Genus Miosterpa Crispolon & Yap gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: EC5381E8-71BE-49F9-92AA-5E11B3BBE41D

Figs 1–2, Tables 2 –5

Type species

Miosterpa flammarubra Crispolon & Soulier-Perkins gen. et sp. nov.

Diagnosis

Miosterpa Crsipolon & Yap gen. nov. possesses characters similar to Mioscarta and Poeciloterpa but the following characters taken together allow it to be distinguished clearly from both genera: habitus slightly dorso-ventrally flattened, 2–4 mm shorter than Mioscarta, with small ocelli, postclypeus with two prominent lateral carinae, widest part before midlength of tegmina when viewed dorsally, apical cells concave; male terminalia with subgenital plate with equal length relative to height of pygofer without a slender apical appendage extension (as in Mioscarta). Additional character diagnoses are presented in Table 3 (modified from Crispolon et al. 2021), comparing the four closely related genera of the tribe Rhinaulacini Kirkaldy, 1906 from the Philippines

Etymology

The generic name is derived from the two most closely related genera, Mioscarta and Poeciloterpa, with the first four letters of the former genus are concatenated with the last five letters of the latter genus. The gender of the genus is feminine.

Description

Body length 6–7 mm (tegmina included), width 3–3.5 mm.

GENERAL SHAPE. In dorsal view, eyes slightly elongated, small ocelli, distance between eyes 9–10.5 × ocellus diameter, distance between ocelli equals 1–1.5 × ocellus diameter, distance between ocellus and compound eye 3–3.5 × ocellus diameter, ocelli closer to each other than to compound eyes, eyes not prominent, 1.5–2 × as long as wide, vertex and frons with longitudinal median carina present (Figs 1, 2B). Postclypeus with longitudinal furrow forming two prominent parallel longitudinal carinae (Figs 1, 2B), slightly swollen, ovoid shape in frontal view, widest part at mid-height, not receding before anteclypleus where it bends forming obtuse triangle in lateral view (Figs 1, 2A). Rostrum very long, reaching but not surpassing metacoxae. Tegmina opaque, R bifurcates on apical half, M bifurcates on basal third, veins not prominent on first ⅔, becoming prominent on apical third, forming concave apical cells (Figs 1, 2A, C).

MALE TERMINALIA. Subgenital plates finger-shaped, with equal length relative to height of pygofer without any elongated, thin apical appendage extension (as in Mioscarta), (Figs 1, 2–F). Paramere (Figs 1, 2G) midlength broad without protrusion on lateral side (as in Trigonoschema), with process on dorsal margin located apically, ventral margin bearing apically two processes. Aedeagus (Figs 1, 2H) S-shaped with posterior protrusion (pp) and apical extension.

Distribution

Philippines.

Key to the species of Miosterpa Crispolon & Yap gen. nov.

1. Tegmina entirely red (Fig. 1A, C), posterior protrusion of aedeagus short and broad, axe-shaped with a fine needle-shaped extension (Fig. 1H) ........................................................................................... .......................................................... M. flammarubra Crispolon & Soulier-Perkins gen. et sp. nov.

– Tegmina yellowish brown (Fig. 2A, C), posterior protrusion of aedeagus elongated and narrow apex with fine long appendages (Fig. 2H–I) .................... M. kalanguya Crispolon & Yap gen. et sp. nov.

A new genus, distinct from Mioscarta Breddin, 1901 and Poeciloterpa Stål, 1870

At first glance, specimens of Miosterpa Crsipolon & Yap gen. nov. appear similar to Mioscarta in overall morphology, size, and general habitus. However, closer examination of detailed characters reveals clear distinctions between the two genera. When examining the male terminalia, this genus doesn’t possess the elongated, thin appendage on the subgenital plate that distinguishes Mioscarta from Poeciloterpa and other genera within the tribe. On the other hand, the absence of this appendage on the subgenital plate and other characters such as smaller ocelli, bulging pronotum, presence of thick veins in the apex of the tegmina, and presence of concave apical cells, could lead us to identify this species as belonging to the genus Poeciloterpa. However, Miosterpa doesn’t exhibit the dome-shaped general habitus that clearly distinguishes Poeciloterpa from the other cercopid genera (Crispolon et al. 2019, 2021). To support our decision to describe Miosterpa as a new genus, we used the species for which we had molecular samples to do a phylogenetic and percentage genetic distance/variation analyses using four genes (COX 1, Histone 3, 18S, and 28S) on top of the morphological evidence.

Phylogenetic support and genetic distance between genera

As discussed by Soulier-Perkins & Stroiński (2017), the intra- or interspecific delimitation through genetic distance can be variable depending on the group of organisms. Even with the advancement of molecular science, there is still a huge gap in terms of our knowledge on generic and species delimitation using molecular data for the whole superfamily Cercopoidea, or at least for the family Cercopidae. This is proven by the non-inclusion of Cercopidae or Cercopoidea in some of the studies before the works of Castanhole et al. in 2013 and Crispolon et al. in 2024 (e.g., Gopurenko et al. 2013). Although their works report the intra- and interspecific genetic distances of some species of Cercopidae, these works do not suggest what percentage of genetic variation should be the standard value for the generic and species delimitation, at least for the family.

Even without a clear standard value for species delimitation, the work of Crispolon et al. (2024) gives more straightforward results, clearly separating three genera from the Philippines. In their results using 522 COX 1 sites, the p-distance between species in Jacobsoniella Melchar, 1914 was 6.32%. Unfortunately, the p-distance was not compared between species of Phantagma and Vinpietri as only one species for each genus has COX 1 data. Further, the p-distance they obtained between the three genera (Jacobsoniella vs Phantagma vs Vinpietri) was 12.07% to 16.28%. In the current study, together with the support of our morphological evidence and our phylogenetic analyses, we also determined the percentage genetic distance between genera and species using the COX 1 gene sites to further support that Miosterpa Crsipolon & Yap gen. nov., Poeciloterpa, Mioscarta, and Trigonoschema are distinct genera. According to the previous studies, the average percentage genetic distance within and between species of Hemiptera ranges from 0.31% to as high as 23.4% (Hebert et al. 2003; Bressan et al. 2009; Gitau et al. 2011; Gopurenko et al. 2013; Picciau et al. 2016; Soulier-Perkins & Stroiński 2017; Zheng et al. 2018). Here, based on 312 COX 1 sites (Table 4), the p-distance within and between species of Miosterpa ranges from 0.32% to 12.5%. Further, the p-distance between the species of Miosterpa and all species of Poeciloterpa with the COX 1 gene ranges from 12.18% to 15.71%. In addition, between the species of Miosterpa and Mioscarta, the p-distance ranges from 12.82 to 15.38%, while between the species of Miosterpa and Trigonoschema, the p-distance ranges from 11.54 to 12.82%.

With the strong morphological evidence and phylogenetic analysis, we conclude that Miosterpa Crsipolon & Yap gen. nov. is a distinct genus from Poeciloterpa, Mioscarta and Trigonoschema. Despite the heterogeneity in the ranges of p-distance within and between species, and between genera (especially between species of Miosterpa, some species of Poeciloterpa, and Trigonoschema), this analysis still aids in the delimitation of the genera in question. Although the result of the percentage genetic distance analysis of the current study does not directly suggest a standard value of p-distance for species delimitation. They do suggest the value of a wider and more comprehensive analysis with more exemplars from the family Cercopidae for a standard value of p-distance for generic and species delimitation.

Tribal and subtribal placement of Miosterpa Crsipolon & Yap gen. nov.

Miosterpa Crsipolon & Yap gen. nov. possesses characters that allow its clear identification from the other Rhinaulacini genera found in the Philippines, specifically Mioscarta, Poeciloterpa, and even Trigonoschema, the genera belonging to subtribe Poeciloterpina Schmidt, 1920. The characters listed by Lallemand (1949) and Liang & Webb (2002), especially the presence of a sterno-lateral plate between the pygofer and subgenital plate on the male genitalia (Liang & Webb 2002), define the tribe Rhinaulacini. These characters were further discussed by Crispolon et al. (2021, 2024). This genitalic character was also characteristic of all the ingroups used in the current study in the phylogenetic analysis. Miosterpa fits with the definition of the tribe; we are therefore certain in placing Miosterpa in Rhinaulacini. This makes eight genera belonging to the tribe Rhinaulacini present in the Philippines: Miosterpa, Eoscarta, Jacobsoniella, Mioscarta, Phantagma, Poeciloterpa, Trigonoschema, and Vinpietri. As Miosterpa is close to Mioscarta and Poeciloterpa in the subtribe Poeciloterpina, we further place it in the subtribe Poeciloterpina. This is also supported and confirmed by the characters on the posterior wing (listed by Breddin (1901) and further elaborated by Lallemand (1949)). Molecular phylogenetic analysis presented in the current study also supports the decision (Fig. 4).

Distribution and some notes on ecology

Two new species are currently described, belonging to Miosterpa Crsipolon & Yap gen. nov., a new endemic genus from the Philippines. The description of a new genus and two new species brings the total number of genera endemic to the Philippines to seven out of 22 total and brings the total number of Philippine cercopid species to 75, with around 88% endemicity. Miosterpa and the two included species are recorded in the islands of Luzon, Negros, and Mindanao (Fig. 5). The habitats of the two species are a mixed forest landscape, a combination of disturbed and native vegetation. Both species were collected in both primary and secondary forest areas with patches of agricultural lands nearby. Unfortunately, only a single female specimen of one species, Miosterpa flammarubra Crispolon & Soulier-Perkins gen. et sp. nov. from Mindanao, can be associated with an identified host plant, a species in the family Melastomataceae Juss .. Most of the specimens of both species were collected using light trapping or sweep netting. Light trapping confirms that Miosterpa, displays positive phototaxy. This adds an additional genus of Cercopidae with such behaviour, as only a few cases have been reported in the scientific literatures (e.g., Soulier-Perkins & Kunz 2012; Crispolon et al. 2021, 2024).