Austrimonus apicalis, Fletcher & Dai, 2018

Fletcher, Murray J. & Dai, Wu, 2018, A new genus Austrimonus for Eutettix melaleucae Kirkaldy (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Opsiini) and nine new species, Zootaxa 4387 (2), pp. 310-330 : 312-313

Austrimonus apicalis sp.nov.

zoobank.org:act:6DB235AC-9300-472D-8CA9-C9453A29D7F2 (Figs 3–4, 22, 31B)

Types. Holotype, male, hind dunes, Lennox Head, N. of Ballina , NSW 10.iii.1981, M.J. Fletcher & G.R. Brown, m. v. lamp ( ASCU: ASCTHE007980 ) . Paratypes: QUEENSLAND. 1 male, DPI Indooroopilly site, 12–17.xii.1984, malaise trap ( QDPI) ; 4 males, Kilpatrick Ck , 15.42S 141.88E, 14.vii.1999, P.C. Dangerfield ( ASCU) ; 1 male, Statton River, nr Inkerman Homestead , 29.vii.1982, J.F. Donaldson & J.W. Turner, at light ( QDPI) ; 1 male, Lynd River, nr Gamboola , 23.vii.1982, J.F. Donaldson & J.W. Turner, at light ( QDPI) ; 1 male, Nardoo Homestead, S. of Burketown , 17.vi.1976, J.F. Donaldson ( QDPI) ; 7 males, 1 female, Walsh River , Chillagoe, 22.vii.1982, J.F. Donaldson & J.W. Turner, at light ( QDPI) ; 1 male, Woodward Park, 4.2km WNW of Cairns , 16°54.6’S 145°44.4’E, 4.xii.1990, G.J. Bowman, Melaleuca quinquenervia , NQMqn90152.P005 ( ASCU) ; 1 male, 1 female (mounted together), Melville Island, W.D. Dodd (SAM). NORTHERN TERRITORY: 1 male, Katherine Gorge National Park, Katherine River, nr Park headquarters, 10.vi.1987, M. Asche & H. Hoch B.M.1988–142 ( BMNH) . WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 3 males, Kimberley Research Station, via Wyndham , 23.viii.1956, E.C.B. Langfield ( ANIC) , 1 male, same data as previous but 10.xi.1956 ( ANIC) . VICTORIA: 1 male, Kiata , iii.1963, J.W. E[vans], ex J.W. Evans collection donated 1986 ( ASCU) .

Note: a second specimen in QDPI from Nardoo Homestead, same data as above, lacks an abdomen and is here excluded from the type series. A fifth male in ASCU from Kilpatrick Ck, same data as above, is also excluded from the type series as it is a teneral specimen.

Description. Head, body and tegmina (Figs 3, 4) pale testaceous to pale orange with minute brown speckling except for basal parts of face, which lack brown mottling, and apex of head becoming darker brown but delineating five marginal oval pale spots, the laterals surrounding the ocelli. Female with vague pale transverse band near base of tegmen. Vertex of almost equal length throughout. Fore tibia with 4+4 dorsal setae.

Genitalia. Male: Subgenital plate ( Fig. 22B ) narrow triangular, tapering into apical finger-like process. Parameres ( Fig. 22F ) with preapical lobe well developed; apical lobe apically acute with slight hint of tooth preapically. Connective ( Fig. 22E ) elongate with stem slightly longer than arms. Aedeagal shafts, in posterior view ( Fig. 22C ) divergent at base then directed dorsally and slightly laterally, almost straight to gonopore with apical process directed inwards and bifurcated; in lateral view ( Fig. 22D ), curved dorsally to near apical section, then curved posteriorly. Basal apodeme ( Fig. 22D ) short, bluntly pointed. Female: Posterior margin of pregenital sternite ( Fig. 31B ) transverse with medial section extended posteriorly and medially emarginate.

Etymology. The species name reflects the distinctive apical bifurcate process on each aedeagal shaft.

Comments. This species is close to M. melaleucae from which it differs by the apical process of the aedeagal shafts being considerably longer and clearly bifurcate and the preapical tooth on the apical process of the paramere barely discernible. There is some variation in the degree of divergence of the aedeagal shafts in posterior view with specimens from the Kimberley, WA, having the shafts more widely separated from the base but this is not regarded as having specific significance. The colouring, particularly the line of pale ocellations along the anterior margin of the head, is also distinctive. The hind margin of the female pregenital sternite is similar in both species although the medial prominence is more pronounced in this species than in A. melaleucae . The fore tibial dorsal setation (4+4) in A. apicalis differs from that found in all other species of the genus (1+4).

Figures

FIGURE 22. A. apicalis, male genitalia. A. terminalia, lateral view, B. subgenital plates and pregenital sternite, ventral view, C. aedeagus, posteroventral view, D. aedeagus, lateral view, E. connective, ventral view, F. paramere.

FIGURE 31. Female pregenital sternite: posterior margin.A. A. melaleucae, B. A. apicalis, C. A.clavatus.