Oropuna Fennah 1952

Bahder, Brian W., Zumbado Echavarria, Marco A., Barrantes Barrantes, Edwin A., Helmick, Ericka E. & Bartlett, Charles R., 2021, A new species of planthopper from Costa Rica in the genus Oropuna from palms in lowland tropical rainforest, Zootaxa 5081 (1), pp. 116-130 : 119

Genus Oropuna Fennah 1952

Type species: Oropuna minutianus Caldwell, 1944: 102 .

Amended Diagnosis. Relatively large and robust among Cenchreini , measuring approximately 3.8–5.5 mm in length, including wings. Wings tectiform in repose, distinctly exceeding abdomen. Vertex broad, nearly trapezoidal (anterior margin transverse to weakly convex, posterior margin concave), nearly 2x as broad at posterior margin as long at midline; lateral margins keeled (“explanate”, Fennah 1952: 136), converging anteriorly (slightly broader at apex); transverse carinae at fastigium faintly indicated. Pits present on lateral margins of vertex and frons, varying in size and distinctness, in 2+ rows. Frons broad, elongate, weakly concave, lateral margins keeled, slightly diverging to widest point approaching frontoclypeal suture; medium carina of frons absent, frontoclypeal margin straight. Clypeus elongate triangular, median carina evident, in lateral view in approximately same plane as frons. Genae without subantennal process. Antennae short, pedicle spheroid, about as long as wide.

Pronotum narrow, declinate (posterior margin raised), anterior margin convex, posteriorly broadly concave or v-shaped, broadening laterally; paranotal region foliate, forming large foveae posterior to the antennae (a tribal feature). Mesonotum tricarinate, carinae nearly reaching posterior margin, scutellum faintly discontinuous with scutum (not separated by groove). Lateral teeth absent on tibiae. In clavus of forewing, combined vein Pcu+A1 fusing with CuP, with the composite vein reaching wing margin near icu crossvein; C5 cell (formed by forked CuA) closed by crossvein (not anastomosing CuA, viz. Emeljanov 1996: 74); RP usually 5-branched (4 in O. orba ).

Terminalia mostly bilaterally symmetrical, except aedeagus asymmetrical. Pygofer in lateral view narrow, strap-like, arched (caudal margin convex, anterior margin concave), ventral margin broadly expanded; in ventral view, medioventral process very broad, subquadrate, apex truncate to broadly triangular. Gonostyli elongate, narrow (relative to Herpis ), distally enlarged with a twisted appearance, bearing a thumb-like process on dorsal surface and in ventral view two large medially directed processes. Aedeagus symmetrical or asymmetrical, shaft bearing dorsolateral keels and apical or subapical processes, endosoma complex with a variety of sclerotized processes. Anal tube length highly variable.

Distribution. Mexico (Chiapas); Guatemala; Costa Rica; Southeast Brazil (Rio de Janiero); Bolivia (Cochabamba).

Etymology. Fennah (1952) did not specify an origin of the genus name ‘ Oropuna ’, and the derivation of the term does not appear obvious. The name may have come from the Oropuna River in Trinidad (or the town of Oropune) but there is no connection with that place. Possibly the name is derived from the Greek term ‘ oros ’, or the Latin term ‘ orias ’, meaning mountain or hill, plus a form of the Latin verb ‘ punio ’ (punish). Oropuna is treated as masculine.

Remarks. This genus appears to be most similar to Herpis in general appearance, especially the broad frons. In Herpis the frons appears to be flat, parallel sided and bearing a median carina, in Oropuna the frons is weakly convex, lacking the median carina and the lateral margins diverging ventrally. The vertex in both genera are trapezoidal, but in Oropuna it is about 2x as wide at base as long at midline, whereas in Herpis the vertex is longer in midline. In male genitalia, the medioventral process is large, broad and subquadrate (unique among New World Cenchreini ), whereas in Herpis it is subconical, usually taller than broad. Among species examined so far, Herpis has broad, spatulate gonostyli with a single medially directed process in ventral view; whereas Oropuna is narrow, with two medial processes in ventral view. In the forewing, Oropuna has 4–5 branches of the RP, and Herpis apparently has 6-branches, at least among the species examined, the species that we have examined so far in Herpis are all pallid in coloration relative to Oropuna .

The only genus, other than Herpis , whose head structure may approach that of Oropuna are some of the members of Omolicna Fennah. However , in this genus, the frons is more distinctly convex (and enlarged near the frontoclypeal border), and the medioventral process of the pygofer is not nearly as broad.