Prunasis pulcherrima ( Stål, 1854 )

Sanborn, Allen F., 2020, The cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of Peru including the description of twenty-four new species, three new synonymies, and thirty-seven new records, Zootaxa 4785 (1), pp. 1-129 : 49-50

Prunasis pulcherrima ( Stål, 1854) new record

Cicada viridula Walker 1850: 168 . (Unknown locality)

Cicada pulcherrima Stål 1854: 243 . ( Brazil)

[ Cicada (Prunasis) pulcherrima] var. a Stål 1862a: 22 . (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) n. syn.

[ Cicada (Prunasis) pulcherrima] var. b Stål 1862a: 22 . (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) n. syn.

[ Cicada (Prunasis) pulcherrima] var. c Stål 1862a: 22 . (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) n. syn.

REMARKS. Stål (1862b) synomymized C. viridula with C. pulcherrima and added the species to the genus Prunasis . Authors historically used viridula as the name of the taxon from that point in time (see list in Metcalf 1963c). However, Metcalf (1963c) used pulcherrima as the valid taxon without providing evidence for the change in application of the name. Metcalf (1963c) was correct in using pulcherrima as the valid name since Walker’s name was preoccupied by Cicada viridula Fallén, 1806 (now Chlorita (Chlorita) viridula of the Cicadellidae Latreille, 1802 ).

According to Article 11.9.1, a valid species name requires at least two letters (ICZN 1999). As a result, the three varieties of this species proposed by Stål (1862a) are not valid and cannot be classified as a subspecies under Article 45.6.3 (ICZN 1999). The proposed varieties of Stål (1862a) are considered to be a synonym of Stål’s 1854 species as he only distinguished the taxa based on color variations. The generation of the varieties is odd since the specimen labeled as the typus of P. pulcherrima in the NHRS has the characteristics of var. b (distinctly marked with black on the mesonotum) and var. c (olive green on the head and thorax) and the specimen labeled as the allotypus has the characteristics of var. a (being more of less pallid). In addition, the first word used by Stål (1862a) to describe P. pulchcherrima is variable in color (varicolor). The description provided by Walker (1850) for the single specimen of his taxon also contains characters listed as unique in Stål’s varieties a and c. Since the varieties have the characteristics of Stål’s and Walker’s original type series, the varieties are considered to display natural color variability for the species and are synonymized here rather than providing names for each of the taxa.

This is a very small species (body length less than 10 mm) with protruding eyes. The body possesses longitudinal marks on the pronotum and mesonotum and a small spot on the apex of the fore wing radius anterior 2 at the junction with the ambient vein.

DISTRIBUTION. The species has been reported previously only from Brazil ( Metcalf 1963c).

MATERIAL EXAMINED FOR NEW RECORD. “ PERU: Loreto Province / 3mi. upstream from / Rio Sucusari on Rio / Napo, Lk Shimigay / 29-VIII-1992, / P. Skelley, day catch” one female ( AFSC). This specimen displays the light coloration of Stål’s var. a.