with large W-shaped yellowish mark medially. Most part of epimeral lobe detached from body. Male opercula about as long as wide or longer than wide, usually overlapped at inner margins, except for A. bihamatus (de Motschulsky, 1861) comb. nov. ( Fig. 4 ). Wings hyaline. Fore wing costa roundly convex before node, making radial cell broad enough to be slightly wider than or about as broad as ulnar cell 3. Fore wing costa not concave after node. Male abdomen distinctly longer than head and thorax together. Male abdominal segment 2 (including timbal covers) distinctly wider than head including eyes. Timbal cover completely covering timbal. Pygofer barrel-shaped in ventral view; thin and long in lateral view (when excluding uncus). Dorso-distal part of pygofer flat, lower than distal shoulders, and without dorsal beak. Uncus large, about one-thirds the length of pygofer or more; simple, without aedeagus-supporting structures (see Remarks below). Uncal lobes fused into one, not bifurcate, rounded or truncate apically; apical half curved inwardly in lateral view. Aedeagus comparatively thin and tapering into very thin apex.

Etymology. The generic name is a Latin masculine noun meaning “golden Tibicen ”, having the prefix of auri, signifying the yellowish ornaments on the body of the member species. Although Tibicen is treated here as nomen nudum, Tibicen has been widely used worldwide more than Lyristes , especially for the American species. As the American species should have been provided with new generic names, rhyme of - tibicen may also be used for them.

Differences between the genus Lyristes (or Tibicen ) and Auritibicen gen. nov. The genus Auritibicen gen. nov. is distinguished from Lyristes sensu stricto ( Fig. 1 ) and the American Tibicen species by the following characters: body coloration mentioned earlier in Introduction section of this paper; supra-antennal plate independently protruding anteriad in dorsal view, making head to have three roundish peaks (seldom protruding, making head to be triangular in Lyristes and the American Tibicen ); male abdominal segment 2 distinctly wider than head (about as wide as head in Lyristes and the American Tibicen ); wings with very narrow marginal areas (between wing margin and apical cells), narrower than fore wing apical cell 1 (comparatively broad marginal areas, broader than or about as broad as apical cell 1 in Lyristes and the American Tibicen ), especially at apex of fore wing; fore wing costa roundly convex before node, making radial cell broad enough to be slightly wider or about as broad as ulnar cell 3 (very slightly convex before node, making radial cell slightly narrower than ulnar cell 3 in Lyristes and the American Tibicen ); and aedeagus comparatively thin and tapering into very thin apex (thick and with widely truncate apex in Lyristes and the American Tibicen ).

Besides the above mentioned characters, Auritibicen is distinguished from Lyristes , distributed from the western Mediterranean area to the western Asia, by the following characters: male abdomen distinctly longer than (about as long as in Lyristes ) head and thorax together; most part of epimeral lobe detached from body (adhering to body in Lyristes ); pygofer thin and long in lateral view (plump and broad in lateral view in Lyristes ); dorso-distal part of pygofer flat, without dorsal beak (triangular, with small but acute dorsal beak in Lyristes ); uncus large, about one-thirds the length of pygofer or more (comparatively small in Lyristes ); and uncus simple, without aedeagus-supporting structures (with a pair of cap-shaped structures protruding below uncal lobe, supporting aedeagus, in Lyristes ).

Lyristes cristobalensis Boulard, 1990 from Solomon Islands is believed to be heterogeneric from Lyristes in view of the very broad posterior part of the pronotal collar, strongly bent fore wing costa, narrow marginal areas of wings, and the thin apex of the aedeagus.

Auritibicen is distinguished from the American Tibicen species also by the following character: basal lobe of pygofer attached to lateral wall of pygofer (sublateral or paramedian, apart from lateral wall of pygofer in the American Tibicen ).

The characters listed for the American Tibicen species in this section are seen in the specimens examined (belonging to multiple groups) but do not correspond exactly to some other species, e.g., Tibicen bifidus (Davis, 1916) , Tibicen chiricahua Davis, 1923 , Tibicen chisosensis Davis, 1934 , Tibicen duryi Davis, 1917 , Tibicen hidalgoensis Davis, 1941 , Tibicen inauditus Davis, 1917 , Tibicen longioperculus Davis, 1926 , Tibicen montezuma (Distant, 1881) , Tibicen neomexicensis Stucky, 2013 , Tibicen paralleloides Davis, 1934 , Tibicen parallelus Davis, 1923 , Tibicen simplex Davis, 1941 , Tibicen sugdeni Davis, 1941 , Tibicen townsendii (Uhler, 1905) , Tibicen texanus Metcalf, 1963 , and so on. These species are believed to form multiple other groups of generic level in view of their morphological traits. Tibicen minor Davis, 1934 and Tibicen fuscus Davis, 1934 belong to another different group. Morphological comparisons and erections of new genera for the American Tibicen species will be made in the forthcoming study.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lyristes plebejus (Scopoli, 1763), male, France: A, Dorsal habitus. B, Ventral habitus. C, Ventral view of the pygofer. D, Lateral view of the pygofer.

FIGURE 2. Auritibicen intermedius (Mori, 1931) comb. nov., male, Korea: A, Dorsal habitus. B, Ventral habitus. C, Ventral view of the pygofer. D, Lateral view of the pygofer.

FIGURE 4. Auritibicen bihamatus (de Motschulsky, 1861) comb. nov., male, Japan: A, Dorsal habitus. B, Ventral habitus. C, Ventral view of the pygofer. D, Lateral view of the pygofer.