Discolopeus viraktamathi, Stiller, 2019

Stiller, Michael, 2019, A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa, Zootaxa 4559 (2), pp. 201-244 : 229-231

Discolopeus viraktamathi sp.n.

Figs 16 a–l, 17a–f, 19c.

Diagnosis. Crown elongate; two pairs of small wedge-shaped dark brown markings apically and subapically. Subgenital plate ovate; ratio of length to width 1.36–1.77. Aedeagal shaft smooth, straight, tubular, apical third membranous, base sclerotized; shaft dissociated from dorsal apodeme, ventrad of dorsal apodeme; dorsal apodeme in dorsal view with posterior paired forked teeth and bifurcate anteriorly, X-shaped; aedeagal process thin, gracile, elongate, base fused. Style apophysis digitate, short. Connective with midsection convex, arms short. Pygofer lobe wide, membranous, digitate. Tergite X rectangular; ventrally with small, circular recess.

Etymology. Named in honor of Professor Chandra A. Viraktamath, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India, for his contributions to the systematics of leafhoppers.

Male, female and nymph. Color and external morphology. Crown with small, paired, dark brown markings, wedge-shaped or angulate, 1–2 small markings near ocellus, paired marking on disc ( Figs 17a, 17b, 17d, 17e ). Pronotum with two paired round dark brown marking near lateroanterior margin. Tegmina with most cells with dark to light brown reticulations and large markings in costal, apical and claval cells. Hind wing with well developed jugal lobe and anal area. Nymph uniformly brown ( Fig. 17f ).

Male. Measurements. Overall length 4.95–5.23 mm; crown length 0.48–0.51 mm; crown length next to eye 0.39–0.43 mm; pronotum length 0.56–0.60 mm; head width 1.5 7– 1.64 mm; pronotum width 1.43–1.52 mm; ocellus diameter 42.6–58.5 µm; interocellar distance 48.7–57.9 µm.

Male. Genitalia. Tergite X elongate, tubular, about as long as pygofer ( Figs 16a, 16b ), ventrally with small, circular recess. Pygofer with wide anterior apodeme; pygofer lobe membranous, digitate, slightly curved dorsomedially ( Fig. 16b ). Valve semicircular, with small anterior apodeme ( Fig. 16c ). Subgenital plate elongate, length to width ratio 1.36–1.75 (n=6), apex narrowly rounded ( Fig. 16c ), medial margin divergent, about 5°, lateral margin uniformly curvate. Aedeagus with shaft elongate, straight, sclerotized in basal two-thirds, membranous apex ( Fig. 16e ); dorsal apodeme complex, narrowly joined to shaft, positioned dorsad of shaft. Dorsal apodeme of aedeagus with posteriad paired tooth, curvate dorsoposteriad, anteriorly with elongate arms ( Figs 16d, 16e ). Aedeagal paraphysis tubular, apex acute, extending beyond aedeagal shaft ( Fig. 16e ), fused subbasally ( Fig. 16f ). Style apophysis in dorsal view digitate, curvate ( Fig. 16h ), in lateral view digitate ( Fig. 16g ), angled dorsoposteriad; preapical lobe obtuse ( Fig. 16g ); style situated near base of subgenital plate. Connective with transverse section convex and arms curvate ( Fig. 16i ).

Female. Measurements. Overall length 4.98–5.29 mm; crown length 0.47–0.50 mm; crown length next to eye 0.39–0.43 mm; pronotum length 0.53–0.63 mm; head width 1.6 1–1.70 mm; pronotum width 1.46–1.55 mm; ocellus diameter 45.8–58.0 µm; interocellar distance 53.0–62.3 µm.

Female. Genitalia. Sternite VII posterior margin widely invaginated, shallowly emarginate, medially sinuous ( Fig. 16l ), or medially with short sinuous ligula. Valvifer 1 united, semicircular structure, transversely elongate, posteromedially with small curvate process ( Figs 16j, 16k ). Valvula 3 with single row of macrosetae.

Material examined. Holotype male. Eastern Cape Province. CCDL26241 , Bergkwagga Park, -32.25, 25.45, 1984/01/19, J.G. Theron, sweeping.

Paratypes. 17♂, 17♀, 3 nymphs. Eastern Cape Province. CCDL26244 , 1♂, 1♀, Grahamstown , -33.31667, 26.5333, 1980/11/15, S. Neser, ex. Pappea capensis Sapindaceae ; CCDL26245 , 3♂, 7♀, Graaf Reinet , -32.24994, 24.54084, 1984/01/18, J.G. Theron, sweeping ; 10♂, 7♀, Ibid. holotype; CCDL26242 , 4♂, 1♀, 3 nymphs, Waterpoort farm near Aberdeen, -32.364710, 23.928150, 2011/01/25, M. Stiller, fogging Ehretia rigida Boraginaceae . Western Cape Province. CCDL26243 , 1 ♀, Ladismith , -33.05, 21.26667, 1973/04/21, J.G. Theron, sweeping .

Remarks. Discolopeus viraktamathi has similar dimensions to those of D. arctus , D. copeus and D. thigmacaenus . Colour patterns in D. viraktamathi and D. thigmacaenus are similar, but D. arctus has fewer spots on the crown and D. copeus has a transverse orange bar. Genitalia of D. viraktamathi are unusual with the Xshaped dorsal apodeme dorsad of the shaft with its membranous apex and sclerotized base. Seven dissected males out of 18 available specimens all presented this characteristic aedeagus. The preatrial aedeagal paraphysis is fused subbasally, whereas the other species have the base fused. The pygofer lobe in D. arctus has two parts, a membranous ventral lobe and a dorsal sclerotized, compressed, laterally curved lobe with minute ventral teeth. The pygofer lobe in D. copeus is simple, with a short ventral and short medial sclerotized blunt tooth. Discolopeus copeus is the only species with a depressed apophysis of the style. Discolopeus arctus has the style apophysis compressed, as is the case in D. lissus . The aedeagus of D. arctus and D. copeus differ. The distribution map of D. viraktamathi is in Fig. 19c .

Figures

FIGURE 16a–l. Discolopeus viraktamathi n.gen. & sp., male and female genitalia, line drawing. a. Genital capsule, dorsally; b. Genital capsule, laterally; c. Subgenital plate, ventrally; d, e, f. Aedeagus, dorsally, laterally and ventrally respectively; g, h. Style, dorsally and laterally, respectively; i. Connective; j, k. Valvifers 1, laterally, variation; l. Sternite VII.

FIGURE 17a–h. Discolopeus viraktamathi n.gen. & sp., habitus. a, b, c. Cradock, male, dorsally, female, dorsally and laterally, respectively; d, e, f. Waterpoort, male, female, nymph, respectively, dorsally; g, tegmina, male; h, hind wing male.

FIGURE 19a–c. Distribution maps of leafhopper species of Discolopeus gen.n. and associated plants. a. Hyaenanche globosa near Vanrhynsdorp and one record near Citrusdal (red squares); b. Potential natural distribution of D. copeus sp.n. in the southwestern parts of South Africa, Western Cape Province; c. Point distributions of D. colopeus sp.n., D. lissus sp.n., D. tetracaenus sp.n., D. thigmacaenus sp.n., D. triacaenus sp.n. and D. viraktamathi sp.n. in Western, Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces.