Kaikaia gaga, Morris & Dietrich, 2020

Morris, Brendan O. & Dietrich, Christopher H., 2020, An unusual new genus and species of centrotine treehopper (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Centrotinae) from Nicaragua, Zootaxa 4729 (2), pp. 286-292 : 290-291

Kaikaia gaga n. sp.

Description. Measurements (mm). Length 9.3; head width 4.9; pronotum width between humeral angles 5.7; width between suprahumeral horn apices 8.7; pronotum length 5.3; forewing length 5.8. Coloration. Overall color dark brownish maroon; supraocular callosities concolorous; vertex, apical suprahumeral horns, posterior process and femora with margins or carinae dark brown or blackish. Forewing hyaline, longitudinal veins brown with vertical, ochraceous yellow band basally. Exposed lateral margins of scutellum concolorous basally with apices yellowish testaceous; visible scutellum length approximately half that of the posterior process. Femora dark chestnut to brownish black; tibiae light ochraceous. Abdomen ferruginous to brownish black. Vestiture. Head, pronotum, and femora sparsely clothed with fine whitish silver setae; thoracic pleuron and abdominal sternum more densely tomentose with wax setae. Pronotum and scutellar apices heavily punctate, each pit associated with a single, fine, recumbent silver seta. Structure. As described for genus.

Notes. Extra crossvein partially present on the right forewing between R and M, extending from R but not reaching M. Another, very short crossvein extending from M to the base of R 2+3 and R 4+5, forming a small cell ( Fig. 1A ).

Type material. HOLOTYPE [Carnegie Museum of Natural History]: 1 female (BOM_10000130), Nicaragua: Masaya Laguna de Apoyo 30 Nov 1991 - 10 Jan 1992 E. van den Berghe.

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition derived from the name of the singer, songwriter, and actress, Lady Gaga.

Discussion. The new genus Kaikaia most closely resembles members of the Old World tribe Beaufortianini and New World tribes Platycentrini, Boocerini, and Nessorhinini. Although Kaikaia closely resembles Beaufortianini in overall external appearance, the structure of the second valvulae suggests a closer relationship to some members of the Caribbean endemic tribe Nessorhinini ( Nessorhinus , Orthobelus , Callicentrus ). The unusual pre-apical cleft of the 3rd valvula is also found in the other endemic Caribbean tribe Monobelini ( Monobelus ), some nessorhinines, and in the mainland North American genus Platycentrus ( Table 1 ). The emarginate shape and length of the scutellum (full notch visible in ventral view with abdomen removed) is similar to that found in boocerines, most beaufortianines and some Monobelus . Unlike the Boocerini, the most diverse tribe in Central America, Kaikaia lacks cucullate setae on the mesothoracic femur or tibia ( Table 1 ).

A recent anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) based phylogenomic analysis ( Dietrich et al. 2017) suggested a Caribbean or Central American origin of the subfamily Centrotinae and a single invasion of the Old World as opposed to two independent invasions suggested by Wallace & Deitz (2004). While the AHE taxon sampling of centrotine treehoppers was broader than in previous molecular studies it was not as broad as the morphological taxon sampling by Wallace & Deitz (2004). Future studies should include several additional representative taxa from Central American, Caribbean, and the Old World including representatives from Boocerini, Pieltainellini, Gargarini , and Beaufortianini. Increased collection efforts in Central America and Mexico remain necessary to reveal the true diversity of New World centrotines and other membracid subfamilies ( Wallace 2015).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus, hind wing.A) Kaikaia gaga holotype female (BOM_10000130), lateral habitus view. B) K. gaga holotype female (BOM_10000130), anterior habitus view. C) K. gaga holotype female (BOM_10000130), dorsal habitus view. D) K. gaga holotype female (BOM_10000130), hind wing.

Tables

TABLE 1. Character concepts largely follow those of Wallace and Deitz (2004) and Dietrich et al. (2001). Monobelus is compared rather than Monobelini sensu Wallace and Deitz (2004) because Monobelus has many character states that are not characteristic of the tribe overall.

Character	Kaikaia	Monobelus	Beaufortianini	Boocerini	Nessorhinini	Platycentrini
3rd valvulae apical cleft	present	present	polymorphic	absent	polymorphic	present in Platycentrus
2nd valvulae acute projection	present	absent	polymorphic	polymorphic	polymorphic	absent
2nd valvulae raised dentition	present	absent	polymorphic	absent	present	absent
2nd valvulae width	narrow	broadening	narrow	polymorphic	narrow	wide
mesothoracic femur, ab- and ad- lateral cucullate setae	absent	absent	absent (polymorphic in Beaufortiana )	present	absent	ab-lateral, ad-lateral polymorphic
paired dorsal swellings	absent	present	present (except Imporcitor )	absent	present	absent
m-cu crossveins	2	2	2	1	2 or more	2
frontoclypeal lobes	distinct	indistinct	distinct	polymorphic	polymorphic	indistinct
frontoclypeal margins	parallel, broadened apically	parallel or converging	parallel or converging (broadened in Centrotusoides and Centruchus )	parallel or converging	parallel or converging	parallel or converging

TABLE 1. Character concepts largely follow those of Wallace and Deitz (2004) and Dietrich et al. (2001). Monobelus is compared rather than Monobelini sensu Wallace and Deitz (2004) because Monobelus has many character states that are not characteristic of the tribe overall.