Melanastera duckei, Serbina & Malenovský & Queiroz & Burckhardt, 2025

Serbina, Liliya Š., Malenovský, Igor, Queiroz, Dalva L. & Burckhardt, Daniel, 2025, Jumping plant-lice of the tribe Paurocephalini (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Liviidae) in Brazil, Zootaxa 5585 (1), pp. 1-164 : 97

45 Melanastera duckei sp. nov.

( Figs 12F , 18J , 32A–F )

Type material. Holotype ♂: Brazil: AMAZONAS: Manaus, Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve , S2.9645, W59.9202, 100 m, 22.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera pseudodecolorans ( J. C. H. Guerrero, P. O. I. de Lima & G. P. L. Mesquita) F3-129 (2) ( INPA; dry).

Paratypes. Brazil: AMAZONAS: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, same as holotype but 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana F3-30(2) (INPA; slide; [LSMelduc-44]); 1 ♂, same but 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana F3-30(4) (BMNH; slide; [LSMelduc-44]); 1 ♀, same but 22.vii.1995, fogging of Ecclinusa guianensis F2-29(9) (BMNH; slide; [LSMelduc-44]); same but 26.vi.1996, fogging of Pouteria glomerata F3-122A(10) (INPA; dry); 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 adult, Manaus, Bairro Tarumã-Açu, BR- 174 km 1, S2.9466, W60.0333, 100 m, 2.v.2014 (D. Burckhardt & D.L. Queiroz) #134 (NHMB; slide; NMB-PSYLL0007865 [LSMelduc-44], NMB-PSYLL0007866 [LSMelduc-44], NMB-PSYLL0007867).

Description. Adult. Coloration. Straw-coloured; head and thorax with dark brown dots. Antenna yellow; segments 3–9 apically and segment 10 entirely brown. Mesopraescutum with brown patches at fore margin; mesoscutum with four broad, pale brown longitudinal stripes, margined by brown dots, and one or two rows of median dots. Forewing ( Fig. 18J ) yellow with sparse irregular brown dots; apices of pterostigma and Rs, M 1+2, M 3+4, Cu 1a and Cu 1b dark brown. Legs yellow, pro- and mesofemora with light brown patches.

Structure. Forewing ( Fig. 18J ) oviform, widest in the middle, broadly rounded apically; wing apex situated in cell r 2, in distance of apex of M 1+2; C+Sc curved in apical quarter; pterostigma distinctly narrower than r 1 cell in the middle, slightly widening to apical third; Rs weakly irregularly convex; M longer than M 1+2 and M 3+4; Cu 1a weakly convex, ending proximal to M fork; surface spinules present in all cells covering the entire surface up to the veins, forming hexagons of a double row of spinules, spinules sparse to almost absent from base of cell c+sc. Hindwing with 4 + 2–3 grouped costal setae. Metatibia bearing 7–8 grouped apical spurs, arranged as 3–4 + 3–5, anteriorly separated by 3 bristles.

Terminalia ( Fig. 32A–F ). Male. Proctiger weakly produced posteriorly; densely covered with long setae in apical two thirds. Subgenital plate, in lateral view, subtriangular; dorsal margin almost straigh; posterior margin weakly convex; with sparse, long setae. Paramere, in lateral view, irregularly acuminate; apex, in lateral view, blunt, directed anteriad, in dorsal view, apex narrow, subacute, directed distinctly anteriad and upwards, with a small sclerotised tooth; outer face with sparse, short setae in apical two thirds; inner face with dense, short setae; with long setae posteriorly. Proximal segment of aedeagus with apical part strongly subdivided. Distal segment of aedeagus thick in basal half, with dorsal margin strongly sinuate; ventral process situated slightly proximal of the middle of segment, in lateral view, process large with lateral lobes, in dorsal view, slightly obovate, widest apically, apex with three small lobes of the same length, the median lobe slightly narrower than the lateral ones; apical dilation long and narrow, in both lateral and dorsal views, subparallel-sided, with rounded apex, with membranous lobe basally at dorsal margin; sclerotised end tube moderately long and weakly sinuate.—Female terminalia cuneate; densely covered with setae. Dorsal margin of proctiger, in lateral view, with shallow bulge distal to circumanal ring, weakly concave in apical third, apex subacute; in dorsal view, apex blunt; circumanal ring, in dorsal view, distinctly cruciform. Subgenital plate, in lateral view, pointed apically; in ventral view, apex blunt.

Fifth instar immature. Unknown.

Host plant. Unknown.Adults were collected by fogging Ecclinusa guianensis , Pouteria glomerata ( Sapotaceae ), Eschweilera pseudodecolorans and E. rodriguesiana ( Lecythidaceae ), which are unlikely hosts.

Distribution. Brazil (AM).

Derivation of name. Named after the eminent entomologist and botanist Adolfo Ducke, who investigated the fauna and flora of Amazonia.

Comments. Melanastera duckei sp. nov. is characterised within the duckei -group by its acuminate paramere with the apical portion which is bent forward.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Melanastera spp., head, dorsal view.A, M. caramambatai sp. nov.; B, M.acuminata sp. nov.; C, M.melanocephala sp. nov.; D, M. brevicauda sp. nov.; E, M. michali sp. nov.; F, M. duckei sp. nov.; G, M. burchellii sp. nov.; H, M. barretoi sp. nov.; I, M. sericeae sp. nov.; J, M. tristis sp. nov.; K, M. discoloris sp. nov.; L, M. truncata sp. nov.

FIGURE 18. Melanastera spp., forewing. A, M. tibialis sp. nov.; B, M. pleromatos sp. nov.; C, M. ingariko sp. nov.; D, M. brasiliensis sp. nov.; E, M. caramambatai sp. nov.; F, M. acuminata sp. nov.; G, M. melanocephala sp. nov.; H, M. brevicauda sp. nov.; I, M. michali sp. nov.; J, M. duckei sp. nov. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 32. Melanastera duckei sp. nov. A, ♂ terminalia, lateral view; B, paramere, inner face, lateral view; C, distal segment of aedeagus, lateral view; D, distal segment of aedeagus, dorsal view; E, paramere, dorsal view; F, ♀ terminalia, lateral view.— M. burchellii sp. nov. G, ♂ terminalia, lateral view; H, paramere, inner face, lateral view; I, distal segment of aedeagus, lateral view; J, distal segment of aedeagus, dorsal view; K, paramere, dorsal view; L, ♀ terminalia, lateral view.—M. barretoi sp. nov. M, ♂ terminalia, lateral view; N, paramere, inner face, lateral view; O, distal segment of aedeagus, lateral view; P, distal segment of aedeagus, dorsal view; Q, paramere, dorsal view; R, ♀ terminalia, lateral view.—M. sericeae sp. nov. S, ♂ terminalia, lateral view; T, paramere, inner face, lateral view; U, distal segment of aedeagus, lateral view; V, distal segment of aedeagus, dorsal view; W, paramere, dorsal view; X, ♀ terminalia, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.