Prosops pedisequus Buckton

Löcker, Birgit, Fletcher, Murray J., Larivière, Marie-Claude & Gurr, Geoff M., 2006, The Australian Pentastirini (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae), Zootaxa 1290 (1290), pp. 1-138 : 102-103

Prosops pedisequus Buckton nom. dub.

Prosops pedisequus Buckton 1893:50

Type material Syntypes (examined), AUSTRALIA, VIC: 3 ♀, Melbourne , on apple trees ( BPBM) .

Morphology

Body length: ♀ 6.1–6.3 mm.

Head: Vertex (total length) 1.1 times as long as wide; lateral carinae slightly elevated; basal emargination obtusely angled. Lateral carinae of frons convex (rectilinear apically). Rostrum reaching hind coxae.

Thorax: Hind margin of pronotum obtusely angled. Mesonotum with well­developed carinae. Forewing 3.4 times longer than wide; fork ScRA+RP distad of fork CuA1+CuA2; r­m crossvein basad of fork MA+MP; RP apically bifid; MA apically trifid; MP apically bifid; costa with 0–19 tubercles; 9 apical cells. Hind leg: tibia with 3 lateral spines; 6 large apical teeth; 1 st and 2 nd tarsomere with 7 apical teeth and no platellae.

Male genitalia: Unknown (only known specimens are females).

Remarks

Muir (1925) placed this species in Oliarus sensu lato which at that time accommodated most of the Pentastirini species worldwide. As discussed in the introduction, several authors have since split the Oliarus sensu lato complex into a number of smaller genera. Three new genera for the Australian fauna are proposed in this study. Prosops closely resembles Ozoliarus gen. nov. in having 3 lateral spines and 6 large apical teeth on the hind tibia and 7 apical teeth on the first and second tarsomere, and may in fact be congeneric with it. Because of the poor quality of the type specimens (microscope slides in very bad condition) and the original description, important features such as the carination of the head cannot be investigated. The syntypes are females, which makes it impossible to match them reliably with other Australian species based on male genitalia. Prosops pedisequus was described as “the apple tree destroyer” ( French 1909). Cixiids, however, are currently not known to be pests on apples in Australia (pers. comm. Graham Thwaite, 2005) and investigation of the Australian Pentastirini material failed to discover any specimens collected on apple trees (except for the syntypes). Therefore Prosops pedisequus is regarded as a nomen dubium. If at some stage it is confirmed that Prosops is congeneric with Ozoliarus , then the name Prosops will have priority over Ozoliarus .

Prosops pedisequus differs from Cordoliarus in the shape of the head, from Oteana in the presence of 7 apical teeth on the 2 nd tarsomere, from Oliarus sensu stricto as proposed herein in the presence of three lateral spines on the hind tibia and 7 apical teeth on the 2 nd tarsomere, and from species of Miclucha in the number of apical teeth on the hind legs/and or shape of the areolets.