Cobacella Fennah, 1952

Zumbado Echavarria, Marco A., Barrantes Barrantes, Edwin A., Helmic, Ericka E., Bartlett, Charles R. & Bahder, Brian W., 2023, A newspecies ofplanthopper in thegenus Cobacella (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha Derbidae) from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) in Costa Rica, Zootaxa 5351 (1), pp. 107-121 : 110-111

Genus Cobacella Fennah, 1952

Type species: Otiocerus rubescens Fowler 1900 by original designation

Species composition

Cobacella rubescens ( Fowler 1900) — Mexico (Veracruz, Tabasco)

Cobacella sexguttata ( Fennah 1952) — Trinidad; Brazil (Amazonas)

Cobacella palmensis sp. n. — Costa Rica

Amended diagnosis. (modified from Fennah 1952). Elongate, fragile forms, ~ 5–9 mm in body length (incl. wings), often pale with varying degrees of reddish wash (wing veins often reddish) and posterior margin of mesonotum with row of 6 fuscous spots (sometimes obsolete). Head strongly compressed and projected in front of eyes (for a distance about equal to width of eyes in longest dimension); leading margin of head rounded in lateral view. Vertex about twice as long as broad at base; posterior margin excavate, lateral margins converging distally; disc strongly depressed, lateral carinae bearing pustules. Antennae elongate but not reaching anterior margin of head, scape wider than long, pedicle elongate, subantennal process absent. Pronotum short medially, strongly declinate in lateral view, in dorsal view anteriorly sharply convex, posteriorly deeply angularly concave; medially carinate. Mesonotum large, about as broad as long, weakly tricarinate; posterior margin of mesoscutellum transverse, ecarinate. Forewing elongate and broadly spatulate, widest about in distal three-fifths (composite vein Sc+R+M very short), fork of CuA about on level with fusion of Pcu and A 1 in clavus, clavus open, composite vein Pcu+A1 joining with CuP and CuA before reaching wing margin. Apex of forewing broadly rounded, apical cells at least twice as long as broad. Male terminalia in lateral view with pygofer narrow, irregularly quadrate, anterior and caudal margins sinuate, medioventral process absent. Gonostyli elongate, exceeding anal tube, medially cupped, in ventral view medial margins sinuate (lacking median processes). Aedeagal shaft tubular, weakly upcurved bearing varied apical or subapical sclerotized processes and membranous retrorse endosoma bearing varied sclerotized processes. Anal segment short, apical angles shortly produced lateroventrad.

Remarks. Among New World Otiocerini , Cobacella can be recognized by the superficial characteristics of being midsized and usually with a reddish wash, mesothorax bearing 6 fuscous spots along caudal margin (sometimes absent), head roundly produced (forward projecting, not upward), subantennal processes absent and forewings relatively broad. Fennah (1952) noted that in life they hold their wings slightly spread with the apices nearly touching the substrate (as opposed to upward and slightly spread in Anotia ). The lack of a subantennal process distinguishes this genus from Apache Kirkaldy, 1901 , Otiocerus Kirby, 1821 , Shellenius Ball, 1928 , and Kubilaya Koçak & Kemal, 2010 (see Fennah 1952, fig. 37A and Fennah 1945, figs 39, 40 as Iquitosa Fennah, 1945 ) and Labicerus Erichson, 1848 (noted as present in the description Erichson, 1848). The rounded, forward-projecting head of Cobacella distinguishes it from Anotia , Sayiana Ball, 1928 , Kubilaya and Heronax (Homometria) , which are subconical and upward projecting, and from Platocerella Fennah 1952 and Platonax Metcalf, 1938 which are not as strongly projecting as Cobacella .

Cobacella is an infrequently encountered genus and is poorly represented in institutional collections and on citizen science forums (4 putative records on iNaturalist). It appears that the species of Cobacella may possess sexual dimorphism (possibly differences in the projection of the head), intraspecific color variation, and may have some or all of the fuscous spots of the mesothorax obsolete. The lack of specimens in series and uncertainty in the association of males and females has made it difficult to assess intraspecific species variability.

Cobacella rubescens (Fowler) was described (as Otiocerus (?) rubescens ) based on 2 syntype specimens from Mexico ( Figs 9B, C , 10 ) Cobacella sexguttata was described based on a male holotype and female paratype from Trinidad. See ‘Other material examined’ for specifics.

Plant associations. No plant associations are reported for Cobacella rubescens . The holotype of C. sexguttata was collected “resting on leaves of wild tobacco, Acnistus arborescens ” ( Solanaceae ; Fennah 1952). The new species was collected in association with African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (Arecaceae) .

Etymology. The genus name is feminine in gender and appears to be formed from Cobax + - ella (diminutive suffix); Cobax is a derbid genus name, possibly originating from the Hungarian word ‘ kovács ’ (blacksmith) (Dmitriev 2002).

Key to species of Cobacella

1. Apices of forewings shaded fuscous, contrasting with hyaline middle portion offorewing; Trinidad, Brazil...... C. sexguttata

- Apices of forewings concolorous with remainder of wing, not contrastingly colored, hyaline or fuscous shaded; Mesoamerica ................................................................................................... 2

2. Forewings with membrane uniformly shaded fuscous; Costa Rica................................ C. palmensis sp. n.

- Forewings with membrane hyaline; Mexico....................................................... C. rubescens

Figures

FIGURE 9. Habitus of Cobacella specimens from the Natural History Museum, London (BMNH); (A) Cobacella sexguttata Fennah (Amazonas, Brazil, Det. P.S. Broomfield), (B–C) Cobacella rubescens (Fowler), syntype female (B) lateral and (C) dorsal view.

FIGURE 10. Habitus of Cobacella rubescens syntype female from Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico (image credit Harald Bruckner, Hemiptera Image Collection, Natural History Museum Vienna); (A) lateral view, (B) dorsal view (C) ventral view, and (C) labels.