Calipsalta, Moulds & Marshall, 2022

Moulds, Max & Marshall, David C., 2022, New genera and new species of Western Australian cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 5174 (5), pp. 451-507 : 485-486

Calipsalta gen. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:065C8F75-F005-49DC-BB1A-DCC716A7619C

( Figs 9–11 , 20 , 42–50 )

Type species. Calipsalta fumosa sp. n., here designated.

Included species. Calipsalta fumosa sp. n., C. viridans sp. n., C. brunnea sp. n.

Etymology. From the Latin adjective calidus meaning warm, hot, and referring to the warm to hot climate inhabited by the species of this genus, and from psalta, a traditional ending for cicada generic names which probably originates from the Latin psaltria meaning a female harpist. Feminine.

Distribution ( Figs 42 , 45 , 48 ). Arid regions of Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and far south-western Queensland. The females of all species are readily attracted to light, the males far less so.

Diagnosis ( Figs 9–11 , 20a , 43 , 46 , 49 )./ Head including eyes as wide as mesonotum; supra-antennal plate almost meeting eye; postclypeus broadly rounded transversely across ventral midline, in lateral profile angulate between ‘top’ and ‘sides’. Thorax: pronotum in dorsal view parallel-sided or widening towards posterior; pronotal collar width at dorsal midline much less than diameter of eyes; paranota confluent with adjoining pronotal sclerites, no mid lateral tooth; cruciform elevation with its dome wider than long; epimeral lobe not reaching operculum. Forewings hyaline; with 8 apical cells; subapical cells absent; ulnar cell 3 angled to radial cell; basal cell long and narrow; costal vein (C) clearly higher than R+Sc; costa parallel-sided to node except for a slight swelling basally; costa of male gently and evenly curved; pterostigma present; vein CuA only weakly bowed so that cubital cell no wider than widest part of medial cell; veins M and CuA meeting basal cell abutted (never spaced apart) or with their stems completely fused for a short distance; vein CuA 1 divided by crossvein m-cu so that proximal portion shortest; distance between crossveins r and r-m about equal to or a little shorter than between r-m and m; wing outer margin developed for its total length, never reduced to be contiguous with ambient vein. Hindwings with six apical cells; no infuscation on ambient vein; width of 1st cubital cell at distal end more than twice that of 2nd cubital cell; anal lobe wide with vein 3A curved, long, and separated from wing margin. Foreleg femoral primary spine unusually large, erect. Male opercula more or less reaching margin of tympanal cavity, directed towards distomedial margin of tympanal cavity, apically broadly rounded, not meeting. Male abdomen about as wide as thorax; in cross-section with sides of tergites straight or weakly convex; epipleurites reflexed ventrally from junction with tergites; tergite 2 wide along midline, about as wide as any other of tergites 3–7; sternites III–VII convex in cross-section not unusually swollen. Timbals with three long ribs and one anterior one short; basal dome large; timbals extended below the level of the wing bases; posterior margin of timbal cavity either rounded and completely lacking a ridge or weakly ridged on lower half or so.

Male genitalia ( Figs 43 , 46 , 49 ). Pygofer in ventral view ovoid to sub ovoid, distal portion of upper pygofer lobes not the widest point, not strongly tapered from upper pygofer lobes to base; pygofer with distal shoulders not developed; upper lobes flat, small to moderately developed, set well away from dorsal beak, rounded; basal lobes undivided, moderately developed, broadly rounded in lateral view, adjacent to upper pygofer lobe, partly tucked behind pygofer margin; dorsal beak present as a pointed apex (visible in dorsal view) and a part of chitinized pygofer. Uncus small, short, flattened, more or less duck-bill shaped. Claspers well developed; restraining aedeagus; wide in lateral view, outer face with a deep overhanging lip along upper margin; unfused; not notably diverging. Aedeagus trifid; with basal plate in lateral view undulated, weakly depressed on dorsal midline, in dorsal view shorter than broad, apically broadened with ‘ears’; ventral rib completely fused with basal plate; junction between theca and basal plate with a functional ‘hinge’ that possesses a chitinous back; thecal shaft short; pseudoparameres about as long as theca, slender, unfused throughout their length, gradually converging and then diverging in dorsal, in lateral view aligned with or slightly angled upwards from thecal shaft; ventral support long (longer than half the length of pseudoparameres); flabellum absent; conjunctival claws absent.

Female ( Fig. 10 ) with sternite VIII deeply incised in a V shape; abdominal segment 9 a little wider than long (excluding dorsal beak); dorsal beak with a developed apical spine.

Distinguishing features and relationships. Small cicadas. Distinguished from all other genera in having, in combination, forewing veins M and CuA meeting the basal cell with their stems completely fused as one or abutted (never separated); the hindwings with 6 apical cells and without infuscation; the paranota lacking a small mid lateral tooth; claspers that do not diverge; and a trifid aedeagus with a very long ventral support and a non-sclerotised hinge.

Two species of Calipsalta gen. n. were included in a molecular study by Marshall et al. (2016), these described below as C. brunnea sp. n. and C. viridans sp. n. Together they were sister to Noongara issoides Distant, 1905 and “false quintilia” (described above as Pedana hesperia gen. et sp. n.). Calipsalta is most similar to Noongara in morphology, especially in having a trifid aedeagus and claspers that do not diverge, although the two species do look very different in outward appearance. They are best separated by the length of the forewing discal cell that is very short in Noongara , about equal to half the length of the distance from its apex to wing tip, but far more in Calipsalta . Further, male tergite 1 is narrower than tergite 2 along the dorsal midline in Calipsalta but as wide in Noongara . Calipsalta clearly differs from Pedana in the male genitalia that are trifid in Calipsalta but not trifid in Pedana .

Calipsalta shows superficial similarities to Erempsalta in colour and size, and in favouring an arid environment. However, there are notable differences in body proportions and in the male genitalia that have a very long ventral support (short in Erempsalta ) and claspers that are not diverging. These genera are widely separated in the molecular tree of Cicadettini genera by Marshall et al. (2016).

Figures

FIGURES 8–14. (8) Erempsalta hermannsburgensis (Distant, 1907), male; (9) Calipsalta fumosa gen. et sp. n., male; (10) Calipsalta viridans gen. et sp. n., female; (11) Calipsalta brunnea gen. et sp. n., male; (12a) Pyropsalta patula sp. n., male; (12b) Pyropsalta patula sp. n., female; (13a) Pyropsalta amnica sp. n., male; (13b) Pyropsalta amnica sp. n., female; (14a) Pyropsalta rhythmica sp. n., male (14b) Pyropsalta rhythmica sp. n., female.

FIGURES 15–20. Live adults and their habitats. (15a) Illyria viridis sp. n., male singing; (15b) same species, type locality; (16a) Chrysocicada trophis sp. n., mating pair; (16b) same species, type locality; (17a) Pedana hesperia gen. et sp. n., male calling; (17b) same species, type locality; (18a) Ewartia adusta sp. n., male; (18b) same species, type locality; (19a) Erempsalta hermannsburgensis (Distant, 1907), male calling in its usual upside-down position; (19b) same species, favoured adult host plant; (20a) Calipsalta brunnea gen. et sp. n., male; (20b) same species, habitat near Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, close to type locality. Not to scale.

FIGURES 42–43. Calipsalta fumosa sp. n. (42) distribution; (43a) male genitalia in lateral view; (43b) same in ventral view; (43c) dissected aedeagus in lateral view; (43d) basal plate in dorsal view.

FIGURE 44. Calipsalta fumosa sp. n., male calling song. (44a, b) oscillogram and spectrogram of ending portion of song phrase and the beginning of the next, from the holotype male, recorded in a cage in a vehicle (temperature not recorded); (44c) further detail of syllables at end of phrase; (44d) song from the NT.ULG paratype locality showing more fast-rate pulses per oscillation (temperature not recorded).

FIGURES 45–46. Calipsalta viridans sp. n. (45) distribution; (46a) male genitalia in lateral view; (46b) same in ventral view.

FIGURE 47. Calipsalta viridans sp. n., male calling song. (47a, b) oscillogram and spectrogram of ending portion of song phrase and beginning of the next, from the holotype male (30°C); (47c) further detail of pulses at end of phrase; (47d) example of pulses within a phrase from the WA.GNE paratype locality (temperature not recorded, warm conditions).

FIGURES 48–49. Calipsalta brunnea sp. n. (48) distribution; (49a) male genitalia in lateral view; (49b) same in ventral view.

FIGURE 50. Calipsalta brunnea sp. n., male calling song. (50a, b) oscillogram and spectrogram of ending portion of song phrase and beginning of the next, from the holotype male (30.4°C); (50c) further detail of syllables at end of phrase; (50d) song variant from the WA.DEE paratype location with more fast-rate pulses per oscillation (31.4°C).