Oncotympana obesa Lee and Marshall, 2023

Lee, Young June, Marshall, David C., Mohagan, Alma B., Hill, Kathy B. R. & Mohagan, Dave P., 2023, Revised checklist of Cicadidae (Insecta: Hemiptera) of Mindanao, Philippines, with descriptions of a new genus and nine new species, Journal of Natural History 57 (1 - 4), pp. 193-242 : 212-216

16. Oncotympana obesa Lee and Marshall sp. nov.

( Figures 9 , 10 )

Oncotympana cf. averta: Hill et al. 2021 : table 1, figs 4, 12, 14.

Type material

Holotype. Male , specimen code 12.PH. MN.KGC.01, PHILIPPINES, Mindanao, ca. 1/2 h up trail to Mt. Kitanglad, 1776 m, 08°09.81 ʹ N, 124°55.95 ʹ E, 1 May 2012, K.B. R. Hill, D.C. Marshall and D. Mohagan ( NMPM).

Paratypes. 2 males, PHILIPPINES, Mindanao, Bukidnon, Mt . Kiamo, 7 May 2012, A.B. Mohagan ( UCONN); 2 males, PHILIPPINES, Mindanao, Mt . Kitanglad, 1773 m, 08°09.91 ʹ N, 124°55.96 ʹ E, PH . MN. KGS, 3 May 2012 ( UCONN) .

Etymology

The specific name is the Latin feminine adjective obesa , meaning ̍fat̾, ̍obese̾, ̍plump̾ or ̍swollen̾.

Measurements of types (5 males)

Length of body: 22.3 (21.3–23.3). Length of head and thorax together: 11.3 (11.0–11.6). Length of abdomen: 11.0 (10.2–11.7). Width of head including compound eyes: 6.3 (6.1– 6.4). Width of pronotum: 8.9 (8.6–9.4). Width of mesonotum: 8.0 (7.7–8.4). Width of abdominal tergite 3: 9.8 (9.7–10.1). Length of fore wing: 31.2 (30.6–32.3). Width of fore wing: 10.0 (9.5–10.2). Wing span: 68.6 (67.1–71.7).

Diagnosis

This new species resembles Oncotympana averta but has a distinctively larger body, more distinct infuscations on the fore wing, a proportionally much larger male abdomen, and differently shaped uncal lobes of the male genitalia, as detailed in the Remarks below.

Description of male

Head. Vertex yellowish green with the following black to dark brown marks: median mark enclosing ocelli, reaching posterior margin of vertex; a pair of spots on supraantennal plates; a pair of obliquely longitudinal small spots on posterolateral corners of vertex; a pair of indistinct tiny spots on anterolateral parts of vertex; and irregularly shaped transverse fascia along anterior margin of vertex. Supra-antennal plates produced anteriad, covering scape. Compound eyes brown in life. Distance between lateral ocelli and compound eyes about twice the distance between lateral ocelli. Antenna mostly black but with dark brown to fuscous pedicel. Postclypeus moderately swollen; yellowish green with a few black to dark brown fasciae along anterior transverse grooves. Anteclypeus ochraceous with a pair of central fuscous spots. Rostrum ochraceous with black apex, passing posterior margin of hind trochanter.

Thorax. Pronotum greenish ochraceous. Inner area of pronotum with the following fuscous marks: a pair of medial longitudinal fasciae not reaching anterior margin of pronotum, broadened near posterior ends and meeting each other at posterior ends; a pair of marks along paramedian fissures; a pair of short longitudinal fasciae between median parts of paramedian fissures and posterior ends of lateral fissures; a pair of marks along lateral fissures; and a pair of curved fasciae along lateral margins of inner area. Pronotal collar with a pair of indistinct marks near posterolateral corners; posterior marginal area very narrow. Anterolateral pronotal collar not dentate but sinuate. Mesonotum greenish ochraceous with the following fuscous to black marks: medial longitudinal fascia reaching anterior margin of cruciform elevation but not reaching anterior margin of mesonotum; a pair of small roundish spots enclosing scutal depressions; a pair of large obconical paramedian marks on submedian sigilla, indistinct in their inner parts; a pair of long obconical sublateral marks on lateral sigilla, discontinued in the middle; and a pair of small spots on posterolateral corners of mesonotum. Cruciform elevation greenish ochraceous without distinct marks. Thoracic sternites greenish ochraceous. Legs greenish ochraceous to green with some brown parts and black to fuscous marks. Fore femur with primary and secondary spines and minute subapical spines.

Wings hyaline, slightly tinged with brown. Fore wing costal vein mostly ochraceous but fuscous near node. Basal vein of apical cell 1 about one-third to one-fourth as long as longitudinal vein of the apical cell 1. Infuscation present at bases of apical cells 1–5 and 7– 8 and on cubitus anterior 2 vein. A distinct spot appearing on each hind margin of radius anterior 2, radius posterior, median 1–4 and cubitus anterior 1 veins, forming a series of spots on subapical margin of fore wing. Basal membrane and base of hind wing jugum greenish (bright blue in life).

Operculum light greenish ochraceous without distinct marks; much wider than long, with rounded posterior apex passing beyond posterior margin of abdominal sternite II and with posterolateral corner almost straight but slightly convex. Opercula separated from each other.

Abdomen obconical in dorsal view, short, shorter than or about as long as head and thorax together. Tergites 2–8 mostly castaneous, with light green to green posterior margins (blue in life). Tergites 2–5 with a pair of fuscous paramedian patches. Tergites 4–8 with a pair of lateral fuscous patches. Posterior margin of tergite 3 much wider than pronotum or mesonotum. Timbal cover dull greenish ochraceous with black to fuscous patch along posterior margin; globose, wider than long, with anterior and posterior inner corners smoothly rounded. Timbal completely concealed by timbal cover in dorsal view. Abdominal sternites II–VIII fuscous, with green posterior margins of sternites III–VI.

Genitalia. Pygofer barrel-shaped in ventral view. Uncus bifurcate. Uncal lobes each divided into two parts: a long external part, and a shorter internal part, which is less than half as long as external part: in ventral view, external parts curved and extended obliquely laterad, and internal parts convexly curved with tips directed inward; in lateral view, external parts convexly curved with tips directed inward, and internal parts curved inward. Aedeagus slender. Dorsal beak long, narrow, about as long as anal styles.

Remarks

This species is very similar to Oncotympana averta but can be distinguished from O. averta by the following characteristics: body distinctly larger; infuscation present at base of apical cells 4 and 8 (vs absent there in O. averta ); basal membrane and base of hind wing jugum greenish (vs greyish in O. averta ); operculum with posterolateral corner almost straight but slightly convex (vs slightly concave in O. averta ); posterior margin of tergite 3 much wider than pronotum or mesonotum (vs about as wide as or slightly narrower than mesonotum in O. averta ); abdominal sternites II–VIII fuscous (vs sternites II– V mostly ochraceous but sternites VI–VIII fuscous in O. averta ); timbal cover globose but more or less flat (vs much more prominently globose in O. averta ); dark-coloured patch absent on inner corner of timbal cover (vs present in O. averta ); external parts of uncal lobes curved and extended obliquely laterad in ventral view (vs nearly parallel to each other but with curved tips extended obliquely laterad in O. averta ); and internal parts of uncal lobes convexly curved with tips directed inward in ventral view (vs concavely curved with hooked tips extended laterad in O. averta ).

Song ( Figure 10 )

Recordings of male calling song totalling 320 s were taken at the type locality (the holotype male is illustrated). Males were recorded producing song in phrases of 4–11 s duration (4–6 most common) comprised of two-syllable echemes repeated at about 5.2– 6.5 echemes/s. Note that such values are commonly dependent on temperature. The syllables within each echeme contain strongly contrasting sound frequencies. The first syllable contains most of its sound energy within the range 7–15 kHz, with a peak at about 10 kHz, while the second syllable, which is nearly an order of magnitude quieter than the first, contains sound energy with a peak of 4.5 kHz and a broad shoulder of quieter frequencies ranging from 2–16 kHz. The fundamental sound pulses are produced at about 225/s in the first syllable, which lasts 0.04 s, and slightly faster at about 235/s in the second syllable which is twice as long.

This species sang from low stations on tree trunks in the forest understory in low light conditions, as early as 7.00am. Males could be attracted by mouth-clicks or finger-snaps produced a fraction of a second after the end of the complete song phrase. Immediately after hearing the response, the male would flick his wings with a synchronised timbal click, before turning or moving in the direction of the sound. Several specimens from the paratype series were collected with this technique.

Figures

Figure 9. Oncotympana obesa Lee and Marshall sp. nov., male, Mindanao, Philippines. (A) Dorsal habitus of holotype; (B) ventral habitus of holotype; (C) pygofer, slightly oblique ventral view.

Figure 10. Oncotympana obesa Lee and Marshall sp. nov., holotype male calling song. Waveforms (A, C) and spectrograms (B, D) are shown at two time scales.