Selymbria Stål 1861: 615.
TYPE SPECIES. Cicada signifera Germar 1830: 44. (Brazil)
REMARKS. The characteristics given for the tribe also distinguish the only currently assigned genus, Selymbria, within the Selymbriini. Particularly the triangular head when viewed from the dorsal side, prominent eyes wider than the lateral angle of the pronotal collar, recurved ridge on the posterior timbal cavity, and the long uncus are obvious structures to identify members of the genus.
SPECIES INCLUDED. The genus is represented currently by the following 16 species: S. ahyetios Ramos & Wolda, 1985, S. boliviaensisn. sp., S. chevauxensisn. sp., S. cinctiferan. sp., S. danieleae Sanborn, 2011, S. ecuadorensisn. sp., S. guatemalensisn. sp., S. guianensisn. sp., S. iguazuensisn. sp., S. loretoensisn. sp., S. madredediosensisn. sp., S. pandora Distant, 1911, S. pluvialis Ramos & Wolda, 1985, S. puntarenasensisn. sp., S. stigmatica (Germar, 1834), and S. subolivacea (Stål, 1862).
DESCRIPTION. Body size variable (15.6–27 mm body length). Head slightly wider than lateral angles of pronotum and wider than mesonotum, frons narrow, angled ventrally to frontoclypeal suture, its lateral margins not reaching angle of postclypeus, vertex at area of ocelli as long as or a little longer than frons, eyes projecting beyond the anterior angles of the pronotum, ocelli closer to each other than to eyes; postclypeus inflated, with rounded apex when viewed from the dorsal side, with broad central sulcus on ventral postclypeus, transverse grooves not reaching lateral ends of transverse ridges, rostrum length species specific, reaching the middle coxae or trochanters. Pronotum shorter than mesonotum, lateral margins ampliated, rounded, lacking lateral tooth; mesonotum to base of cruciform elevation about as long as head and pronotum together, not as wide as lateral pronotal collar, cruciform elevation with shallow, smoothly curved posterior margin; metanotum extends laterally beyond wing groove and posteriorly beyond cruciform elevation. Fore wings and hind wings hyaline with eight and six apical cells, respectively, infuscation may be present, pterostigma present, basal cell longer than broad, costal vein and radius & subcostal veins close as are the subcostal vein and radius anterior 1, cubitus anterior 1 longer beyond crossvein than proximal to crossvein, radial and radiomedial crossveins generally parallel. Hind wing anal vein 3 curved at distal end, anal lobe broad. Fore femora with elongated, angled primary spine, upright secondary spine, and a small tertiary spine, tarsi three-segmented. Male opercula generally with rounded posterior margin, barely covering tympanal cavity or extending to middle of sternite II, opercula separated along midline separated basally by bulbous sternite I, not encapsulating meracanthus except in S. boliviaensisn. sp., meracanthus triangular, either broadly triangular or tapering to a point, not reaching to middle of operculum, female operculum with transverse posterior margin, smaller extending medially only to medial base of meracanthus, meracanthus generally of similar shape to male for each species extending to or beyond posterior margin of female operculum. Abdomen about as long as the distance between apex of head and posterior of cruciform elevation, lateral margins parallel at base until the abdomen begins narrowing posteriorly to the genitalia, epipleurites reflexed toward dorsal surface but not producing an obvious channel on the lateral margins of the abdomen. Timbal cover reduced, recurved posteriorly forming a ridge along the posterior timbal cavity, timbal completely exposed in all but S. iguazuensisn. sp., extending below wing bases, tympana concealed by opercula in all but male S. chevauxensisn. sp. Male sternite VIII broadly U-shaped. Female sternite VII with deep medial notch and semicircular, arched or sinuate lateroposterior margin. Pygofer distal shoulder not developed, dorsal beak present, roughly triangular or spine-like but variable in size, pygofer basal lobe moderately developed, pygofer upper lobe may be present, uncus long, undivided and not retractable with the pygofer, male aedeagus with basal plate fused, theca very short, curving in a gentle arc, distally expanding to broad, rounded apex in lateral view, with two pairs of flat triangular lobes dorsally, no conjunctival claws or pseudoparameres present. Female abdominal segment 9 with dorsal beak well defined, posterior margin generally sinuate but straight in S. iguazuensisn. sp., ovipositor sheath not extending to length of dorsal beak.
MEASUREMENTS (MM). Length of body: 15.6–27.0; length of fore wing: 20.8–32.6; width of fore wing: 6.75–11.1; length of head: 3.05–4.2; width of head including eyes: 6.6–9.0; width of pronotum including suprahumeral plates: 5.8–8.7; width of mesonotum: 4.8–8.0.
DIAGNOSIS. The tribal characters also distinguish the genus of this monogeneric tribe. Obvious unique characters of the genus among the other Tibicininae are the head being wider than the lateral angles of the pronotal collar, the male opercula extending to or beyond the posterior tympanal cavity, the presence of an upper pygofer lobe, the undulated rather than right-angled distal aedeagal basal plate, and the very short theca that is laterally expanded into a broad, flat distal end ornamented with triangular wings.
DISTRIBUTION. Species of the genus have been reported from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, and Panama (Metcalf 1963; Sanborn 2011; 2013; 2018; Sanborn & Heath 2014). Pogue (1996) listed an undetermined species from Peru. The first records for Bolivia and Ecuador are provided here.
LIST OFSelymbriaSPECIES
Selymbria ahyetiosRamos & Wolda 1985: 178.
Selymbria ahyetios Ramos & Wolda, 1985
Selymbria sp. H2 Wolda 1977: 239.
Selymbria stigmatica non Germar Wolda 1984: 451.
TYPE LOCALITY. Barro Colorado Island, Panama. REMARKS. Type material is in the USNM, STRI, and the Ramos collection (NCSU) (Ramos & Wolda 1985).
The species can be distinguished from all but S. pandora and S. subolivacea by the lack of infuscation on the apex of the fore wing. This species is slightly smaller (body length about 18.5–19.5 mm, wing span about 52.5–53.5 mm vs. 21–22 mm and 55-57 mm in S. pandora), with the dorsal head marked with piceous rather than being mostly piceous, general body coloration ochraceous rather than tawny, abdominal tergites fuscous rather than testaceous, and basal area of the wings grayish and piceous rather than red. The Brazilian, S. subolivacea can be distinguished by its primarily greenish tawny coloration, green basal areas of the wings and larger body size (body length 27 mm, wing span 78 mm). If the specimen has infuscation in the apex of the fore wing, this is the only species to have the infuscation restricted to distal to the ambient vein.
Contrary to the description (Ramos & Wolda 1985), the four paratypes studied had infuscation on the fore wing apex that extended across the ambient vein into the distal apical cells. It can be distinguished from S. chevauxensisn. sp., S. cinctiferan. sp., S. guatemalensisn. sp., S. guianensisn. sp., and S. pluvialis, the species with only apical fore wing infuscation, by the diamond shaped widening of the postclypeus central sulcus near the postclypeus ventral apex, sinuate apex of the secondary spine of the fore femur, the ovipositor sheath extending to the level of the dorsal beak, female operculum extending to sternite II with a posteromedial notch, female sternite VII posterior extension with parallel margins, an uncus with a curved posterior margin that is wider than the anal styles with recurved spines on either side, the wide notch in the posterior of male sternite VIII, the aedeagus with two short spines medially with larger extensions forming lateral wings. The infuscation of the fore wing is found on the apex of the fore wing and on basal apical cells 1–3 and/or on the radiomedial cross vein in S. boliviaensisn. sp., S. danieleae, S. ecuadorensisn. sp., S. iguazuensisn. sp., S. loretoensisn. sp., S. madredediosensisn. sp., S. puntarenasensisn. sp. and S. stigmatica distinguish these species from examples of S. ahyetios with apical infuscation.
The Panamanian species can be distinguished by the fore wing length being greater than 25 mm, an uncus with curved lateral margins, and a fore femoral apical spine about half the length of the secondary spine in S. cinctiferan. sp., the diamond shaped widening of the postclypeus central sulcus near the postclypeus ventral apex, an uncus with a curved posterior margin that is wider than the anal styles with recurved spines on either side, the wide notch in the posterior of male sternite VIII, and the parallel medial margins of the notch in female sternite VII in S. ahyetios, and the fore wing length being less than 25 mm, an uncus with straight lateral margins, and a small fore femoral apical spine, the expanding central sulcus to the posteroventral postclypeus, the constricted and rectangular uncus terminus, male sternite VIII without a terminal notch, and the posteriorly widening notch in female sternite VII in S. pluvialis.
DISTRIBUTION. The species is known only from Panama (Sanborn 2013, 2018). Panamanian specimens were collected in lowland forest on Barro Colorado Island at 120 m altitude (Ramos & Wolda 1985; Wolda 1977; 1988; 1989; 1993; Wolda & Ramos 1992).
MATERIAL EXAMINED. “PANAMA—BCI / Lights I / 25 III 1981 / Henk Wolda // paratype (blue label) / Selymbria / ahyetios Ramos / & Wolda ” paratype female (NCSU); “PANAMA—BCI / Lights I / 26 III 1981 / Henk Wolda // paratype (blue label) / Selymbria / ahyetios Ramos / & Wolda ” paratype female (NCSU); “PANAMA—BCI / Lights I / 24–25 I 1983 / Henk Wolda // paratype (blue label) / Selymbria / ahyetios Ramos / & Wolda ” paratype female (NCSU); “PANAMA—BCI / Lights III / 28 XII 1978 / Henk Wolda // paratype (blue label) / Selymbria / ahyetios Ramos / & Wolda ” paratype male (NCSU).