Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin, sp. nov.

Le Cesne, Maxime, Bourgoin, Thierry, Hoch, Hannelore, Luo, Yang & Zhang, Yalin, 2022, Coframalaxius bletteryi gen. et sp. nov. from subterranean habitat in Southern France (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Cixiidae, Oecleini), Subterranean Biology 43, pp. 145-168 : 145

Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin, sp. nov.

Genebank registration.

ON087562/ ON113342/ ON087640/ ON231299/ ON101633.

Etymology.

Dedicated to Jonathan Blettery who discovered the first specimen during a fieldtrip with the two first authors exploring caves around Nice in the south of France.

Diagnosis.

Small species externally similar to Trigonocranus emmeae Fieber, 1876, from which it can easily be separated by the triangular areolet of the vertex (versus pentagonal (Emeljanov 2015: 69 and fig.21.6) in T. emmeae ), but also by the rounded posterior margin of the pronotum (versus angular), the conformation of the male genitalia with thinner spiniform processes also different in number and conformation and particularly by a unique internal distinct process inside the periandrium (Fig. 4 ).

Color.

Compound eyes, post clypeus, areolet, anterior part of prothorax behind vertex and mesonotum black, frons paler and carinae yellowish-brown. Tegmina translucent without color patches, pterostigma and vein pale brown, with setiferous granules darker; veins after nodal line darker. Legs pale brown. Metatibia and metatarsomere teeth black, median spines of metarsormere II with setae paler.

Male terminalia with anal tube regularly ovoid, in dorsal view more or less regularly convex lateroventrally in lateral view with a pair of lateroventral teeth directed posteroventral. Male genitalia asymmetrical with suspensorium X-like, connected to the perandrium basally shortly wide then distally tube-like; bearing 5 spiniform processes: a very basal and dorsal short straight spiniform process (1), on left side a long proximal spiniform process directed dorsoposteriorly then bent posteroventrally (2), a short acute ventral process (3), an elongate dorsal spiniform process forked at mid length in a short teeth-like (4) and a short internal hook-like process, located inside the periandrium (5). Gonopore opening large on apical right side, endosoma not visible, probably very weakly developed.

Female terminalia (Fig. 5 ) with paired sternite VI; each gonocoxa VIII developed in a wide plate slightly bilobed lateroapically; gonapophyses IX fused, slightly larger than gonapophyses VIII; gonapophyses VIII larger proximally in a wide triangular endogonocoxal lobe; gonoplacs longer than gonapophyses and enveloping them. Opening of ectodermic internal parts with developed lateral swellings of vestibulum, opening into posterior vagina developed in a strong wrinkled membranous pouch on left side, opening dorsally into the ductus bursae leading to a membranous translucent bursa copulatrix, and laterally into the anterior vagina bent at mid length and ending in the spermatheca; spermatheca with pars intermedialis, half-length of anterior vagina, opening into a diverticulum ductus bent, followed by a long pars intermedialis before vanishing into the the mesodermic glandula apicalis.

Material type.

Holotype male, pinned, original description: [Grotte de la chèvre d’or; Roquefort-less-Pins; France (06)], [12-VII-2021; J. Blettery rec.], [ Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin sp. nov.; M. Le Cesne det. 2022], [MNHN(EH) 24997].

Paratypes: 1 female, pinned, with genitalia in a separate microvial, original label: [Grotte de la chèvre d’or; Roquefort-les-Pins; France (06)], [ Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin sp. nov.; M. Le Cesne det. 2022], [MUSEUM PARIS; 12-VII-2021; T. Bourgoin rec.], [Museum Paris; MNHN(EH) 24998]; 4 females, pinned, original label: [France, 06; Roquefort-les-Pins; grotte de la chèvre d’or],[MUSEUM PARIS; 12-VII-2021; T. Bourgoin rec.], [ Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin sp. nov.; M. Le Cesne det. 2022], [Museum Paris; MNHN(EH) 25177, 25178, 25179, 25180]; 2 males, pinned, with genitalia in a separate microvial, original label: [France, 06; Roquefort-les-Pins; grotte de la chèvre d’or],[MUSEUM PARIS; 17-VII-2021; M. Le Cesne rec.], [ Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin sp. nov.; M. Le Cesne det. 2022], [Museum Paris; MNHN(EH) 25181, 25182]; 3 males, pinned, original label: [France, 06; Roquefort-les-Pins; grotte de la chèvre d’or],[MUSEUM PARIS; 12-VII-2021; T. Bourgoin rec.], [ Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin sp. nov.; M. Le Cesne det. 2022], [Museum Paris; MNHN(EH) 25183, 25184, 25185]; 3 males, pinned, original label: [France, 06; Roquefort-les-Pins; grotte de la chèvre d’or],[MUSEUM PARIS; 12-VII-2021; J. Blettery rec.], [ Coframalaxius bletteryi Le Cesne & Bourgoin sp. nov.; M. Le Cesne det. 2022], [Museum Paris; MNHN(EH) 25186, 25187, 25188].

Other material.

Several other nymphs at various instars, pinned.

Type locality.

Roquefort-les-Pins, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Phylogeny.

Coframalaxius bletteryi was sequenced for: COI, Cytb, H2A, 18S and 28S (D3-D5, D6-D7), but only successfully sequenced for 28S (D6-D7) for Trigonocranus emmeae . Comparison between the two taxa shows significant differences in both total characters and base frequencies, that differs by 37 characters (4.4%) (Table 4 ). The resulting topology of the molecular analysis (Fig. 8 ) confirms the placement of Coframalaxius into Oecleini as sister to Trigonocranus .

Figures

Figure 4. Coframalaxius bletteryi gen. et sp. nov. Male genitalia A pygofer lateral view B anal tube, dorsal view C suspensorium D, E male genitalia left lateral view F, G male genitalia apex, right side. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

Figure 5. Coframalaxius bletteryi gen. et sp. nov. Female genitalia A, B ventral view C ectodermal internal ducts of female genitalia. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

Figure 8. Coframalaxius placement within Cixiidae by molecular phylogeny analysis. Out-groups in grey, Oecleini in blue, Bothriocerini in red. Node labels provide UFBoot support values.