Tennentsia princeps, Lambkin, Kevin J., 2015

Lambkin, Kevin J., 2015, Revision of the Dysmorphoptilidae with emarginate tegmina (Hemiptera: Auchenorryncha: Cicadomorpha: Prosboloidea) of the Queensland Triassic, Zootaxa 3936 (3), pp. 357-374 : 368-370

Tennentsia princeps sp. nov.

( Figs 21 , 23–25 )

Material. Holotype right tegmen QM F57824 , Mount Crosby Locality B, collected by Allan Carsburg. Six paratype tegmina, all Mount Crosby: Locality B: ACC I.114, I.115, I.116+; KLC: QM F57825 ; Locality D: ACC I.117+; RKC: QM F57826 .

Description. Tegmen 23.4–24.6 mm long (holotype 24.6), 9.4–10.2 mm wide (holotype 9.4), length/width 2.3–2.6; emarginations gently obtuse; apical lobe longer than wide, occupying about 0.4 of total wing length, apical margin not preserved; tegmen without protuberances; R with 1 or 2 costal veinlets; proximal costal veinlet of RA stem in holotype deeply forked; primary fork of RA dichotomous, with RA1 long and curved anteriad; apical branch of RA2 sometimes with 1 or 2 extra forks ( Fig. 25 ); crossvein between RP and M not preserved in holotype; CuA1 weakly convex; area of fine, dense punctation quite extensive, occupying over ½ wing length, its proximal boundary marked by a distinct transverse sigmoidal dark fascia at about ⅓ length which incorporates intermediately-sized punctation ( Fig. 23 ), coloration otherwise as in Fig. 23

Notes. This species has a particular sentimental attachment for me. QM F57825 ( Fig. 25 ) was the first specimen I ever collected at Mount Crosby, as a first year geology student, in August 1971. It was such a large and beautiful specimen and for many years I was bewildered as to why I could not find such a striking species in any of the published descriptions of Mount Crosby insects. After 43 years and with the assistance of new material collected by Allan Carsburg and Robert Knezour, I have now at last had the opportunity to study the specimen more closely and discovered that it was indeed undescribed and had sister species in Gayndah and South Africa. The specific name alludes both to my first fossil discovery at Mount Crosby, and to the fact that the species is one of the most impressive of all Mount Crosby insects.

Figures

FIGURES 20 – 22. Strigil in basal costal space: 20, Dysmorphoptiloides elongata Evans, ACC I. 104 (mirrored); 21, Tennentsia princeps sp. nov., holotype QM F 57824; 22, Tennentsia evansi sp nov., holotype QM F 57827.

FIGURES 23 – 25. Tennentsia princeps sp. nov.: 23 – 24, holotype QM F 57824; 25, QM F 57825 (mirrored).