Dazollina, Sanborn, 2018

Sanborn, Allen F., 2018, Two new genera and two new species of cicadas from Central America (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae), Zootaxa 4418 (2), pp. 149-160 : 150-151

Genus Dazollina n. gen.

Type species. Dazollina petilunca n. gen., n. sp. ( Sector San Ramon de Dos Rios , Alajuela Province, Costa Rica).

Species included. The genus is represented currently by the type species D. petilunca n. gen., n. sp.

Etymology. The name is a combination of the related genera Daza Distant, 1905b and Procollina Metcalf, 1952 as it shares characteristics of both genera. The genus is feminine.

Description. Small to medium sized cicada (19–25 mm body length). Head wider than mesonotum, eyes about as wide as anterior pronotal collar, vertex at area of ocelli as long as frons, postclypeus centrally inflated, flattened laterally, with medial carina, slightly curved transverse apex, rostrum reaching the anterior of sternite I. Pronotum shorter than mesonotum, trapezoidal with anterior margin narrower than lateral margins of pronotal collar, lateral angles of pronotal collar expanded and angulate, mesonotum covering dorsal metanotum, metanotum extends laterally beyond wing groove, cruciform elevation smoothly arched posteriorly. Metasternum transverse central plate moderately elevated, not angularly produced anteriorly. Fore wings more or less maculate with the basal cell longer than broad. Radial and radiomedial crossveins generally parallel, obliquely oriented to radius posterior and median veins respectively. Fore femora with elongated, angled primary spine adpressed against femur, upright secondary spine, and a small tertiary spine, tarsi three-segmented. Male opercula with rounded posterior margin barely covering tympanal cavity extending to anterior of sternite II, opercula well separated along midline, meracanthus tapering to a point, not reaching middle of operculum, female operculum with straight lateral and curved posterior margin, smaller extending medially only to medial base of meracanthus, meracanthus generally of similar shape to male for each species extending to posterior margin of female operculum. Abdomen slightly longer than distance between apex of head and posterior of cruciform elevation, lateral margins curving, expanding laterally to tergite 4 where the abdomen begins narrowing posteriorly to the genitalia, male sternites translucent, epipleurites folded toward dorsal surface producing a channel on the lateral margins of the male abdomen. Timbal cover reduced, recurved posteriorly forming a ridge along the posterior timbal cavity, timbal completely exposed extending below wing bases, tympana concealed by opercula. Male sternite VIII U-shaped when viewed from posterior. Female sternite VII with sinuate lateroposterior margin and medial notch. Pygofer distal shoulder rounded, dorsal beak present, roughly arching, pygofer basal lobe indistinct, pygofer upper lobe elongated, flattened, adpressed against pygofer, median uncus lobe short, surrounded by lateral uncus lobes that form an arch distally when viewed from the side, male aedeagus a simple tubular structure. Female abdominal segment 9 with dorsal beak well defined and sinuate posterior margin, ovipositor sheath extends to length of dorsal beak.

Measurements (mm). Length of body: 19.5–24.9; length of fore wing: 28.8–34.3; width of fore wing: 8.6–10.4; length of head: 2.6–3.2; width of head including eyes: 6.8–7.8; width of pronotum including suprahumeral plates: 7.9–10.1; width of mesonotum: 6.0–7.7.

Diagnosis. The ampliated pronotal margins that are medially angulate, and the hyaline fore wings and hind wings that are more or less spotted place the new genus in the tribe Zammarini ( Distant 1905a) . Specimens of Dazollina n. gen. also possess timbal covers that are very reduced in size and form a curled ridge along the posterior timbal cavity. This is the characteristic distinction for species of the subtribe Dazina ( Sanborn 2018). The timbal covers emerge from an abdominal tergite and not the metanotum and there is no accessory sound producing structure in the new genus so the Plautillini Distant, 1906 , which also posses ampliated lateral pronotal margins, is not a possible classification for the new genus. No other New World tribes possess the ampliated lateral pronotum.

Within the Dazina, Dazollina n. gen. can be distinguished from the two species of Daza by the larger body size (greater than 34 mm) of these species, a head as wide as the mesonotum, the lateral pronotal margins are strongly angulate, the strong curve in the fore wing cubitus anterior 1, and the uncus that narrows from the base with the terminus bending downward. Species of Procollina can be distinguished by the head including the eyes being narrower than the base of the mesonotum, the space between pronotal dilations being less than the width of the abdomen, the lateral margins of the pronotum are rounded, the basal cell of fore wing is distinctly longer than broad, and the uncus lobes are not flattened. The single species of the South American genus Onoralna can be distinguished by its rounded lateral pronotum, thin body with parallel sides, large, maculate fore wings (1.75X body length), fore wings and hind wings with a series of maculate spots along the ambient vein, a mesonotal stridulatory apparatus, a timbal without ribs, and an uncus that tapers to the apex.

Distribution. The genus is known currently from Costa Rica and Guatemala (see below).