Chionomus havanae ( Muir & Giffard, 1924 )

Weglarz, Kathryn M. & Bartlett, Charles R, 2020, A revision of the planthopper genus Chionomus Fennah (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae), Zootaxa 4811 (1), pp. 1-63 : 11-12

Chionomus havanae ( Muir & Giffard, 1924)

( Figures 3 , 18a & d , 19 )

Delphacodes havanae Muir & Giffard, 1924: 37 .

Chionomus havanae (Muir & Giffard) , comb. by Fennah, 1971: 324.

Type Locality. Cuba, Havana .

Diagnosis. Body light to dark brown, with white to ivory markings. Vertex quadrate; foveae of frons and vertex dark. Carinae distinct, pale; antennae light brown. Pronotum dark anteriorly, shading to white posteriorly, paranota white. Armature of diaphragm forming smooth triangular boss, apex of parameres with outer angle strongly produced, rounded. Aedeagus sinuate, bearing a caudally projected process that extends past apex.

Description. Color. Macropter. Body dark to light brown, bearing white or ivory markings. Carinae of head (including genal carinae) distinct, paler. Foveae of head fuscous. Antennae dark brown proximally, shading paler distally. Pronotum dark brown anteriorly, white posteriorly. Mesonotum dark shining brown, white posteriorly at termini of lateral carinae and scutellum. Legs yellow bearing light brown stripes on anterior face, apex of tarsi brown. Wings hyaline with dark marking near apex of clavus, some specimens fuscous on claval fold and nodal line. Abdomen brown, caudal edge of terga and sterna often paler. Pygofer brown, segment X light brown. Brachypter. Similar, with white at tegmina apex. Structure. Body. Length (in mm) macropter male (♂) 1.59±0.13 (n=22); ♂ brachypter 1.88±0.04 (n=3); width ♂ 0.74±0.08 (n=25). Head. Vertex length 0.18±0.03 (n=25); vertex width 0.17±0.02 (n=25); frons length 0.46±0.02 (n=25); frons width 0.21±0.02 (n=25). Vertex approximately quadrate in dorsal view, barely wider than long; carinae distinct, stem of Y-shaped carina obsolete. In lateral view ( Figure 3b ), fastigium rounded; projecting in front of the eye about 1/6th eye length. Carinae of frons distinct ( Figure 3e ), subparallel, widest at ventral margin of compound eyes. Antennae with segment I subequal in length to II; segment II sparsely setaceous; sensory pits arranged 4, 3–4, 2, 2, arranged uniformly, surrounded by small black setae.

Thorax. Macropter. Carinae of mesonotum weak, median carina ending before scutellum, lateral carinae diverging posteriorly, reaching hind margin. Tibiae carinate; sparsely setaceous, two rows of small black spines along ventral margin. Calcar bearing 22–26 small teeth (holotype with 24). Brachypter. Tegmina rounded apically, reaching to abdominal apex (or nearly so).

Abdomen. Slightly dorsoventrally compressed, tapering caudad to truncate apex; long, fine setae surrounding each abdominal spiracle. Male genitalia with pygofer in lateral view ( Figure 3g ) nearly thrice as long ventrally as dorsad, ventral margin sinuate. In caudal view ( Figure 3f , 19a ), as tall as wide, globular; dorsolateral margins mildly produced. Opening to inner chamber triangular, pointed ventrad. Diaphragm strong, armature distinctly produced and projecting caudad, apex triangular to bilobed, smooth. Parameres flattened distally, widest in basal third, basal angle strong, projecting, quadrate; dorsolaterally diverging to convexly curved apices, lateral margins concave, inner angles weak, acute; outer angles produced to rounded apices. Suspensorium inconspicuous. Aedeagus terete in cross-section, widest near base, irregularly tapering for most of length, abruptly tapering distally to blunt apex, weakly curved ventrad in apical quarter, keeled ventrally, gonopore apical; bearing conspicuous straight dorsal spine projecting beyond aedeagus apex. Segment X longer than tall, quadrate, not armed. Segment XI produced, about half the length of segment X, projecting caudally.

Plant associations. Axonopus compressus (Sw.) P. Beauv. (broadleaf carpetgrass, Poaceae ) ( Fennah 1959).

Distribution. USA: FL; Cuba; Cayman Islands (Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman); Puerto Rico (inc. Mona Island); Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Trinidad; Mexico (Campeche, Chiapas, Federal District, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan); Belize; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia; Venezuela; Guyana; Brazil (Amazonas, Para, Rio de Janeiro, Rondonia, Sao Paulo); Peru; Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina; also reported Cuba, Mexico (Sinaloa) ( Bartlett et al. 2014).

GenBank accession number. MN339591

Remarks. Chionomus havanae was initially reported in the United States by Wilson (1983). This species is common in Neotropical collections and is often collected in with C. balboae at lights. This species is easily differentiated by the sinuate shape of the parameres (basal angle strong, apices convexly curved) and the apical spine on the aedeagus. Males frequently can be identified without dissection if the parameres and apical spine of the aedeagus can be seen. This species may be most closely allied with C. balboae and C. haywardi , which have similarly a similarly triangular shaped armature of the diaphragm but lack the spine of the aedeagus.

Type material examined. Holotype [ BPBM]: Macropterous ♂, “ Havana / Cuba.Baker // Megamelus / albopal- liatus / Uhl. [Handwritten] // ♂ [Handwritten] // [Blue paper] // Holotype [Red paper, vertical orientation, affixed to following label] // Delphacodes / havanae / ♂ M.G // under / puella / Crawf Col / havana [Handwritten, last line vertical orientation]// Paratype [reverse side of previous label, yellow paper] // 1075 [Handwritten]”.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Habitus of Chionomus havanae (A-E holotype); A. dorsal view, habitus; B. lateral view, habitus; C-D. labels of holotype, E. frontal view, habitus; F. male terminalia, caudal view; G. male terminalia, lateral view.

FIGURE 18. Dorsal and lateral habitus of brachypters of select Chionomus species, A,D. Chionomus havanae, B,E. Chionomus balboae, C,F. Chionomus herkos, G,J. Chionomus pacificus, H,K. Chionomus puellus, I,L. Chionomus quadrispinosus.

FIGURE 19. Line art of Chionomus havanae terminalia, A. pygofer, caudal view, B. aedeagus and anal tube, left lateral view, C. left paramere, widest view.