Busonia amentata Distant

VIRAKTAMATH, C. A. & YESHWANTH, H. M., 2024, Arboreal eurymeline leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Eurymelinae) of the Indian subcontinent with description of new genera and eight new species, Zootaxa 5462 (1), pp. 1-125 : 95-96

Busonia amentata Distant

Figs 52A–M .

Busonia amentata Distant 1908: 199 , fig. 130.

Diagnosis. Crown, pronotum and exposed mesoscutum except lateral margins dark brown, mesoscutellum and lateral margins of exposed mesonotum bright yellow ( Fig. 52A ), face dorsad of ocelli brown, rest of face including clypellus lemon yellow to whitish yellow ( Fig. 52C ); aedeagus in lateral view, almost straight in basal half then curved at right angle anteriorly ( Fig. 52L ), in ventral view broadest in middle and narrowed slightly both anteriorly and posteriorly ( Fig. 52M ).

Description. Male. Coloration similar to that in female described by Distant (1908) with the following differences. Crown slightly paler than pronotum, upper part of face dorsad of ocelli pale brown, rest of face including clypellus, lemon yellow. Each ocellus surrounded by a thin ring of pale brown. Forewing hyaline with venation brown, proximal half of costal margin with broad dark brown stripe, then narrowed and continued along outer vein (vein R) to meet distal brown patch occupying entire third apical cell and distal part of fourth ( Fig. 52A ).

Head wider than pronotum. Crown rounded anteriorly, slightly longer medially than next to eyes, 3× as wide between eyes as medially long. Face including eyes about as wide as long. Pronotum about 2.7× as wide as long medially, disc slightly convex. Mesonotum slightly longer than combined length of head and pronotum.

Male genitalia. Pygofer in lateral view somewhat triangular, posterodorsal angle rounded and lobe-like, without ventral process, dorsal margin without basal fracture. Anal collar process thin, long, curved distally. Subgenital plate more or less of uniform width, about as long as pygofer, with marginal thin setae. Style with apophysis curved dorsally, latter with prominent angular projection in basal 0.33 length, then slightly narrowed distally with rounded distal apex. Connective T-shaped, with median ridge and anterior median lobe well-developed. Aedeagus in lateral view bent almost at right angle, distally slightly narrowed, apex conically rounded, ventral projection of atrium short, well-developed, about 0.3× as long as rest of aedeagus, proximal half of aedeagus broad with dorsal margin almost straight; in ventral view aedeagus with proximal part much broader than shaft, shaft widest in middle and narrowed both proximally and distally, distal apex almost straight with large apical gonopore.

Material examined. MYANMAR: Paratype 1♂, Tenass Vall, Myitta (Doherty), Distant Coll. 1911-383 ( BMNH).

Remarks. Distant (1908) described this species based on unspecified number of specimens collected from “ Assam; Margherita (Ind. Mus .). Tenasserim: Myitta (Doherty)” and also figured the type ( Distant 1908, fig. 130). The type series of this species in the BMNH contains a mixture of two species, namely the holotype (one specimen with abdomen and one side wings missing), one male and 3 female paratypes from Myitta probably forming one species and one female specimen from Margherita belonging to another species (not discussed any further). Maldonado-Capriles (1977) considered one specimen from Sandakan, Borneo in the USNM as the probable male of this species and illustrated the male genitalia. This identification was earlier considered as correct and has been followed by subsequent workers, for example Xue and Zhang (2015). Comparing the male genitalia of the paratype male from Myitta and the one identified as this species by Maldonado-Capriles (1977) shows considerable differences in the male genitalia characters especially the shape of the aedeagus suggesting that the Sandakan specimen belongs to a species different from B. amentata Distant. B. amentata has coloration of head and thorax similar to that in B. fusca Xue & Zhang , B. lactata Xue & Zhang and B. scutellaris Maldonado-Capriles. However , B. amentata differs from these species apart from the structure of the aedeagus, in facial coloration. In B. amentata the face is brown dorsad of ocelli with ocelli surrounded by a halo of pale brown and white ventrad of bases of antennae in female and lemon yellow in male. In B. fusca , entire frontoclypeus is brown and clypellus, lora and gena are whitish or yellow; in B. lactata the face is largely yellowish and in B. scutellaris the face is darkened towards blackish clypellus. B. amentata has more or less similar aedeagus as in B. lactata , but differs in having much longer apophysis of style, aedeagal shaft proximally much wider in ventral and dorsal view, shaft widest in middle in ventral view (widest at apex in B. lactata ) and apex of aedeagus almost straight (rounded in B. lactata ).

Figures

FIGURES 52A–M. Busonia amentata Distant, paratypes: A–D, male, habitus, dorsal and lateral views; C, face; D, label data; E–H, female, habitus, dorsal and lateral views, G, face; H, label data; I, male genital capsule, lateral view; J, connective and styles, dorsal view; K, connective and aedeagus, dorsal view; L, connective and aedeagus, lateral view; M, aedeagus, posterior view.