Scopogonalia agkistroides Leal & Creão-Duarte, 2016

Leal, Afonso Henrique, Creão-Duarte, Antonio José & Mejdalani, Gabriel, 2016, Taxonomic review of Scopogonalia Young, 1977 (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellini) with description of six new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 50 (23), pp. 1513-1542 : 1533-1535

Scopogonalia agkistroides Leal & Creão-Duarte sp. nov.

( Figure 8 )

Diagnosis

Light brown sharpshooters; aedeagus with basal portion directed ventrally and then strongly curved dorsally, hook shaped, with ventroapical dentiform process and pair of dorsolateral processes; valvulae II of ovipositor with sclerotized dorsal portion well delimited and ventral dentate apical portion smaller than dorsal portion.

Comment

The valvulae II of the ovipositor with the dorsal portion sclerotized and well delimited is a synapomorphy of S. agkistroides and S. alba ( Leal 2014) .

Type locality. Ribeirão Cascalheira, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Length. Male holotype, 6.2 mm; male paratypes, 6.3–6.6 mm; female paratypes, 6.6– 7.0 mm.

External morphology

Head ( Figure 8A ) moderately produced anteriorly, median length of crown about 1/2 interocular width and 1/3 transocular width; anterior margin broadly rounded in dorsal view; ocelli located behind anterior eye angles, each closer to adjacent anterior eye angle than to median line of crown, situated at pair of slight concavities. Pronotum ( Figure 8A ) with width less than transocular width; lateral margins slightly convergent anteriorly; dorsopleural carinae incomplete, not attaining eyes, oblique. Fore wings ( Figure 8A ) completely hyaline. Hind legs with length of first tarsomere approximately equal to combined length of two more distal ones.

Coloration

Ground colour of crown, pronotum and mesonotum pale yellow ( Figure 8A ); pair of dark brown longitudinal stripes on lateral body portions, beginning on prothorax right behind eye and extending to tergum of abdomen; fore wings yellow with dark brown stripe between radius and cubitus, enforcing the stripe on the abdomen, visible by transparency of wings ( Figure 8A ). Crown with pair of round dark brown maculae on and around ocelli ( Figure 8A ); face light yellow.

Male genitalia

Pygofer ( Figure 8B ), in lateral view, moderately to strongly produced posteriorly, subtriangular; dorsal margin shallowly concave; ventral margin broadly convex; apex narrowly rounded; with numerous macrosetae on posteroventral two-thirds and scattered on dorsal margin; slender process arising from ventral margin, extending posterodorsally and then curved posteriorly, extending as far as apex of pygofer. Subgenital plates ( Figure 8C ) subtriangular, extending as far posteriorly as pygofer midlength, gradually tapered towards narrow apical portion; macrosetae multiseriate near base, becoming uniseriate towards apex. Styles ( Figure 8D ) without preapical lobe; apex foot-shaped, directed outwards. Connective ( Figure 8D ) Y-shaped. Aedeagus ( Figure 8E ) hook-shaped, basal half directed posteroventrally, thence strongly curved dorsally; apical portion with ventral dentiform process and pair of flat lateral processes with acute projections. Paraphyses ( Figure 8E ) extending below shaft of aedeagus; rami curved dorsally, with apices acute.

Female genitalia

Abdominal sternite VII ( Figure 8F ) longer than wide, lateral margins gradually tapered posteriorly; posterior margin narrowly convex. Valvulae II ( Figure 8G–J ) expanded beyond basal curvature and tapered apically; apex acute; ventral margin approximately rectilinear; dorsal margin convex, with thick and well delimited sclerotized portion including teeth ( Figure 8H–J ); preapical prominence indistinct ( Figure 8J ); teeth triangular, distributed along dorsal margin, with posterior flat area on basal and median portions ( Figure 8H ), becoming gradually smaller towards apex ( Figure 8I ), where it is absent; denticles on all teeth and on apical portion; dorsal dentate apical portion greater than ventral one ( Figure 8J ).

Etymology

The species epithet, agkistroides (from Greek: hook shaped), refers to the shape of the aedeagus.

Type material

Holotype: male, ‘ Ribeirão Cascalheira, MT [Mato Grosso state]\ 22/VIII/1997 \ K. Zanol leg’, ‘ Lago do Gato’ ( DZUP) . Paratypes: two females with same data as holotype ( DZUP); two males and two females: ‘ Roy . Soc ./ Roy . Geog . Soc .\ Xavantina / Caximbo \ Expedition 1967–1969\ B . M. 1970–192’, ‘ BRAZIL: Mato Grosso,\ 12º49’S- 51º45 ʹ W,\ 19 . xi .1968, W. J. Knight .\ Grassland’ ( DZUP); one male with the same data as the preceding ones ( BMNH) .

Comparative notes

Externally, S. agkistroides resembles S. altmanni , S. echinura , S. oglobini and S. dolixoura sp. nov. due to the presence of hyaline fore wings and a pair of dark brown stripes on the lateral body portions. This species differs from those because of the hook shaped aedeagus ( Figure 8E ).

Figures

Figure 8. Scopogonalia agkistroides sp. nov. (A) Dorsal habitus; (B) male pygofer, lateral view; (C) valve and subgenital plates, ventral view; (D) styles and connective, dorsal view; (E) anal tube, aedeagus and paraphyses, lateral view; (F) female abdominal sternite VII, ventral view; (G–J) valvula II of ovipositor: (G) lateral view; (H) tooth at median portion; (I) teeth at apical portion; (J) apex. PT, primary tooth; DT, denticle; DM, dorsal margin and VM, ventral margin of dentate apical area. Scale bars: A = 1.0 mm; B–G = 0.5 mm.