Drabescus austroindicus, Viraktamath & Webb & Yeshwanth, 2022

Viraktamath, C. A., Webb, M. D. & Yeshwanth, H. M., 2022, Review of the leafhopper genus Drabescus Stål (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) in the Indian subcontinent with description of one new species, Zootaxa 5128 (2), pp. 225-247 : 235

Drabescus austroindicus sp. nov.

Figs 1EF, 3C, 5B, 7A–H.

Black with faint orange yellow markings on crown, pronotum, face and mesonotum. Crown black, anterior half medially orange yellow. Face black, with orange yellow border along lateral frontal suture; antennae with scape and pedicel black and flagellum reddish brown. Eyes black with greyish area ventrally and ventral margin narrowly orange yellow. Pronotum with two small adjacent spots near anterior margin on either side of median line, orange yellow. Exposed mesonotum black with a few obscure spots on either side of median line and apex of scutellum orange yellow. Thoracic sternites and pleurites black with margins sometimes reddish brown. Forewing dark brown. Legs and setae black.

Crown depressed across eyes, about 3.6× as wide between eyes as long medially, transition to face angulate and rimmed. Face including eyes wider than long. Pronotum about 2.3 × as wide as long medially. Mesonotum with basal triangles shagreen, area between roughly sculptured, scutellum transversely striate. Forewings as in D. kempi (see below). Fore tibiae expanded.

Male genitalia. Pygofer longer than height in lateral view, distal half of ventral margin concave with series of 1–5 denticles, posterior angle curved ventrally with a few macrosetae. Valve with posterior margin convexly rounded, about 2.7× as wide as long. Subgenital plates exceeding apex of pygofer in lateral view, triangular, about 2.7× as long as broad at base, with apices forming a partially sclerotized narrow appendage. Style with poorly developed subapical lobe making it almost linear distally. Connective with stem as long as arms. Aedeagus with welldeveloped dorsal apodeme, about half as long as shaft, preatrium short, shaft broad at base and narrowed until basal third then compressed, apex rounded, with pair of basal processes laterally, each process broad basally narrowed distally and strongly divergent from shaft in ventral view, about 0.66 as long as shaft; gonopore subapical on ventral surface.

Measurements. Male 8.0 mm long, 3.1 mm wide across eyes and 2.8 mm wide across posterolateral angles of pronotum.

Etymology. The species name refers to the Austro-Indian region in which it occurs.

Material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂, INDIA: Tamil Nadu: Dindigal, Thadiyankudsai , 26.xi.2019, Sankararaman ( UASB).

Remarks. This species has similar male genitalia to D. kempi but has strongly divergent basal processes of the aedeagal shaft compared to those in D. kempi . The two species also differ in coloration, the former being entirely black with a few small orange yellow markings compared to reddish orange coloration with anterior marginal ivory stripe on the fore margin of the head and the lateral margins of pronotum in the latter species.