Pacarina Distant, 1905

Sanborn, Allen F., Heath, Maxine S., Phillips, Polly K. & Heath, James E., 2012, The genus Pacarina Distant, 1905 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with the description of a new species, Journal of Natural History 46 (15 - 16), pp. 923-941 : 925-927

Genus Pacarina Distant

Type species. Pacarina puella Davis, 1923 nom. nov. pro Cicada signifera Walker, 1858 , nec Cicada signifera Germar, 1830 , Davis 1923: 11.

Redescription

General body proportions. Length of body 13.0–18.0 mm, wingspan of forewing 34.0– 49.5 mm. The abdomen represents approximately one-half the body length.

Head. Width of head, including eyes, broader than mesonotum; eyes projecting laterally beyond anterior angles of pronotum, appearing somewhat stalked; epicranium in a continuous gentle slope with dorsum of postclypeus; width between ocelli less than width between lateral ocelli and eyes; postclypeus and supra-antennal plates rounded; dorsum of postclypeus shorter than frons; rostrum reaching posterior coxae. United States specimens exhibit a sharp colour demarcation between a dark dorsum and light venter. This line occurs just posterior to the anterior edge of the ventral head.

Thorax. Pronotum strongly arched laterally; lateral carinae continuous but minimal; lateral edges smooth, slightly sinuous, with lateral angles moderately lobately produced. Length of pronotum shorter than length of mesonotum; mesonotum obscuring most of metanotum; opercula in males large, broadly rounded, meeting or nearly meeting medially. Meracanthus narrow and angulate.

Legs. Distant (1905) described the fore femora as “being armed with two strong spines beneath”. However, all species possess a third smaller spine distal to the secondary spine.

Forewings and hind wings. Forewings and hind wings hyaline; infuscated markings variable; radial cross-vein perpendicular, radiomedial cross-vein slightly oblique, radial and radiomedial cross-veins not parallel; medial and cubital veins arising separately from the arculus; basal cell clear; nodus central; costal margin of forewing spinose.

Abdomen. First abdominal segment in males containing timbal organs, central tergite 1 modified to resemble a “bow tie”. Second abdominal tergite produced anteriorly on each side into a triangular timbal cover; timbal covers concave medially exposing timbal cavities; auditory capsules in obvious lateral bulges of sternite II.

Sexual characteristics. Male pygofer slightly produced centrally, produced region setaceous, basal lobes of pygofer produced into two upturned points of variable size; uncus retractable, bifurcated, notched laterally. Sternite VII of female shallowly notched.

Diagnostic generic characteristics

The prominent eyes projecting laterally beyond the anterior edges of the pronotum combined with the small size and abrupt facial colour change will distinguish this genus from all other American genera north of Mexico. This is the only genus in the southwestern USA with triangular timbal covers in the males. The non-parallel status of the radial and radiomedial cross-veins in the forewings is a secondary diagnostic character. Thoracic notal markings also vary widely.

There are six genera of the tribe Fidicinini Distant, 1905 that are sympatric with various species of Pacarina . Fidicina Amyot and Audinet-Serville, 1843 and Fidicinoides Boulard and Martinellli, 1996 contain much larger species and can be differentiated by the two segmented tarsi found in species of these genera rather than three-segmented tarsi of Pacarina . The two-segmented tarsi of Fidicina and Fidicinoides place them in the subtribe Fidicinina Distant. The three-segmented tarsi of Pacarina , Beameria Davis, 1934 , Dorisiana Metcalf, 1952 , Ollanta Distant, 1905 and Proarna Stål, 1864 place the genera in the subtribe Guyalnina Boulard and Martinellli and these genera are formally assigned to the subtribe Guyalnina here along with Prasinosoma Torres, 1963 , Ellasoneura Torres, 1964, Tympanoterpes Stål, 1861 , Pompanonia Boulard, 1982 and Ariasa Distant, 1905 . Species of Dorisiana , Ollanta and Proarna are larger species with the head about as wide as the mesonotum with the eyes not extending beyond the lateral edges of the pronotum. Beameria contains species of similar size and are sympatric to the northern Pacarina species but the head is about as wide as the mesonotum with the eyes not extending beyond the lateral edges of the pronotum in species of Beameria .

Distribution

The range of the genus Pacarina extends from Central America northward into the USA ( Metcalf 1963; Heath 1978; Duffels and van der Laan 1985; Sanborn 2006, 2007, 2010). Within the USA it has been recorded in the literature from Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona ( Metcalf 1963) and Colorado ( Kondratieff et al. 2002). We have also collected specimens in New Mexico.

Key to male specimens of Pacarina

1. Opercula marked with black or fuscous over medial one-quarter to one-third...................................................... P. schumanni Distant Opercula not marked with black or fuscous over medial one-quarter to onethird................................................................... 2

2. Lower timbal cover margin parallel to junction of epipleurites and tergites, timbal cover reaching to anterior margin of timbal... P. championi (Distant) Lower timbal cover margin angled dorsally, timbal cover not reaching anterior margin of timbal........................................................ 3

3. Medioanterior margin of timbal cover evenly curved toward anterior apex, dorsal extension of terminal median uncus lobes from point where lobes diverge longer than ventral extension, secondary spine on fore femora angled............................................................ P. puella Davis Medioanterior margin of timbal cover sharply curved toward anterior apex, dorsal extension of median uncus lobes from point where lobes diverge the same length or shorter than ventral extension, secondary spine on fore femora upright............................................. P. shoemakeri sp. nov.

Key to female specimens of Pacarina

1. Abdominal sternites with medial black stripe.......... P. schumanni Distant Abdominal sternites without medial black stripe, but may possess transverse black markings on the sternites.......................................... 2

2. Pronotal collar lateral angle not marked with fuscous or black ..................................................... P. championi (Distant) Pronotal collar lateral angle marked with fuscous or black................ 3

3. Sternite VII posterior margin smoothly arched laterally from small, medial depression, secondary spine on fore femora angled.......... P. puella Davis Sternite VII posterior margin transverse between V-shaped notch and lateral posterior expansion, secondary spine on fore femora upright............................................. P. shoemakeri sp. nov.