Poeciloterpa altissima Crispolon et Soulier-Perkins, 2019

Crispolon, Elorde Jr. S., Yap, Sheryl A. & Soulier-Perkins, Adeline, 2019, Revision of the endemic Philippine Poeciloterpa Stål (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) with description of four new species, Zootaxa 4608 (2), pp. 291-328 : 293-296

Poeciloterpa altissima Crispolon et Soulier-Perkins sp. nov.

( Figs 1–10 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:71D368F9-9AAF-4B87-A556-325ADDA7027A

Type Material. Holotype ♂: [ PH: MOUNT APO, Mindanao , 2540 m asl, 22-XII-2015, ESCrispolon] UPLBMNH HEM 05035 ( MNH-UPLB).

Paratypes. Philippines: Mindanao, North Cotabato: Mount Apo , primary forest , 2540 m asl, 21-XII-2015, ES- Crispolon ; 2050–2540 m asl, 22-XII-2015, ESCrispolon; 2050–2540 m asl, 22-XII-2015, ESCrispolon; N 07 ° 00. 732 ’’, E 125 ° 15.566 ’’, 2263 m asl, 22-XII-2015, ESCrispolon 1♂ 1♀ MNHN ( EH) 24353–24354 ( MNHN), 1♀ UPLBMNH HEM 05036 ( MNH-UPLB), 1♂ 2♀ ( Crispolon Collection ) .

Type Locality. Philippines: Mindanao, North Cotabato Province, Mount Apo

Distribution. Philippines: Mindanao Island ( Fig. 148 )

Diagnosis. General shape of P. altissima very similar to P. gapudi , P. unicolor and P. mangkas , but its subgenital plates are easy to recognise from the others. They are almost straight with a dorsal and ventral margins undulating and a rounded apex when they present a pointed apex for P. unicolor and P. mangkas , and a curved, slightly boomerang shape for P. gapudi .

Description. Body length 5–7 mm (incl. tegmina), width 2.5– 3 mm.

Head. In dorsal view, head slightly narrower than pronotum and concealed in pronotum. Distance between ocelli equals two times ocellar diameter, ocelli closer to each other than from compound eyes. Eyes, 1.26 times longer than wide. Two vertex grooves outside ocelli, extending between anterior and posterior vertex margins present and delineating a rectangular area. Antennal pedicel with short and sparse hairs, flagellum with arista and short relative to pedicel. Postclypeus angular and not receding in lateral view, furrowed medially forming two narrow longitudinal carinae with median lateral grooves connecting lateral grooves of both sides. Rostrum long, reaching middle part of metacoxae. In dorsal view, pronotum with 4 notches ornamented with hairs anteriorly, 2 on each side of pronotum. Pronotum wider than head and finely punctuated, anterior margin curving, anterolateral margin convex and smaller than half of anterior margin, rounded humeral angle, posterior margin slightly grooved, in lateral view, pronotum convex. Scutellum finely punctuated, slightly longer than wide, tip depressed and spiniform and with large median depression. Laterally, anterior margin of thorax clearly lower than posterior margin. Tegmina ( Fig. 10 ) length 4–6 mm, R trifurcated after mid-length of tegmina, Cu and M veins forking before mid-length of tegmina. Apical reticulation extending to apical margin. Metafemur with apical spine in inner margin, metatibiae bearing 1 lateral spine, metatarsus with third segment bearing triangular subungueal process and first and second segments bearing crown of spines.

Male terminalia ( Fig. 5 ). In lateral view, pygofer ( Fig. 6 ) dorsal margin longer than ventral margin, concave dorsal margin on posterior half, convex on anterior half, ventral margin regularly curved, posterior margin undulated with large hump in middle, posterodorsal angle largely rounded. Subgenital plate with dorsal margin concave subapically, ventral margin slightly undulated and apex rounded ( Fig. 7 ), covered with hair from base to apex but absent near dorsal margin, lateral plate with 2 acute angles, the first pointing anteroventrally and the second anterodorsally, part attached to intermediate plate makes an obtuse angle, intermediate plate present. Paramere ( Fig. 8 ) with dorsal margin regularly curving, convex on 2/3 of its length, concave on last third, ventral margin straight on 2/3 of its length then curving up, set of setae located along convex dorsal margin and subapically on ventral area, tip of tuft not reaching posterior tip of paramere. Aedeagus ( Fig. 9 ), dorsal margin regularly curved without any drastic break within curves, posterior end with apical extension largely curling, narrowed towards tip with very fine needlelike process at tip pointing dorsally, posterior protrusion roughly shaped as an equilateral triangle with a small sharp hook at posterior apex, pointing ventrally, posteroventral protrusion absent. Anterior ventral margin of aedeagus regularly curved.

Colour. Head including postclypeus and rostrum deep red, ocelli glassy pale red, eye opaque white to pale red and antennae yellowish brown. Pronotum and scutellum deep red, black hairs garnishing notches on pronotum, deep red tegmina with black to brownish apical cells and red veins. Bright red to deep red legs, tarsal claws and tip of spines black. Red abdomen.

Etymology. The Mount Apo where the species was collected is the highest mountain in the Philippines. The species name refers to this height and is the female superlative of the Latin word “ altus ” which means high.

Figures

FIGURES 148. Distribution Map

FIGURES 1–4. Poeciloterpa altissima sp. nov., holotype. 1. Habitus, dorsal view. 2. frontal view. 3. lateral view. 4. Label. Photographed by Laurent Fauvre © 2017 MNHN.

FIGURES 5–10. Poeciloterpa altissima sp. nov., holotype. 5. Male terminalia, lateral view. 6. Pygofer and anal tube, lateral view. 7. Subgenital plate, lateral view, LP: lateral plate, IP: intermediate plate. 8. Paramere, lateral view. 9. Aedeagus, lateral view, ae: apical extension, pp: posterior protrusion. 10. Tegmina.