Psithyristriini - Cicada Mania

January 23, 2019

Terpnosia stipata (Walker, 1950)

Terpnosia stipata (Walker, 1950) is a cicada found in Sri Lanka.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Psithyristriini
SubTribe: Psithyristriina
Genus: Terpnosia
Species: Terpnosia stipata (Walker, 1950)

Terpnosia stipata (Walker, 1950)

Species specimen description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:

[Male] Body above greenish-ochraceous; head with the margins of front and apical angles of vertex fuscous; the area of the ocelli, an oblique fascia on each side, and a small spot at inner margins of eyes, black. Pronotum with two central fasciae united posteriorly, the fissures, a spot on lateral margins, extreme edge of posterior margin and a spot on each side of same, black. (The discal coloration of the pronotum in the specimen described is l)ro\vnish-ochraceous.) Mesonotum with a central linear fascia with a shorter one on each side, followed by a small obconical spot and a sinuated sublateral fascia, black; two small spots in front of the cruciform elevation and the angles of same black. Abdomen with the posterior segmental margins, a broad central dorsal fascia, and a macular lateral fascia, very dark fuscous; extreme apex greyish -white. Bodj’ beneath and legs pale greenish; the abdomen beneath talc-like and semi-transparent; a few sternal spots, the anterior femoral spines, and the tarsi, more or less fuscous.

Tegmina and wings pale hyaline, the venation fuscous or ochraceous; tegmina with the costal membrane ochraceous; the transverse veins at the bases of the second, third and fifth apical areas infuscated, and a marginal series of small fuscous spots situate on the longitudinal veins to apical areas.

Face globose, centrally sulcated except at base, where there is a slight callosity; lateral striations profound; rostrum slightly passing the posterior coxae.

Long. excl. tegm. [male], 3:3 millim.; [female], 22 millim. Exp. tegm. [male] , 80 millim.; [female] , 70 millim.

References:

The illustration, description and location information comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1

Comments (0)

December 7, 2018

Terpnosia psecas (Walker, 1850)

Terpnosia psecas (Walker, 1850) is a cicada found in India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Java (Indonesia).

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Psithyristriini
SubTribe: Psithyristriina [Psithyr means “whispering” in Greek]
Genus: Terpnosia
Species: Terpnosia psecas (Walker, 1850)

Terpnosia psecas (Walker, 1850)

Terpnosia genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Head about as long as breadth between eyes, deflected anteriorly, front not prominent; pronotum distinctly shorter than mesonotum, its lateral margins sinuate, with the posterior angles moderately lobalety produced; abdomen in male longer than space between apex of head and base of cruciform elevation; tympanal coverings both narrower and shorter than tympanal cavities; opercula in male short and transverse, usually not or scarcely extending beyond base of abdomen; anterior femora spined beneath; tegmina and wings hyaline, the first usually more or less maculate, with eight apical areas, and the basal cell longer than broad; wings with six apical areas.

References:

The illustration and description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1914 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Gaeaninae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Species name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).

Comments (0)

November 20, 2018

Psithyristria specularis Stål, 1870

Psithyristria specularis Stål, 1870, is a cicada found in the Phillipines.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Psithyristriini
SubTribe: Psithyristriina
Genus: Psithyristria
Species: Psithyristria specularis Stål, 1870

Psithyristria specularis Stål, 1870

Psithyristria genus description by W. L. Distant from Genera Insectorum, 1914:

Characters. — Head (including eyes) considerably narrower than base of mesonotum, tympanal coverings as long as but very much narrower than the orifices, which are thus inwardly exposed; abdomen narrowed posteriorly, a little longer than the space between the apex of head and base of cruciform elevation; tegmina and wings hyaline; tegmina with the venation abnormal; apical areas eight, the lower one very small; ulnar areas much compressed, broad, especially the two lowermost.
According to our present knowledge, the Psithyristriaria are confined to the Philippine Islands.

References:

The illustration and description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1914 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Gaeaninae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Species name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1

Comments (0)

November 11, 2018

Kamalata pantherina Distant, 1889

Kamalata pantherina Distant, 1889 is a cicada found in â€ŽIndonesia.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Psithyristriini
SubTribe: ?
Genus: Kamalata
Species: Kamalata pantherina Distant, 1889

Image from Genera Insectorum (1914):
Kamalata pantherina Distant, 1889

Image from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas:

Kamalata genus description from Genera Insectorum (1914):

Characters. — Head moderately deflected in front of eyes, its length about equal to space between eyes, its lateral margins discontinuous, the lateral margins of vertex being more or less at right angles to those of front, its width between eyes being distinctly narrower than base of mesonotum ; face globose; pronotum a little shorter than mesonotum. its lateral margins somewhat angulately sinuate, broad and laminate on posterior half; abdomen broad, robust, and moderately inflated, above somewhat laterally oblique on each side, beneath strongly channelled near each lateral margin ; tympanal coverings about as broad but shorter than the tympanal cavities, their length variable, either very short as in K. pantherina or about half the length of cavities as in K. javanensis ; opercula in male short, transverse, not extending beyond base of abdomen; rostrum considerably passing the posterior coxae; anterior femora strongly spined beneath ; tegmina and wings hyaline, the first maculate, variable in length, about as long as body, as in K. pantherina, or longer than body, as in K. javanensis, basal cell longer than broad ; apical areas eight.

Kamalata pantherina species description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas:

Body above and beneath dark chocolate-brown ; head with a longitudinal fascia to front, the margins and a transverse fascia to the ampliations in front of eyes, and a transverse spot at anterior margin of vertex, behind which are two outwardly curved lineate spots ochraceous, eyes luteous; pronotum with a central black hour-glass-shaped fascia somewhat margined and streaked with ochraceous, the posterior margin also ochraceous; mesonotum with two longitudinal waved linear fasciae, between which near anterior margin are two oblique spots, and the cruciform elevation, ochraceous; abdominal segmental margins ochraceous; apices of the femora luteous, anterior and posterior tibia) annulated at base, and the intermediate tibiae both at base and apex with fuscous.

Tegmina pale greenish-ochraceous-hyaline, the venation brownish-ochraceous; a large pale fuscous spot at bases of second, third, fourth, fifth, and seventh apical areas, some small spots at bases of sixth and eighth apical areas, two very small spots on the margins of third ulnar area, and a series of large marginal spots at the apices of the longitudinal veins to apical areas. Wings pale hyaline, the venation brownish-ochraceous.

Long. excl. tegm. [male] , 34 millim. Exp. tegm. 75 millim.

References:

The first illustration and the genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1914 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Gaeaninae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
The second illustration, description and location information comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1

Comments (0)

November 9, 2018

Basa singularis (Walker, 1858)

Basa singularis (Walker, 1858) is a cicada found in India.

Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Psithyristriini
SubTribe: Psithyristriina
Genus: Basa
Species: Basa singularis (Walker, 1858)

Basa genus description by W. L. Distant:

Characters. — Head with front prominent and produced, its lateral margins at right angles with anterior margins of vertex, its breadth between eyes much narrower than base of mesonotum. its length about equal to that of pronotum; pronotum a little shorter than mesonotum, its lateral margins convex anteriorly and concavely sinuate before posterior angles, which are ampliated; abdomen much longer than space between apex of head and base of cruciform elevation, its lateral areas obliquely depressed above; beneath with the disk somewhat flat and the marginal areas obliquely directed upward; tympanal flaps shorter, but not narrower than tympanal cavities; opercula transverse and just passing base of abdomen; anterior femora strongly spined beneath near apex; anterior tibiae longer than femora, anterior tarsi more than half the length of tibiae; tegmina and wings long and narrow, greatest width of the first only equal to a third of length, its basal cell much longer than broad, fourth ulnar area much compressed at base of third, apical areas eight.

References:

The illustration and description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1914 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Gaeaninae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Species name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1

Comments (0)

December 10, 2017

Four new species of Semia from Vietnam

Four new species of Semia cicadas living in Vietnam were described in 2017: Semia magna, Semia spiritus, Semia pallida, and Semia albusequi.

Here’s the details on the paper:

Title: Descriptions of four new species of Semia Matsumura (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Psithyristriini) from Vietnam, with a key to the species of Semia
Authors: David Emery, Young June Lee, & Thai Pham.
Year: 2017
Publication: Zootaxa. 4216. 153-166.
Document link: https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4216.2.2
Abstract:

This paper provides descriptions of four new species of the genus Semia Matsumura, 1917 from Vietnam: Semia magna sp. nov., Semia spiritus sp. nov., Semia pallida sp. nov., and Semia albusequi sp. nov. A key to the 13 species of Semia is provided.

Comments (0)