 |
| Sahyaterpnosia laevospina Sadasivan & Sarkar, 2023 |
Abstract
A new genus of cicada, Sahyaterpnosia gen. nov., is described from the subtropical hill forests of southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India. We place the genus in the tribe, Leptopsaltriini Moulton, 1923. The genus can be distinguished from all other genera in Leptopsaltriini by the following combination of characters: hindwing with six apical cells; timbal cover minute, abdominal sternites III & IV without tubercles; posterior margin of male tergite III, wider than mesonotum; basal lobe of pygofer lobes, ill-defined, substantially confluent with pygofer margin, and thick aedeagus with a characteristic spine on its tip on dorsum. The new species, Sahyaterpnosia laevospina sp. nov., is designated as a type of this genus and is characterized by the male genitalia with thick aedeagus bearing a characteristic spine on its tip on the dorsum on the left side.
Keywords: Auchenorrhyncha, Cicada, Kerala, Leptopsaltriini, Psithyristriini
 |
| Sahyaterpnosia laevospina Sadasivan & Sarkar sp. nov., male; A, a lateral view of a live insect in nature; B, a dorsal view of a live insect in nature; C, a close-up of the dorsum of a live insect in nature; D, an anterior view of a live insect in nature; E, habitats showing the trees of subtropical hill forests; F, misty climate of subtropical hill forests at 1200m, the typical habitat. |
Family Cicadidae Latreille, 1802
Subfamily Cicadinae Latreille, 1802
Tribe Leptopsaltriini Moulton, 1923
Genus Sahyaterpnosia Sadasivan gen. nov.
Etymology. The taxon keys to heterogenous genus, Terpnosia Distant, 1892b, following Distant (1906). The generic name ‘Sahyaterpnosia’ is derived by combining the Sanskrit and Malayalam names for Western Ghats, ‘Sahyadri, with the genus name Terpnosia.
Diagnosis. The genus can be distinguished from all other genera in Leptopsaltriini by the following combination of characters: hindwing with six apical cells; timbal cover minute, abdominal sternites III & IV without tubercles; no molar-like projection on each lateral part of the male sternites IV; posterior margin of male tergite III, wider than mesonotum; male genitalia with the basal lobe of pygofer being ill-defined, substantially confluent with pygofer margin, and aedeagus thick near apex with a characteristic spine on its tip on dorsum on the left side. The new genus is very similar to Purana and Calcagninus in habitus, which are common taxa found together within the same habitat in the southern Western Ghats. But, the genus, Sahyaterpnosia, lacks the abdominal tubercles on sternite III & IV, the characteristic of the males in Purana and Calcagninus.
Distribution. Southern Western Ghats, Kerala, and Tamilnadu state, India.
Sahyaterpnosia laevospina Sadasivan & Sarkar sp. nov.
Etymology. The species name ‘laevospina’ alludes to the single short paradorsal spine on the left of the tip of the aedeagus.
Kalesh Sadasivan and Vivek Sarkar. 2023. A New Genus and Species of Leptopsaltriini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from the Agasthyamalais of the Western Ghats in Peninsular India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. 16(2); 163-173. DOI: 10.1016/j.japb.2023.03.009
