Sepullia Stål, 1866 :79

Andrew Hamilton, K. G., 2015, A new tribe and species of Clastopterinae (Hemiptera: Cercopoidea: Clastopteridae) from Africa, Asia and North America, Zootaxa 3946 (2), pp. 151-189 : 169

Sepullia Stål, 1866:79 .

Type-species by subsequent designation ( Distant 1908 a): Clastoptera murrayi [ Fairmaire and] Signoret, 1858.

Distribution. Tropical Africa, from Ethiopia west to Senegal, and south along the Atlantic coast to the foothills of the Serro do Humbe mountains of western Angola.

Diagnosis. Robust; head very short, half length of pronotum, or less; tylus distinct but coplanar with crown; crown very short and broad, unmarked, pitted or transversely banded; face black ( Fig. 6 D) contrasting strongly with pale yellow to rufous upper half of frons; antennal ledges smaller than those of other Sepulliini, similar to those of Clastoptera , with 3 preantennal bristles before antennal pit, 2 in horizontal row and 1 below the 2nd as in Iba ; postpedicel as in Beesoniella , but placoid sensillum bean-shaped in outline, surrounded by non-septate groove, and coeloconic pit set near base (as in Fig. 23D); pronotum steeply declivous, usually minutely pitted and shiny; tegmina usually finely pitted without bullae; veins inconspicuous; legs as in Abbalomba . Male genitalia as in Grellaphia , but pygofer process digitate (as in Fig. 17 A), theca with furcate socle, shaft very short, vasiform, containing tubular endotheca ( Figs 18 C–D). Ovipositor with 2nd valvulae blunt-tipped ( Fig. 11 M–P), otherwise as in Patriziana . Length: 3–5 mm.

Included taxa. Eight species, two of which are described below.

Remarks. The species of Sepullia have been much confused with those of the widespread genus Tremapterus that have similar male genitalia. The body shape and antennal characters are quite different in these two genera, and preliminary barcoding data show that the extreme forms Sepullia (most robust, tegmina weakly pitted and with venation obscure) and Patriziana (most slender, venation and wing sculpturing most obvious) are divergent by 14% ( Hamilton 2014), a differentiation significantly greater than the 9% divergence separating Orthorapha Westwood (s.s.) and its subgenus Lepyronoxia Melichar (Hamilton 2013) .

Figures

FIGURE 11. Second valvulae of Taphrotylus (A), Sepullia (M – P) and Tremapterus subgenera Nyanja (B – G), Selenion (H), Tremiziana (J – L), and subgenus Abbalomba (Q – R). A, Taphrotylus insignificans, holotype; B, Tremapterus bimaculatus; C, T. humilis; D, T. perfasciatus; E, T. indecisus; F, T. scutellatus; G, T. virididorsum; H, T. longicaudatus, holotype; J, T. araneosus, paratype; K, T. scapulatus, paratype; L, T. oxythymus, paratype; M, Sepullia fuscolimbata; N, S. viridicollis; O, S. abyssinia; P, S. murrayi; Q, T. typicus; R, T. facialis. Scale line: 1 mm.

FIGURES 3 – 6. Comparison of face (3 – 4 A), tegmen (3 – 5 B), hind wing (3 – 5 C), lateral aspect of head, pronotum and scutellum (6 A – M) and dorsal aspect (N – O) in genera of Clastopterini (3 – 4), Machaerotinae (5), Sepullini (6 A – L, O) and Aphrophorinae (6 M – N): 3 A, Clastoptera atrapicata; 3 B – C, Clastoptera globosa Fowler; 6 A, Clastoptera achatina; 4 B – C, Iba (s. s.) venosa; 5 B – C, Aphrosiphon bauhiniae, from China (1935), 6 B, Iba (Parahindoloides) lumuana, lectotype, 6 C, Beesoniella sylvestris; 6 D, Sepullia fuscolimbatus; 6 E, Tremapterus (Patriziana) somalicus; 6 F, Tremapterus (s. s.) nigropunctatus, lectotype; 6 G, Tremapterus (s. s.) palimpsestus sp. nov.; 6 H, Tremapterus (Abbalomba) schoutedeni, holotype; 6 J, Tremapterus (Abbalomba) facialis, lectotype; 6 K, Tremapterus (Abbalomba) typicus; 6 L, Grellaphia costalis; 6 O, Sepullia viridicollis var. curtula; 6 M – N, Witteella major (M – O from Jacobi 1910, with hind legs of Sepullia corrected to place spines on outer surface).

FIGURES 12 – 18. Male genitalia of Beesoniella (12 – 14), Grellaphia (15 – 16), Tremapterus (17) and Sepullia (18). 12, B. cyclops sp. nov.; 13, B. forceps sp. nov.; 14, B. sylvestris; 15, G. costalis; 16, G. ro b u s t a sp. nov.; 17, T. dregei holotype; 18, Sepullia murrayi. A, genital capsule, lateral aspect (smaller scale than other figures); B, right pygofer process, ventral aspect, tip upwards; C, lateral aspect of connective, phallobase, theca and (17 – 18) endotheca; D, caudal aspect of theca and endotheca (when present). Scale line: 0.1 mm.