Fidicinoides vinula ( Stål, 1854 ) Sanborn & Heath, 2014

Sanborn, Allen F. & Heath, Maxine S., 2014, The cicadas of Argentina with new records, a new genus and fifteen new species (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae), Zootaxa 3883 (1), pp. 1-94 : 53-54

Fidicinoides vinula ( Stål, 1854) comb. n., rev. status. New Record.

F[idicina] vinula Stål 1854: 242 (type material examined).

Type locality. Brazil.

Remarks. Syntypes of Fidicina vinula Stål, 1854 were studied in the NHRS along with additional specimens from Brazil and Argentina. These specimens show that Fidicina vinula is morphologically distinct from F. pronoe and that the species should be assigned to Fidicinoides Boulard & Martinelli. The taxon was reported previously from Brazil ( Metcalf 1963a) but some of the records to other South American countries for F. pronoe may refer to F. vinula .

The short descriptions often seen in historical taxonomy have led to confusion in the identification of species (e.g. Sanborn 2008b). Fidicina vinula Stål, 1854 was created for a Brazilian cicada. Stål’s (1854) original description was 36 words long and, along with other abbreviated descriptions of the time period, may have led to confusion as to the identity of the taxon by later authors. Several species have been described from the New World with similar thoracic markings and lateral pilosity on the mesothorax, that may have contributed to incorrect synonymy of species. Similarly, Boulard & Martinelli (1996) resurrected F. determinata from the synonymy with F. picea ( Walker, 1850) once they determined the taxa to be distinct.

Stål (1862) synonymized F. vinula to Cicada pronoe Walker, 1850 without explanation and transferred C. pronoe to Fidicina Amyot & Audinet-Serville. The color patterns identified in the original descriptions of F. vinula ( Stål, 1854) and F. pronoe ( Walker, 1850) differ but the lateral pilosity may have caused Stål to synonymize the species. Another species with lateral pilosity, Cicada compacta (Walker, 1858) , was also synomymized with C. pronoe and F. vinula ( Distant, 1881) .

Fidicinoides vinula differs from F. pronoe in the color of lateral mesonotum that is ground color in F. pronoe but lightly colored in F. vinula , there is a pair of medial piceous spots anterior to the pronotal collar in F. pronoe that are absent in F. vinula , the frons bends at an approximate right angle to the vertex in F. pronoe but the frons slops to the postclypeus in F. vinula , the black mark on the head of F. vinula is larger, the postclypeus markings are darker in F. pronoe , the secondary femoral spine is upright in F. pronoe but angled in F. vinula , the posterolateral opercular margin in the male is extended into a triangle in F. vinula but there is no posterior extension in F. pronoe , the entire timbal cover is black in F. pronoe but only in the dorsal half in F. vinula , the abdominal tergites of F. pronoe are covered with thick black pile which is lacking in F. vinula , basal lobe of the pygofer is extended in F. pronoe but forms a small point in F. vinula , the medial uncal lobes are short and bent in F. pronoe but are extended and not bent in F. vinula , the lateral uncal lobes are longer than the medial lobes and are bent at an approximate right angle terminating in a curving triangular shape in F. pronoe while the lateral uncal lobes are short and folded under the medial uncal lobes in F. vinula , and the lateral posterior extensions of sternite VII in the female are larger in F. vinula than in F. pronoe .

The species was known previously from Brazil ( Stål 1854). All Argentine specimens we have seen were collected in Corrientes Province.

Material examined. Corrientes, II–9–1946, M. Birabén (one male, MLPA); Corrientes Province, 5 km SW Mburucuyá town, 77 msnm, 9–I–2008, S 28 o 08.339’ W 58 o 21.814’, Col. M. Moulds, K. Hill & D. Marshall. 08.AR.CN.MSW.01-28 (20 males and eight females, UCMS).