Hewlettia Smeds, 2023

Cole, Jeffrey A., Chatfield-Taylor, Will, Smeds, Elliott A., Cooley, John R., Gonzalez, Valorie A. & Wong, Caressa, 2023, Phylogeny of North America’s largest cicada radiation redefines Tibicinoides and Okanagana (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadidae: Tibicininae), Zootaxa 5346 (5), pp. 501-531 : 518-519

Hewlettia Smeds, 2023 gen. nov.

Fig. 9 (A. dorsal habitus, B. mesonotum detailing stridulatory grooves, left dorsolateral view, C. female genitalia, ventral view, D. male genitalia, right lateral view, E. male genitalia, dorsal view, F. male genitalia, ventral view)

Type species: Okanagana nigriviridis Davis, 1921 , here designated.

Included species: Hewlettia nigriviridis ( Davis, 1921) comb. n.

Type Locality: Holotype male and allotype female from USA, California, San Bernardino County, Upland, 1-VII-1920. Types deposited at AMNH with a single male paratype each deposited at Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences and the United States National Museum ( Sanborn & Heath 2017).

Etymology: Named in honor of Esther Parnell Hewlett (1885–1975), an amateur entomologist and entrepreneur who made her living farming and selling Lepidoptera from Southern California.Between 1918 and 1922 she collected the type series of five cicada species ( Okanagana nigriviridis, rubrobasalis , simulata , Clidophleps wrighti , and Platypedia laticapitata ) near her home in Upland, California ( Davis 1921, 1926). Feminine.

Distribution: Hewlettia is restricted to chamise habitat in the Peninsular, Transverse, and Southern Coast Ranges of California, as far north as San Luis Obispo County and as far south as Ensenada Municipality in Baja California, México.

Description: A medium-sized cicada with narrow wings and a dramatic green and black color pattern. Head: The width of the head and eyes is equal or slightly wider than the apical pronotal margin, and wider than the mesonotum. The clypeus is strongly produced. The center of vertex has a deeply sulcate epicranial suture. Thorax: The pronotal margins are subquadrate and wider than the mesonotum, with a sharply excavated longitudinal sulcus running along the midline. There are two bilateral fissures that run inwards towards the center of the pronotum at an anterior-posterior angle. Both the humeral and apical angles of the pronotum are rounded. The cruciform elevation is located directly anterior to the hind margin of the mesonotum. The anterior lateral sides of the mesonotum show vestigial stridulatory grooves in both sexes. The posterior edge of the metanotum is clearly visible. Wings: Both fore and hind wings are hyaline with blue iridescence, and the basal membranes are greenish white. The fore wing length is approximately 3.1 times the width, with 8 apical cells. The trapezoidal radial cell reaches the costal node halfway along length of the costa. Ulnar cells and cubital cell approximately equal in length. The apical cells are two-thirds to subequal the length of the ulnar cells. The basal cell is opaque and greenish white in color. All fore wing venation except for the costal vein is bordered with black infuscation. The hind wings have 5 apical cells resulting from an unbranched CuA vein ( Fig. 9A ). The postero-basal joint of the forewing has a curved swelling which contacts the stridulatory files on the mesonotum when at rest, forming a scraper. Legs: Metacoxa with the meracanthus reduced and almost lacking a triangular point, shorter than the length of the coxa. All tibiae are setose but only the metatibiae have spines. Abdomen: In males the timbals are completely exposed, with the timbal membrane having 5 long and 5 short ribs. In females, the posterior margin of epipleurite VII with sharp posterior projection that nearly covers tergite VIII. The lateral areas of the abdominal sternites, epipleurites, and tergites are covered with fine silvery hairs.

Male genitalia: Sternite VIII extends parallel to the length of the body, partially housing the uncus and aedeagus. The sides of sternite VIII have pronounced lateral angles which taper posteriorly, such that the shape when viewed from below resembles the nib of a fountain pen ( Fig. 9F ). The uncus has a gentle downward curve in the lateral aspect, with the dorsal and ventral surfaces subparallel ( Fig. 9D ). In the dorsal aspect, the tip of uncus has a shallow medial notch ( Fig. 9E ). The aedeagus is long and whip-like, enclosed within a tubular groove in the ventral surface of the uncus.

Female genitalia: The posterior margin of sternite VII is divided by a sharp medial notch that swells out ventrally near its base. The sides of sternite VII form lobes that are broad and flattened posteriorly ( Fig. 9C ).

Diagnosis: Hewlettia can be distinguished from all other North American cicada genera by the combination of uncovered timbals, an exposed metanotum, and an unbranched CuA vein in the hind wing resulting in 5 apical cells ( Fig. 9A ). The former two characters are shared with Okanagana , Tibicinoides , and Chlorocanta gen. nov. In addition to the hind wing venation, the following features distinguish Hewlettia from Okanagana , Tibicinoides , and Chlorocanta : the green and black coloration; head including eyes wider than the mesonotum; blue iridescence of the wings; fore wings more than 3 times as long as they are broad; and a reduced meracanthus nearly lacking a conspicuous point. Males may further be distinguished by the pen nib shape of sternite VIII ( Fig. 9F ), and females by the flattened bilateral lobes on the posterior margin of sternite VII ( Fig. 9C ).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Hewlettia nigriviridis. A. male habitus, dorsal view, B. female stridulatory ridge, C. female genitalia, ventral view, D. male genitalia, right lateral view, E. male genitalia, dorsal view, F. male sternite VIII, ventral view.