Smilirhexia naranja McKamey, 2008

McKamey, Stuart, 2008, A new genus, Smilirhexia, of Smiliini (Hemiptera, Membracidae) from Costa Rica, ZooKeys 3 (3), pp. 51-55 : 53-54

Smilirhexia naranja McKamey , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F473B88C-4AF2-45CF-9F7D-964FBCDF7B3F

Description of male. Length including forewings in repose 8.0 mm, width between humeral angles 4.6 mm. Color. Head yellow-orange. Pronotum yellow-orange dorsally and posteriorly, yellow laterally except with large lateral indentation at mid-length black. Forewing fuscous at coriaceous base and transversally at distal crossveins, cells tinted yellow basally, hyaline distally. Male terminalia ( Figs 4-6 ): lateral plate distinct,

long, lacking protuberances. Aedeagus narrow in anterior view, in lateral view Ushaped and widest at mid-length, anterior margin with many denticulae of increasing size ventrally; styles simple, distally recurved ( Fig. 4 ), apex acute.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. COSTA RICA: Puntarenas Prov.: Coto Brus, nr. San Vito, Estación Biológica Las Alturas, 8 o 57’N, 82 o 50’W.

Material Examined. Holotype male, pinned, dissected, with labels “Est. Biol. Las Alturas, / 1500m., Coto Brus, Prov. / Puntarenas. Costa Rica, / F. Araya, 23 mar a 2 may / 1992, L-S 322500,591300”, “ COSTA RICA INBIO / CR1000 / 777014”, and “ HOLOTYPE / Smilirhexia / naranja McKamey ”. Deposited at the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad ( INBio), Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica.

Etymology. The species epithet is a Spanish adjective for orange, the predominant pronotal color of the species.

Notes. In Costa Rica, most oaks occur in submontane and montane forests (1500- 3200m) ( Kappelle et al. 1992). In the Cordillera de Talamanca, which contains the type locality, there are at least eight oak species, with at least three reported from Coto Brus itself: Quercus seemannii Liebm. , Q. oocarpa Liebm. , and Q. rapurahuensis Pittier ex Trel. ( Giddy 2008) , and another ( Q. insignis M. Martens & Gal. ) at 1300m on the trail to Las Alturas ( Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad 2008). In short, it is easily possible that this new treehopper genus, like others in the tribe, feeds on Quercus .

Figures

Figs 1-6. Smilirhexia naranja, sp. n. 1-3, Lateral, dorsal, and anterior views of head, pronotum, wings, and legs (forewing anterior apices presumably rolled inward as a preservative side-effect). 4, Lateral view, cleared terminalia before dissection. 5-6. Aedeagus in lateral and anterior views, respectively. aed, aedeagus; lp, unarmed lateral plate.