Research Article |
Corresponding author: Jürgen Deckert ( juergen.deckert@mfn.berlin ) Academic editor: Kirstin Williams
© 2019 Zhi-Shun Song, Ji-Jun Yin, Jürgen Deckert.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Song Z-S, Yin J-J, Deckert J (2019) A new dictyopharid genus Neonersia gen. nov. from Cameroon (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Dictyopharidae, Orthopagini). African Invertebrates 60(1): 97-108. https://doi.org/10.3897/AfrInvertebr.60.32652
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A new dictyopharid genus Neonersia Song & Deckert, gen. nov. is described here based on Dictyophora [sic] fugax Melichar, 1912 (previously also placed in the genus Nersia Stål, 1862) from Cameroon. The new genus is placed in the tribe Orthopagini. It may be easily distinguished from all other Orthopagini genera by carinate tegulae.
Fulgoroidea, morphology, taxonomy, Afrotropical Region
The dictyopharid planthopper tribe Orthopagini currently comprises 18 genera mainly distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics, including the Afrotropical Region, India, Sri Lanka, southern China, Indochina, Malay Peninsula, the Greater Sunda Islands, the Philippines, the Moluccas, and northern Australia (
While sorting the type material of the dictyopharid species described by Melichar and deposited in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany (MFNB), we recognised that Dictyophora [sic] fugax Melichar, 1912 from Cameroon represents a new genus, which is described here as Neonersia Song & Deckert, gen. nov., illustrated and placed in Orthopagini.
The post-abdomen of the specimen used for dissection was cleared in 10% KOH at room temperature for ca. 6–12 hours, rinsed and examined in distilled water and then transferred to 10% glycerol and enclosed in a microvial to be preserved with the specimen. Observations, measurements and photography were conducted under a SOPTOP SZX12 optical stereomicroscope with a Canon EOS 7D digital camera at the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Biofunctional Molecules, Jiangsu Second Normal University, China. Some final images were compiled from multiple photographs using Helicon Focus 6 image stacking software and improved with the Adobe Photoshop CC.
The morphological terminology and measurements used in this study follow
Dictyophora [sic] fugax Melichar, 1912; by present designation.
The new genus may be distinguished from other genera in the Orthopagini by the following combination of characters: lateral carinae of vertex, upper lateral carinae of pronotum, carinae of tegulae and costal margins of forewings thickened and pigmented; tegulae broadly carinate; vertex broad, nearly twice as wide at base as transverse diameter of eyes, posterior plane horizontal with pronotum, median carina complete, but only distinct and sharp between eyes; pronotum with intermediate carinae nearly complete; mesonotum with lateral carinae incurving and converging anteriad, reaching and connecting median carina; forewings with numerous transverse veins in apical half, costal margin distinctly expanded, MP branching to dozens of accessory veins in apical half, Pcu and A1 veins fused into a short Pcu+A1 vein, pterostigmal area elongate; fore femora not flattened and dilated, without spine, hind tibiae with eight apical teeth, hind tarsomeres I each with nine apical teeth and tarsomeres II each with eight apical teeth; endosomal processes short and straight; inflated membranous paired lobes of phallobase with numerous small superficial spines on apex.
Adult. General colour of body pale green to green, lateral carinae of vertex, upper lateral carinae of pronotum, carinae of tegulae stramineous (Fig.
Head moderately elongate, broad and large. Vertex (Fig.
Pronotum (Fig.
Male genitalia. Pygofer (Figs
Female unknown.
The generic epithet is a combination of the prefix “neo” plus “Nersia”, gender: feminine. The type species, Dictyophora [sic] fugax, along with Dictyophora [sic] serena Melichar, 1912, Dictyophora [sic] orbata Melichar, 1912 and Dictyophora [sic] paupera Melichar, 1912, were also considered as belonging to the Neotropical genus Nersia Stål, 1862 in the same literature by
As far as it is known, Neonersia is monotypic and restricted to Cameroon.
Neonersia gen. nov. can be distinguished from all other genera of Orthopagini by the carinate tegulae. The genus is externally similar to Phaenodictyon Fennah, 1958, but may be separated from the latter by the following characters: lateral carinae of vertex, upper lateral carinae of pronotum, carinae of tegulae and costal margins of forewings thickened and pigmented; the tegulae stoutly carinate; the forewings with more transverse veins on apical half; the fore femora without spine; and the pygofer without posterior process.
Dictyophora [sic] fugax Melichar, 1912: 137.
Nersia fugax
(Melichar):
Holotype ♂ of Dictyophora [sic] fugax Melichar, 1912 – (1) N. Kamerun, Joh. Albrechtshöhe, IV.96, L. Conradt S.; (2) blue square label; (3) fugax n. sp. [handwriting]; (4) Holotype [newly added red label] (MFNB).
Body length excluding forewings 12.7 mm; head length (from apex of head to base of eyes) 2.2 mm; head width (including eyes) 2.3 mm; forewing length 14.0 mm.
Coloration. General colour (Fig.
Structure. Head (Fig.
Male genitalia. Pygofer, in lateral view (Fig.
So far only known from Cameroon.
Neonersia Song & Deckert, gen. nov. is placed in the tribe Orthopagini based on the following combination of characters: paranotal lobes of pronotum without carina; lateral carinae of mesonotum incurving and converging anteriad; forewings with one folding line between MP3 and MP4, ScP+R and MP originating from basal cell without common stem or with a very short common stem; fore and middle tarsomeres I and II each with two acutellae; and aedeagus with apical lobes of phallobase spineless or with very short small spines.
Within Orthopagini, Neonersia gen. nov. is the only taxon with a carina on the tegulae. The carinate tegulae can also be used to distinguish the genus from most Afrotropical Dictyopharini (
We wish to thank Drs Igor Malenovský and Xiang-Sheng Chen for their comments and corrections on this paper. We are grateful to Dr Kirstin Williams for his kind editorial help. The work on which this paper is based was supported by the grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 31572297, to Z.S.S.).