Pomponia Stål, 1866

Wang, Jiali, Hayashi, Masami & Wei, Cong, 2025, Phylogeny, biogeography, and diversiFIcation of the cicada Pomponia linearis and its allies (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 203 (4) : -

Genus Pomponia Stål, 1866

Pomponia Stål 1866: 6 ; Duffels and Hayashi,2006: 189; Lee 2009: 306; Sanborn 2009: 308, 2013: 340; Pham et al. 2015: 562; Sadasivan 2021: 600 .

Tope species: Cicada fusca Olivier, 1790 (= Dundubia picta Walker, 1870 ) (Sumatra).

Diagnosis: Medium to large size. Head including eyes as wide as or wider than the base of mesonotum. Pronotum longer than head and distinctly shorter than mesonotum including cruciform elevation, lateral margin of pronotal collar narrow, with a small tooth. Forewing and hindwing hyaline, with eight and six apical cells, respectively. Abdomen gradually tapering to apex and usually longer than the distance from head to cruciform elevation in both sexes; timbals mostly concealed by timbal covers in dorsal view; opercula in male short, scale-like, and wider than long. Male abdominal sternites III and IV without tuberclelike projections. Pygofer with distal shoulders developed into pointed lobes; basal lobes of pygofer present; uncus with two lobes and paired lateral branches of uncus protruding below the uncus.

Distribution: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Malaysia, Philippines, Tailand, and Vietnam.

Remarks: Although some species of Pomponia were recognized as new genera ( Boulard 2005a, 2008), Pomponia still comprises a very heterogeneous group of species, and the relationships within Pomponia remain unclariFIed. Currently, species of Pomponia could be separated easily and sorted into groups: (i) P. picta and its allies (e.g. Pomponia fugax Boulard, 2013 , Pomponia mickwanae Boulard, 2009 ); (ii) P. linearis species group; and (iii) remaining species, which might be members of other genera (e.g. P. bullata , P. rajah ) (for details, see the section on ‘Te monophyly of Pomponia and phylogeny of Pomponia and allies’ in the Discussion).

Te P. linearis species group was proposed by Duffels and Hayashi (2006) to accommodate species possessing some common characters with P. linearis ( Duffels and Hayashi 2006, Sanborn 2009, 2013, Lee 2009, Pham and Yang 2009, Pham et al. 2015, Boulard 2014, Azman 2018, Sadasivan 2021). Currently, 25 species are known for this species group, i.e. P. linearis , Pomponia cinctimanus (Walker, 1850) , Pomponia dolosa Boulard, 2001 , Pomponia langkawiensis Zaidi & Azman, 1999 , Pomponia ramifera (Walker, 1850) , Pomponia urania (Walker, 1850) , Pomponia zakrii Zaidi & Azman, 1998 , Pomponia daklakensis Sanborn, 2009 , P. piceata , P. ponderosa , P. subtilita , Pomponia brevicaudata Lee, 2013 , P. brevialata , Pomponia minilinearis Boulard, 2014 , Pomponia pornnapae Boulard, 2014 , Pomponia latiffi Azman, 2018 , P. pseudolinearis , P. namtokola , P. gemella , P.curvata , P. eminula , P. tricornisa , P. brevisa , P. hainanensis , and P. xizangensis ( Fig. 1).

Within this species group, Duffels and Hayashi (2006) further distinguished the P. linearis species complex based on the distinctly large and paramedian basal lobes of the pygofer, which currently includes 12 species, i.e. P. linearis , P. cinctimanus , P. dolosa , P. ramifera , P. urania , P. ponderosa , P. brevicaudata , P. latiffi , P. namtokola , P. brevisa , P. hainanensis , and P. xizangensis ( Fig. 1). According to their small or middle-sized basal lobes of the pygofer, P. minilinearis , P. brevialata , and P. pseudolinearis are excluded from the P. linearis species complex in this study.

Key to species of P. linearis species group (males)

1. Basal lobes of pygofer distinctly large and thick ( P. linearis species complex)...................................................................................2 Basal lobes of pygofer minute to middle-sized, slender....................................................................................................................... 10

2. Male abdomen shorter than head and thorax together................................................................................................... P. brevicaudata Male abdomen longer than head and thorax together ............................................................................................................................3

3. Tergite IV almost as wide as tergite III.......................................................................................................................................................4 Tergite IV wider than tergite III........................................................................................................................................... P. xizangensis

4. Fasciae along parapsidal suture reaching to half of mesonotum ...........................................................................................................6 Fasciae along parapsidal suture reaching to cruciform elevation..........................................................................................................5

5. Body length <44.0 mm...................................................................................................................................................................... P. latiffi Body length> 50.0 mm.................................................................................................................................................................... P. dolosa

6. Median spines of lateral branch of uncus as long as lateral spines ........................................................................................................7 Median spines of lateral branch of uncus longer than lateral spines....................................................................................... P. linearis

7. Basal lobes of pygofer erect...........................................................................................................................................................................8 Basal lobes of pygofer obliquely inward................................................................................................................................. P. namtokola

8. Distal shoulder erect in ventral view...........................................................................................................................................................9 Distal shoulder curved laterally in ventral view........................................................................................................................ P. brevisa

9. Upper lobes of pygofer obliquely inward............................................................................................................................... P. ponderosa Upper lobes of pygofer obliquely lateral ........................................................................................................................... P. hainanensis

10. Basal lobes of pygofer paramedian ........................................................................................................................................................... 11 Basal lobes of pygofer placed laterally ..................................................................................................................................................... 15

11. Distal shoulder of pygofer lower than anal tube.................................................................................................................................... 12 Distal shoulder of pygofer higher than anal tube ............................................................................................................... P. minilinearis

12. Median spines of lateral branch of uncus about as long as lateral spines.......................................................................................... 13 Median spines of lateral branch of uncus longer than lateral spines................................................................................... P. eminula

13. Mediocubital crossvein of forewing with spot....................................................................................................................................... 14 Mediocubital crossvein of forewing without spot .................................................................................................................. P. curvata

14. Length of forewing ~1.1 times the body length .................................................................................................................... P. brevialata Length of forewing ~1.3 times the body length ............................................................................................................. P. pseudolinearis

15. Spines of lateral branch of uncus straight ............................................................................................................................................... 16 Spines of lateral branch of uncus curved..................................................................................................................................... P. gemella

16. Spines of lateral branch of uncus equal in length ..................................................................................................................... P. subtilita Spines of lateral branch of uncus unequal in length ............................................................................................................................. 17

17. Median spines of lateral branch of uncus shorter than lateral spines................................................................................................ 18 Median spines of lateral branch of uncus longer than lateral spines 20

18. Male operculum somewhat semicircular................................................................................................................................................ 19 Male operculum obliquely triangular.................................................................................................................................... P. tricornisa

19. Larger body size (~42.0 mm)......................................................................................................................................................... P. piceata Smaller body size (~ 37.5 mm)............................................................................................................................................... P. daklakensis

20. Male operculum somewhat semicircular................................................................................................................................................ 21 Male operculum obliquely triangular..................................................................................................................................... P. pornnapae

21. Mediocubital crossvein of forewing without spot ......................................................................................................... P. langkawiensis Mediocubital crossvein of forewing with spot.............................................................................................................................. P. zakrii

Note that P. cinctimanus , P. ramifera and P.urania are not included in the key because no materials/images are available for examination of the genitalia. Te identity of these three species needs to be investigated further.