Boreolimnus, Kits, 2024

Kits, Joel H., 2024, Boreolimnus, a new leafhopper genus from northern North America, with a review of Cribrus Oman (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae), ZooKeys 1217, pp. 273-290 : 273-290

Boreolimnus gen. nov.

Type species.

Deltocephalus (Laevicephalus) concinnus var. incisurus DeLong, 1926 (here designated)

Etymology.

The name is derived from the Greek βορέας (north) and λίμνη (marsh), describing the habitat of the type species. The gender is masculine.

Diagnosis.

Separated from other genera of Paralimnini by the following combination of characters: male subgenital plates with uniseriate macrosetae, plates as long as pygofer and tapering to a narrow rounded apex; pygofer with a process on postero-ventral margin, process nearly straight; segment X about as long as wide, broadly scerotized laterally and narrowly sclerotized dorsally; connective linear and elongate with arms fused in a stem which is about as broad as long (connective loop-shaped sensu Emeljanov (1999)); aedeagus broad and dorsoventrally flattened with subapical ventral gonopore and one pair of pre-apical processes; frontoclypeus and pronotum with longitudinal stripes; wings macropterous, fore wing with outer anteapical cell short and closed by distal fusion of veins R 2 + 3 and R 4 + 5 or absent.

Description.

Small leafhoppers with typical Paralimnini structure. Colour generally stramineous, head and pronotum with longitudinal stripes, wing with brown infuscation around cell borders (Figs 2–5 ).

Head with crown bluntly angled, medial length about 1.5 × width between eyes (Fig. 2 ). Crown glabrous with fine striations on basal 2 / 3, distal 1 / 3 of crown and face shagreen. Lateral frontal sutures terminating lateral of ocelli, ocelli about 2 × their own diameter from eye (Fig. 5 ). Mesal margin of eye notched. Anteclypeus with margins nearly straight, slightly tapered pre-apically. Lorum about 3 / 5 width of anteclypeus, well separated from genal margin. Antennae about as long as head width.

Pronotum slightly narrower than width of head across eyes, slightly longer than medial length of head. Fore femur with AM 1 near ventral margin, row IC with a few fine setae, row AV consisting of a few, widely spaced, very short setae. Fore tibia with 1 AD and 4 PD macrosetae. Hind femur with 2 + 2 + 1 macrosetae. First hind tarsomere with two rows of plantar setae, four apical platellae between a pair of normal setae. Fore wing usually with three closed anteapical cells; outer anteapical cell short and closed by distal fusion of R 2 + 3 and R 4 + 5 or occasionally absent.

Male abdomen with apodemes on sternite II about twice as long as wide, apical half transparent, strongly curved dorsally. Pygofer about as long as wide, with a triangular distal lobe and a sclerotized process from posteroventral corner; with a patch of long macrosetae posterodorsally and shorter fine macrosetae scattered ventrally (Figs 6 , 7 ). Segment X about as long as wide, heavily sclerotized laterally, the sclerotized portions narrowly connected posteriorly and separated by a V-shaped unsclerotized area medially. Valve parabolic. Subgenital plates as long as pygofer, subtriangular, with a narrowly rounded apex, bearing a single row of macrosetae (Fig. 8 ). Connective with arms nearly parallel, slightly bowed outwards towards anterior end and fused anteriorly, stem broadened apically, wider than arms and about as long as broad. Style apophysis with lateral lobe prominent, medial lobe with rounded teeth ventrally. Aedeagus dorsoventrally flattened with subapical ventral gonopore and one pair of pre-apical processes (Figs 9 , 10 ).

Female pygofer with moderate length macrosetae (Fig. 11 ). Ovipositor not projecting beyond pygofer. Gonoplac without macrosetae. First valvula slightly concave; sculpture imbricate dorsally and strigate ventrally (Fig. 13 ). Second valvulae evenly tapered distally, with fine irregular dorsal teeth (Fig. 14 ).

Remarks.

Boreolimnus runs to Latalus in the keys of both Oman (1949) and Beirne (1956), but can be distinguished by several characters (alternative states in parentheses): outer anteapical cell reduced and closed by fusion of R 2 + 3 and R 4 + 5 (well developed and closed by crossvein s), connective narrow and nearly linear, with the posterior plate the widest part (connective broad and widest across the arms), aedeagus dorsoventrally flattened (aedeagus tubular, not flattened), frontoclypeus with longitudinal stripes (frontoclypeus with pale transverse markings separating darker areas). In Emeljanov (1999), it keys to couplet 300 / 307 but does not match either alternative well. In Ossiannilsson (1983) it keys best to Lebradea , from which is differs in the following characters: segment X about as long as wide (segment X about twice as long as wide), connective with arms connected posteriorly by a broad and long plate-like stem (connective with arms connected by a narrow bar-like stem posteriorly), stramineous with longitudinal stripes on frontoclypeus and pronotum and brown infuscation around wing cells (mostly bright yellow with black areas, no longitudinal stripes or infuscation on wing).

Figures

Figures 2–14. Boreolimnus incisurus 2 dorsal habitus 3 lateral habitus 4 abdomen ventral, female 5 face 6 male pygofer, dorsal 7 male pygofer, lateral 8 male subgenital plate, styles, connective, dorsal 9 aedeagus, caudal 10 aedeagus, lateral 11 female genital capsule, ventral 12 female sternite VII, ventral 13 first valvifer, lateral, with enlargement 14 second valvifers, lateral, with enlargement.