The jacoona assemblage of the genus Dundubia Amyot & Serville (Homoptera: Cicadidae): a taxonomic study of its species and a discussion of its phylogenetic relationships

Abstract

The species of Orientopsaltria with unicolorous opercula and three related species of Platylomia are transferred to the genus Dundubia and allocated in the ‘Dundubia jacoona assemblage’ pending further investigation. The assemblage comprises eleven species in total; all are found in the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago, Indo-China, and the adjoining parts of China and India. The four species which were until now placed in Orientopsaltria are D. feae (Distant, 1892), D. jacoona (Distant, 1888), D. nigripes (Moulton, 1923), and D. oopaga (Distant, 1881). The three species transferred from Platylomia are D. hainanensis (Distant, 1901), D. nagarasingna Distant, 1881, and D. spiculata Noualhier, 1896. These seven species are all redescribed. Four species are described as new: D. ayutthaya, D. laterocurvata, D. myitkyinensis and D. sinbyudaw. Seven species are synonymized: O. andersoni (Distant, 1883) with D. oopaga, D. bifasciata Liu, 1940 with D. hainanensis, O. hastata (Moulton, 1923) and D. siamensis Haupt, 1918 with D. spiculata, O. fratercula (Distant, 1912) and D. helena Distant, 1912 with D. nagarasingna, and D. longina Distant, 1917 with D. feae. Lectotypes are designated for the following species: Cosmopsaltria andersoni, C.feae, C. fratercula, C. hastata, C. nagarasingna, C. nigripes, C. oopaga, D. helena, D. longina, and D. spiculata. A key to the males is presented and the distributions of the species are discussed. The relationships of the D. jacoona assemblage with Dundubia, Platylomia, and the remaining species of Orientopsaltria are discussed. The species of the D. jacoona assemblage most likely do not form a monophyletic group on their own but rather with Dundubia s. str.