Pravistylus longitrunculus, Stiller, 2010

Stiller, M., 2010, Revision of the Southern African leafhopper genus Pravistylus (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) 2468, Zootaxa 2468 (1), pp. 1-81 : 26-27

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10537705
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EFD356-FFC2-FFC8-6CFF-73DF8844D799
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Pravistylus longitrunculus
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Pravistylus longitrunculus View in CoL sp. n.

( Figs 1 p View FIGURE 1 ; 2 k View FIGURE 2 ; 3 View FIGURE 3 ab; 4 z; 5 e; 6 z; 7 al–ao; 8 ab–ad)

Diagnosis. Plate elongate, tapering to narrow, truncate apex; plate 1.7–1.9 times as long as wide; plate apex directed dorsoposteriad or posteriad, only reaching margin of pygofer lobes, sometimes inserted shallowly into genital capsule; macrosetae extending from midlength to near apex ( Fig. 2 k View FIGURE 2 ); similar to that of P. scolopygeus sp. n. ( Fig. 2 l View FIGURE 2 ). Pygofer lobe elongate, apex rounded, without appendage on median surface ( Fig. 1 p View FIGURE 1 ). Aedeagus, ventral view, dorsal apodeme wide, rounded ( Fig. 4 z View FIGURE 4 ). Style distal part close to base ( Fig. 5 e View FIGURE 5 ). Sternite 7 base rectangular, ligula as long as or longer than the basal length ( Figs 7 View FIGURE 7 al–ao).

Etymology. Latin, long (longulus) and truncated (trunculus) for the elongate plate with the square, and narrow apex.

Male and female. Ochraceous. Sometimes with small fuscous markings on vertex, inner anteapical and posterior discal cells of tegmina ( Fig. 8 View FIGURE 8 ab (submacropter, Longtom Pass); Fig. 8 View FIGURE 8 ac (brachypter, Malidyke Reserve); Fig. 8 View FIGURE 8 ad (submacropter, with fuscous markings on tegmina, Mariepskop)).

Male. Dimensions. (n = 100) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.5–2.8 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.9–3.3 mm; vertex medially 0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3– 0.4 mm. Width: head 0.9–1.0 mm; pronotum 0.8–0.9 mm. Ocellar diameter 25.8–30.2 µm; ocellocular distance 41.2–58.8 µm.

Genital capsule. Pygofer elongate; ventral posterior margin with right-angled lobe ( Fig. 1 p View FIGURE 1 ). Pygofer lobe variable: dorsal margin horizontal, ventral margin angled dorsally ( Fig. 1 p View FIGURE 1 , Mauchsberg and Longtom specimens); dorsal margin angled ventrally, ventral margin horizontal (Graskop, Malidyke and Mariepskop specimens). Commonly when lobe with horizontal ventral margin, then lobe margin recessed for insertion of plate apices. Lobe about three quarters as wide as width of pygofer. Plate, ventral view, elongate, distal half uniformly tapered, truncate apex; left and right plates often with unequal length; subbasal lateral margin sinuous, distal and proximal cluster of short setae; distal half 2–7 uniseriate macrosetae ( Fig. 2 k View FIGURE 2 ); plate 1.7– 1.9 times as long as wide; lateral view, apex curved dorsoposteriad or posteriad ( Fig. 1 p View FIGURE 1 ), apex of plate sometimes touching ventral margin of lobe, seldom inserted into genital capsule. Aedeagal shaft, in lateral view, arising from base of atrium; preatrium short, base C-shaped, apex straight, shaft narrow, parallel-sided; dorsal view, shaft parallel-sided, dorsal apodeme broadly rounded; gonopore elongate, apical, ventral, about one third as long as length of shaft ( Figs 3 View FIGURE 3 ab, 4 z). Style distal part close to anterior medial lobe; apophysis digitate, straight, acutely angled with preapical lobe; situated near base of plate ( Fig. 5 e View FIGURE 5 ). Connective, in dorsal view, with stem Y-shaped, about one third as long as length of base; lateral view, straight ( Fig. 6 z View FIGURE 6 ).

Female. Dimensions. (n = 50) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.5–2.6 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.9–3.2 mm; vertex medially 0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3–0.4 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.9–1.0 mm; pronotum 0.8–0.9 mm. Ocellar diameter 26.1–29.6 µm; ocellocular distance 37.5–51.0 µm.

Genitalia. Sternite 7 base rectangular; posterior margin with long ligula, as long as or longer than basal length; apex of ligula shallowly notched; with raised ridge on ventral surface, extending about half-way into base of sternite (specimens in Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 al (sinuous ligula); Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 am (triangular ligula), Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 an (elongate, narrowly triangular ligula); Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 ao (elongate ligula)).

Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Mpumalanga. Mariepskop summit, 24°32ʹS, 30°52ʹE, 1929 m, 11.ix.2005, DVac moribund grass Bromus cantharticus , Eragrostis sp. , Festuca costata (Poaceae) , DVac short moribund grass ( SANC). Paratypes. 113♂, 57♀. Mpumalanga. 1♂, 1♀, Gibraltar near Penge, 24°15ʹS, 30°17ʹE, 30.iii.1991; 32♂, Longtom Pass, summit, 25°08ʹS, 30°32ʹE, 2100 m, 18.xii.2000, sweeping, short grass and forbs; 15♂, Mauchsberg Pass, transmitter tower, 25°10ʹS, 30°37ʹE, 1860 m, 3.vii.2003, DVac, grass and forbs, on E and W facing slopes of summit; 19♂, 20♀, same data as holotype; 7♂, 14♀, Graskop, outskirts, 24°56ʹS, 30°51ʹE, 1452 m, 11.xi.2005, DVac, moribund grass, dominant probably Eragrostis , no inflorescence; 1♂, between Longtom Pass and Sabie, 25°08ʹS, 30°36ʹE, 2133 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac; 3♂, Longtom Pass, valley opposite summit of pass, 25°07ʹS, 30°37ʹE, 2101 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac, moribund grass and Festuca sp. ; 17♂, 7♀, Malidyke Blue Swallow Reserve, 24°57ʹS, 30°59ʹE, 1367 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac, moribund grass in grassland rehabilitation, Themeda triandra dominant; 22♂, 15♀, Mariepskop summit, 24º32ʹ35.68ʺS, 30º51ʹ58.63ʺE, 1910 m, 19–20.ii.2010, DVac short grass; all M. Stiller ( BMNH, INHS, SANC).

Remarks. Pravistylus longitrunculus is distinguished only by the male, with the sternite 7 of the female indistinguishable from that of P. pollediscus sp. n.

Other species with an elongate plate are P. mecistoplacus sp. n., P. varicudiscus sp. n., P. pollediscus sp. n., P. digitidiscus and P. odontiophallus sp. n. In P. mecistoplacus the plate is much longer, with the apex long and acute ( Fig. 2 b View FIGURE 2 ) and even more elongate in P. varicudiscus ( Figs 1 View FIGURE 1 aj & 2 a). In P. pollediscus the apex is shorter and digitate ( Fig. 2 t View FIGURE 2 ). In P. digitidiscus the plate has very few or commonly no macrosetae, with the apex very narrow and deeply inserted between the pygofer lobe margins ( Figs 1 h View FIGURE 1 , 2 c View FIGURE 2 ). In P. odontiophallus the plate is more variable, but with the apex digitate or uniformly triangular ( Figs 2 m & n View FIGURE 2 ). However, P. odontiophallus has the apex of the aedeagal shaft with an asymmetrical lateral serration.

The collection locations of some specimens of P. longitrunculus and P. pollediscus overlap, and from these areas the females of these species cannot be distinguished. This concerns specimens from Longtom Pass and Mauchsberg, and that are excluded from the measurements above.

An examined, parasitized specimen from Gibraltar near Penge differs from non-parasitized specimens in that it has a much shorter, bluntly rounded pygofer lobe, a plate apex that is much narrower and sclerotized, and a distinctly Y-shaped connective. It is included in P. longitrunculus based on the shape of the plate and the shape of the sternite 7 of the associated female.

In the male the plate of P. longitrunculus ( Fig. 2 k View FIGURE 2 ) and P. scolopygeus sp. n. ( Fig. 2 l View FIGURE 2 ) are most similar, but P. scolopygeus has a very short pygofer lobe and a distinct spine-like process on the medial surface ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 af), whereas in P. longitrunculus the lobe is much longer and does not have a medial spine ( Fig. 1 p View FIGURE 1 ).