Dwightlina McKamey, 2003

Zahniser, James N. & Dietrich, Chris H., 2013, A review of the tribes of Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 45, pp. 1-211 : 159-161

Dwightlina McKamey, 2003 status nov.

Fig. 50

Type genus: Dwightla McKamey, 2003 .

Diagnosis

Dwightlina are large, robust, ochraceous, reddish-brown, or brown leafhoppers. They can be identified by the anterior margin of head with 3 parallel carinae, face very broad, antennal pits near upper corners of eyes, forewing and face with slight to heavy covering of fine setae, profemur with 2 or more macrosetae basad of AM1 seta, and male pygofer without macrosetae.

Description

HEAD. Head subequal to or wider than pronotum. Discal portion of crown glabrous with radial or longitudinal striae. Anterior margin of head with 3 parallel carinae. Face very broad; with slight to heavy covering of fine hairs. Frontoclypeus not tumid; texture shagreen. Clypellus widening apically; apex following or slightly surpassing normal curve of gena. Lorum subequal to or wider than clypellus near base. Antennal bases near upper or anterodorsal corners of eyes. Antennae short, less than 1.5 x width of head. Gena obtusely incised laterally; with fine erect seta beside laterofrontal suture. Antennal ledge weakly developed (carinate or weakly carinate). Ocelli present; close to eyes; on anterior margin of head.

THORAX. Pronotum lateral margin carinate; lateral margin shorter than basal width of eye.

WINGS. Forewings macropterous; with slight to heavy covering of fine setae; tapering apically; apex thin or membranous, folded over onto opposite wing; appendix large, extending around wing apex; with 3 anteapical cells; veins not raised; without reflexed costal veins; A1-A2 crossvein present.

LEGS. Legs often with accessory setae. Profemur with AM1 and with 2 or more additional proximal setae; intercalary row with one row of five or more fine setae, sometimes with extra scattered setae; row AV with very long macrosetae. Protibia dorsal surface rounded, convex. Metafemur apex macrosetae 2+2+1. Metatibia dorsal surface usually with extra stout setae, especially proximally. Metatarsomere I not expanded apically; plantar setae simple, tapered.

MALE GENITALIA. Valve articulated with pygofer; lateral margin short, articulating with pygofer at a point. Pygofer basolateral membranous cleft present; without macrosetae. Subgenital plates free from each other; articulated with valve; macrosetae irregularly arranged near lateral margin. Style broadly bilobed basally, median anterior lobe pronounced. Basal processes of the aedeagus/connective absent. Aedeagus with single shaft and gonopore. Connective anterior arms somewhat divergent, Y - or U -shaped; stem short; articulated with aedeagus. Segment X large, sclerotized.

FEMALE GENITALIA. Pygofer with numerous macrosetae. Ovipositor protruding or not protruding far beyond pygofer apex. First valvula convex; dorsal sculpturing pattern strigate; sculpturing reaching dorsal margin; without distinctly delimited ventroapical sculpturing. Second valvula slender throughout; without dorsal median tooth; dorsal teeth on apical 1/3 or more or restricted to apical 1/4 or less; teeth large, regularly shaped.

Geography and ecology

Distribution: Afrotropical. Dwightlina are inhabitants of forests and have been collected at lights.

Remarks

Dwightlina contains the type genus and 5 species from the Afrotropical region. McKamey (2003b) provided the replacement name Dwightla for the preoccupied Dwightia Linnavuori & Al-Ne’amy, 1983 , thus necessitating a change in the family group name. Phylogenetic analyses of new molecular data provided here confirm that Dwightla is closely related to Selenocephalini , a result also found based on morphology alone ( Zahniser & Dietrich 2008).

Included genera

Dwightla McKamey, 2003

Figures

Fig. 50. Selenocephalini (Dwightlina). A–B, D–F, H–K. Dwightla delongi sp.nov. C. D. acutipennis Linnavuori & Al-Ne’amy, 1983. A–F, H–I. Standard views (see Material & Methods). J. Ventral view of connective. K. Ventral view of style.