Caragonia Takiya, Cavichioli et Mejdalani

Takiya, Daniela Maeda, Cavichioli, Rodney Ramiro & Gabriel, 2003, Caragonia, a new genus of Cicadellini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from Southeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 335, pp. 1-10 : 3-7

Caragonia Takiya, Cavichioli et Mejdalani , gen. nov.

( Figs 1–20 )

Type­species. Caragonia bella sp. nov., by present designation.

Diagnosis. Large and robust cicadellines; head and thorax mostly black, forewings red with maculae and apical portion dark brown to black; crown slightly produced anteriorly, forming approximately a right angle with frons in lateral view, anterior margin not carinate; pronotum wider than head with lateral margins convergent anteriorly; female sternite VII with median longitudinal fold, posterior margin with narrow and deep concavity, lateral margins well produced posteriorly; teeth of second valvulae of ovipositor gradually declivous posteriorly. The following diagnostic characteristics of the male genitalia are based only on the type­species: aedeagus cylindrical and elongate, shaft with base directed anteriorly and then curving gradually posteriorly, with apical pair of processes; paraphyses with stalk longer than rami; subgenital plates with apex broadly round.

External morphology. Crown ( Figs 1–3 ) slightly produced; surface finely granulose; anterior margin broadly rounded; without carina at transition from crown to face; median length of crown approximately four­tenths interocular width and three­tenths transocular width. Ocelli ( Figs 1–3 ) located slightly behind imaginary transversal line between anterior eye angles; each ocellus approximately equidistant from median line of crown and adjacent eye angle. Antennal ledges slightly protuberant in dorsal view; dorsal margin oblique, not carinate, descending anteriorly in lateral view. Frons flattened; disc surface finely granulose; muscle impressions distinct. Epistomal suture incomplete along small median distance. Clypeus with contour of its inferior portion forming angle with remain­ der of face; disc setose.

Pronotum ( Figs 1–3 ) width slightly greater than transocular width of head; disc finely transversely striated; lateral margins convergent anteriorly; posterior margin very slightly concave. Mesonotum ( Figs 1–3 ) smooth, finely transversely striated behind transverse sulcus. Forewings ( Figs 1–3 ) opaque and smooth; without distinct membrane; without anteapical plexus of veins; with three closed anteapical cells and five apical cells; base of third apical cell more distal than all other apical cell bases. Hindlegs with femoral apex setal formula 2:1:1; basal tarsomere approximately as long as combined length of two more distal tarsomeres; plantar surface with two parallel rows of undifferentiated setae.

Coloration. Head and thorax mostly black ( Figs 1–3 ). Forewings ( Figs 1–3 ) red with maculae on corium and clavus and large apical area, dark brown to black.

Male genitalia. Male of Caragonia monstruosa (Signoret) comb. nov. unknown. See description of C. bella sp. nov.

Female genitalia. Abdominal sternite VII ( Figs 12, 19 ) with median longitudinal fold extending almost throughout disc length; posterior margin with narrow concavity; lateral margins well produced posteriorly. First valvulae of ovipositor in ventral view with anterior margin of bases straight ( Fig. 20 ) or with median concavity ( Fig. 13). Internal abdominal sternite VIII ( Figs 11, 18 ) in dorsal view sclerotized, forming single transversal plate; posterior margin broadly concave. Pygofer ( Figs 10, 17 ) in lateral view only slightly produced posteriorly; posterior margin round; macrosetae distributed on posterior half. Second valvulae of ovipositor ( Fig. 14) in lateral view broadened beyond one­third of total length excluding basal curvature; slightly tapering to apex; shaft bearing 20–24 continuous teeth throughout broadened portion; teeth elongate ( Fig. 16), regularly declivous posteriorly, with denticles along dorsal margin; preapical area of shaft ( Fig. 15) with dorsal and ventral margins bearing denticles, with prominence slightly distinct; apex of shaft narrowly rounded.

Distribution. Caragonia gen. nov. is apparently restricted to Southeastern Brazil. Although the labels of the two females of C. monstruosa comb. nov. determined by Signoret (including the lectotype), deposited at the NHMW, state no more than “ Brasilia,” Signoret (1853) cited “Capitainerie de Saint­Paul” as the type­locality, considered herein as São Paulo State. The distribution of Caragonia is in agreement with that of its sister genus Balacha , which is most probably restricted to southern South America (see Takiya & Mejdalani 2004).

Systematic notes. The genus Caragonia is most closely related to Balacha and shares with it unambiguous synapomorphies ( Takiya & Mejdalani 2004, based on C. bella sp. nov.), such as: (1) male subgenital plates robust with apex broadly rounded, (2) aedeagus apex with pair of processes, and (3) female sternite VII with median longitudinal fold. On the other hand, the new genus can be easily distinguished from Balacha by putative synapomorphies given below and the following plesiomorphic traits shared with Caragonalia and Pegogonia : (1) the slightly produced crown with anterior margin broadly round ( Figs 1–3 ), (2) transition crown­face forming an approximately right angle, (3) posteriorly elevated pronotum, and (4) teeth of second valvulae of ovipositor gradually declivous posteriorly ( Fig. 16). Caragonia can also be distinguished from Balacha based on the latter association with the plant genus Eryngium L. ( Apiaceae ), with which Caragonia is probably not associated (see habitat notes below).

Putative unambiguous synapomorphies of the new genus Caragonia , based on autapomorphies of C. bella sp. nov., are as follows: (1) pronotum wider than head ( Figs 1–3 ), (2) forewing clavus with jugal margin bordered with dark brown or black ( Figs 1–3 ), (3) styles with acute apices ( Fig. 8), and (4) aedeagus with cuticular dentiform sculpturing on lateral preapical area ( Figs 6–7). Although these character states (henceforth referred to as “characters” for convenience) were recovered as autapomorphies in the phylogenetic analysis of Takiya & Mejdalani (2004), most are shared by convergence with other cicadelline lineages. For example, character (1) is present in many other cicadellines, whereas characters (2) and (4) are more restricted, occurring as homoplastic apomorphies of Balacha distincta (Signoret, 1854) + B. rubripennis Cavichioli et Sakakibara, 1985 and (4) also within Caragonalia and Pawiloma ( Takiya & Mejdalani 2004) . Character (3) is the only unique putative synapomorphy of the genus Caragonia . The characters (3) and (4) and other diagnostic characteristics of the male genitalia, such as pygofer with robust ventral processes ( Fig. 5) and aedeagus shaft elongate ( Fig. 6), are unknown in Caragonia monstruosa comb. nov.

Tettigonia monstruosa is known only from females and was placed in the genus Caragonalia by Young (1977) mostly based on its external morphology and coloration. Nevertheless, the shape of the female sternite VII of C. monstruosa differs drastically from that of other species of Caragonalia , including the type­species C. carminata . Caragonalia females have a simple sternite VII with the disc surface uniformly convex (as found in the majority of Cicadellinae species) and with the posterior margin broadly shallowly concave. Tettigonia monstruosa , on the other hand, has a very complex sternite VII, with an elevated longitudinal fold, a median narrow deep concavity on posterior margin, and produced lateral margins ( Fig. 19 ). The complex sternite VII appears to be the structure to which T. monstruosa owes its specific epithet, as Signoret (1853) perceived it as “vraiment remarquable (…), par sa forme gigantesque et bizarre.” The general form of the sternite VII of T. monstruosa is shared with the type­species of the presently described genus, C. bella sp. nov., and basal lineages of the genus Balacha . Therefore, the former species is herein transferred to Caragonia gen. nov., based on the shape of the sternite VII and external morphology (which will readily distinguish the new genus from Balacha species). Furthermore, Caragonia differs from Caragonalia in male genitalia characters (unknown in C. monstruosa ). In the latter genus, the aedeagal shaft is short and laterally compressed and the paraphyses rami are much longer than the stalk.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2, Caragonia gen. nov. (1) Dorsal habitus of female lectotype of C. monstruosa (Signoret) comb. nov., NHMW; (2) dorsal habitus of female paratype of C. bella sp. nov., DZUP. Photographs taken under the same magnification.

FIGURES 17 – 20, Caragonia monstruosa (Signoret) comb. nov., female genitalia. (17) Sternite VII, first valvifer, tergite VIII, pygofer, gonoplac, and anal tube, lateral view (internal sternite VIII not illustrated); (18) sternite VII, tergite VIII, and internal sternite VIII, dorsal view; (19) sternite VII, pygofer, ovipositor valvulae (bases not illustrated), and gonoplacs, ventral view; (20) base of first valvula and first valvifer, ventral view.