Nesophrosyne aakokohaikea Bennett

Bennett, Gordon M & O’Grady, Patrick M, 2011, Review of the native Hawaiian leafhopper genus Nesophrosyne (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) with description of eight new species associated with Broussaisia arguta (Hydrangeaceae), Zootaxa 2805, pp. 1-25 : 19-20

Nesophrosyne aakokohaikea Bennett sp. nov.

( Fig. 9 a–g)

Diagnosis. Length: male = 4.06mm, female = 5.51mm. Dark species with claval veins variably pale; darkest forms show predominately pale veins with pigmentation infused throughout the surrounding area; palest forms small length of claval veins pale extending from commissural line ( Fig. 9 a). Endemic to Hawai’i Island, Mauna Loa South Slope.

Distribution. USA: Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i, South Eastern Slope of Mauna Loa, ~ 820m – 1160m, wet forest ( Fig. 3 ).

Measurements. Body length: Male (n=6) = 4.06mm (3.92mm – 4.12mm); Female (n=10) = 5.51mm (5.3mm – 5.8mm). Genitalia (n=6): Pygofer = 0.56mm (. 54mm – 0.57mm); Style = 0.45mm (0.44mm – 0.47mm); Connective = 0.26mm (0.24mm – 0.27mm); Aedeagus lateral length = 0.33mm (0.32mm – 0.35mm); Aedeagus posterior height = 0.14mm (0.13mm – 0.16mm).

Material examined. Type Material: Holotype: 1 male, Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i, Ka’u Forest Reserve, Kuahiwi Ranch, N19 o 0 5.111 W155 o 35.830, Elevation: 820m, 15Jan2009. Host Plant: Broussaisia arguta . Coll. G.M.

Bennett. Deposited in the BPBM, Honolulu, Hawai’i. Type #: 17308. Additional Material: 1male, Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Ōla’a Forest, N19 o 27.725 W155 o 14.875, Elevation: 1170m, 7January2009. Host Plant: Broussaisia arguta . Coll. G.M. Bennett. Deposited in the BPBM, Honolulu, Hawai’i. 4 males, 1 female, Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Ka’u, Kahuku Ranch, N19 o 0 6.0654 W155 o 40.582, Elevation: 1070m, 13Jan2009. Host Plant: Broussaisia arguta . Coll. G.M. Bennett. Deposited in the BPBM, Honolulu, Hawai’i. 3 males, 1 female, Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i, Ka’u Forest Reserve, Kuahiwi Ranch, N19 o 0 5.111 W155 o 35.830, Elevation: 840m, 15Jan2009. Host Plant: Broussaisia arguta . Coll. G.M. Bennett. Deposited in the BPBM, Honolulu, Hawai’i. 21 males, 10 female, Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i’, Ka’u District, Mountain House Road, N19o 09’34” W155o 37’10”, Elevation: 3494m, 24May2001. Host Plant: Broussaisia arguta . Coll: DA Polhemus. Deposited in D.A. Polhemus’s personal collection at the Smithsonian, Washington D.C. 3 male, Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i, Kiluea “ 29 miles ”, 1220m, 29Sept1917. Host Plant: Unknown. Coll: WM. Giffard. Deposited in D.A. Polhemus’s personal collection at the Smithsonian, Washington D.C.

Etymology. The name chosen for this species is Hawaiian for pale vein: Aakoko is the noun for vein, and Haikea is the adjective for pale. The name was chosen for the pale coloration along the claval veins.

Discussion. Nesophrosyne aakokohaikea is difficult, and in some cases cannot be, morphologically separated from N. kanawao despite relatively high sequence divergence (Table 1). Knowledge of collection locality is necessary to differentiate the species without genetic information. Percent COII sequence divergence between species from Ka’u (western edge of range) and Ōla’a (eastern edge of range) is approximately 2%. This suggests that there may be some limitation of dispersal across this range.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Partitioned Maximum Likelihood phylogeny of Nesophrosyne (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) species reconstructed in RAxML-VI-HPC v 7.2.5 under a GTR + I + Γ likelihood model with 100 bootstrap partitions. Gene partitions are according to the mitochondrial genome (COII, 16 s) and nuclear genome (H 3, Wingless). Subsections A & B highlight species relationships of newly described species occurring on the host plant Broussaisia arguta. A) Silhouette of full Maximum Likelihood phylogeny results. B) Nesophrosyne heopoko’s associated with other species on Kaua’i. C) Relationships of the species within the kanawao species group on Maui and Hawai’i. The numbers above branches are bootstrap support values.

FIGURE 9. Nesophrosyne aakokohaikea endemic to Hawai’i Island, Mauna Loa South Slope: a. dorsum; b. male pygofer; c. aedeagus ventral view; d. connective; e. style; f. aedeagus posterior view; and, g. aedeagus lateral view.