Herrera sahlbergi ( Stål, 1854 ) Sanborn, 2023

Sanborn, Allen F., 2023, Resolving taxonomic issues of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) including new combinations, new synonymies, and revised status, with updates on the diversity of the Brazilian cicada fauna and new records for four South American countries, Zootaxa 5318 (3), pp. 339-362 : 349-351

Herrera sahlbergi ( Stål, 1854) new combination

Cicada sahlbergi Stål, 1854: 243 (Brasilia) .

REMARKS. A species missing from the Brazilian faunal list in Nunes et al. (2023) is Cicada sahlbergi Stål, 1854 . Metcalf (1963b) placed Cicada sahlbergi Stål, 1854 in his list of “Species of Uncertain Position” (Metcalf was suggesting the species actually belong in a different genus) under the genus Cicada Linnaeus, 1758 suggesting he did not believe the species belonged in Cicada . The holotype (“Typus”) was located in the NHRS and studied to determine its actual taxonomic position ( Fig. 7 ). The species was housed in the NHRS collection as Prunasis sahlbergi (http://www3.nrm.se/en/homoptera_nrm/s/homopts.html) although no official change to its generic assignment has been published since it was described as a species of Cicada . However, the species has six apical cells in the hindwings and all New World genera of Parnisini Distant, 1905b, including Prunasis Stål, 1854 , have five hindwing apical cells with the exception of the two hindwing apical cells found in Acyroneura Torres, 1958 . The six apical cells of the hindwing eliminate Prunasis and the Parnisini as the correct generic or tribal assignment for Cicada sahlbergi .

The holotype of Cicada sahlbergi is a female so many diagnostic structures are not available to help in determining the correct generic assignment. However, the metanotum is partially visible at the dorsal midline, fore wing veins CuP and 1A are fused in part, and hindwing veins RP and M are fused at their bases. In addition, the operculum is not S-shaped, the lateral margin is not concave, and it does not encapsulate the meracanthus. These characters eliminate the Tibicininae Distant, 1905a as a subfamily assignment for the species. The Tettigomyiinae Distant, 1905c is an African subfamily ( Marshall et al. 2018) and the Derotettinae Moulds, 2019 (in Simon et al. 2019) contains a single genus of primitive cicadas found only in a limited region of Argentina ( Simon et al. 2019) so they can thus be eliminated for the Brazilian species. Of the Neotropical tribes remaining, Zammarini Distant, 1905d and Fidicinini can be eliminated by the hindcoxae with a large inner protuberance in species of these tribes, Plautillini Distant, 1906 can be eliminated by the large fore wings and lateral expansion of the pronotum, Durangonini Moulds & Marshall, 2018 (in Marshall et al. 2018) can be eliminated by the abutting RA1 and subcosta in the fore wing and the narrow anal cell of the hindwing, Chlorocystini Distant, 1905b can be eliminated by the very narrow hind margin of the fore wing, narrow cruciform elevation, and angularly swollen ventral postclypeus, and Taphurini can be eliminated by the head being as wide or wider than the mesonotum ( Distant 1906; Boer 1995; Moulds 2005; Marshall et al. 2018). The remaining available tribe is Carinetini Distant, 1905f.

The body of Cicada sahlbergi tapers anteriorly and posteriorly, the pronotum has oblique lateral margins and is shorter than the mesonotum, and mainly hyaline wings as outlined by Distant (1905f) for species of the tribe (the tribal characteristics have not been updated with the addition of genera since the tribe was formed). The head being about as wide as the mesonotum, the vertex slightly longer than the front, the pronotum shorter than the mesonotum with the lateral margins slightly oblique, the abdomen about as long as the distance between the apex of the head and the cruciform elevation, the fore wings less than three times longer than broad, and the dorsal curvature of female abdominal segment 9 place the species in the genus Herrera Distant, 1905f . As a result, Cicada sahlbergi Stål, 1854 is reassigned to the genus Herrera Distant, 1905f to become Herrera sahlbergi ( Stål, 1854) n. comb.

DISTRIBUTION. The species is endemic to Brazil ( Metcalf 1963b).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Cicada sahlbergi Stål, 1854 type specimen (NHRM) dorsal (top) and ventral (middle) habitus. ©Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm. Photos by the author.