Flexamia whitcombi, Hicks, Andrew, 2015

Hicks, Andrew, 2015, In the shadow of a megalopolis, a new Flexamia from a threatened grass species in the New Jersey Pine Barrens (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae, Paralimnini), ZooKeys 511, pp. 69-79 : 71-72

Taxon classification Animalia Hemiptera Cicadellidae

Flexamia whitcombi sp. n.

Description.

Length of male 3.5-3.8 mm, length of female 3.7-4.2 mm; head with length of crown ca. 1.5 times interocular width and ca. 0.68 times transocular width. Base color of dried specimens (Figs 2 & 3) usually stramineous, occasionally ivory above, venter entirely or partially fuscous often lighter caudally, occasionally merely stramineous; crown and pronotum without well-defined fuscous spots or stripes except for pair of dark spots at crown apex. Fore-wing typical of the genus, a few scattered small irregular fuscous markings present, veins slightly paler, apex of the abdomen usually exposed on female specimens.

Face (Fig. 4) coloration varies but typically heavily pigmented apically and laterally, paler medially, 5-6 fine pale transverse lines between eyes not meeting medially, apex of clypellus dark.

Male genitalia. Pygofer (Fig. 5), with posterior lobe truncate apically, caudoventral margin heavily sclerotized, angled and terminating ventrally in a rounded process bearing fine denticulation. Subgenital plates short, extending about 2/3 length of pygofer (Fig. 6), apices relatively blunt, rounded. Connective fused to the aedeagus, keel extending dorsad slightly less than half the height of the dorsal apodeme (Fig. 7). Styles typical of the genus. Aedeagus symetrical, straight in ventral aspect (Fig. 8); in lateral aspect (Fig. 7) shaft long, recurved, tapering evenly before expanding apically, apex (Fig. 9) with 5 processes: on the caudoventral surface, extending laterally and curved ventrad, one pair of short, stout divergent processes with blunt apices, also on the caudoventral surface a longer acute unpaired process extending basad, curved ventrad and bearing the gonopore (Fig. 9C) in the form of a slit extending from the apex of the aedeagal shaft ending subapically on the unpaired process; on the dorsal surface a pair of long spine-like processes which usually cross over the shaft of the aedeagus (Fig. 9A, B). Both apex of shaft and pygofer process occasionally visible in undissected specimens.

Female. Posterior margin of abdominal sternum VII (Fig. 10) typical of the genus, shallowly concave on either side of the slightly notched and embrowned median convex lobe; ovipositor with bases of first valvulae as in Figure 11.

Material examined.

Holotype male, USA: NEW JERSEY: Atlantic Co., Mullica Twp., Batso Fireline Rd., 8.5km SE of Atsion, 27 July 2012 ALHicks, ca. 25 ft asl, 39.6798°N, 74.6705°W. Swept from Muhlenbergia torreyana . 6 male and 11 female paratypes, same data.

7 male and 3 female paratypes, NEW JERSEY: Burlington Co., Washington Twp., 10.1 km SE of Atsion, Batso Lk. Rd., 27 July 2012 ALHicks, ca. 20 ft asl, 39.6667°N, 74.6501°W.

Holotype and paratypes in the entomology collection of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History (UCMC); paratypes in the collection of the United States National Museum of Natural History (USNM).

Etymology.

The specific epithet honors an extraordinary mentor, colleague and friend, the late Dr. Robert Whitcomb, who made, among many other accomplishments, major contributions to leafhopper taxonomy and ecology.

Diagnosis.

Flexamia whitcombi is included in the serrata species group by characters of the male genitalia but easily distinguished from the related Flexamia serrata and huroni by its habitus (dark below and stramineous above). In addition, males can be separated from all other species by the denticulate ventral pygofer process and by the apex of the aedeagus, females by the bases of the valvulae (Fig. 11). Because of its habitus and distribution, it is likely to be mistaken for other eastern species like Flexamia sandersi (Osborn) but readily differentiated from this and all other prairiana group species by the short, blunt subgenital plates (Fig. 6).