Scopogonalia alba Leal & Creão-Duarte, 2016

Leal, Afonso Henrique, Creão-Duarte, Antonio José & Mejdalani, Gabriel, 2016, Taxonomic review of Scopogonalia Young, 1977 (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellini) with description of six new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 50 (23), pp. 1513-1542 : 1531-1533

Scopogonalia alba Leal & Creão-Duarte sp. nov.

( Figure 7 )

Diagnosis

Pale yellow sharpshooters; aedeagus directed posterodorsally with dentiform process on ventroapical portion and pair of large and broad dentiform processes on dorsoapical portion; paraphyses with rami curved dorsally and strongly curved outwards; valvulae II with dorsal portion sclerotized and well delimited and ventral and dorsal margins of dentate apical area with approximately the same length.

Comment

The well delimited, sclerotized dorsal portion of the ovipositor valvulae II is a synapomorphy of S. alba and S. agkistroides . The ventral and dorsal margins of the dentate apical area of the valvulae II with approximately the same length is an autapomorphy of S. alba ( Leal 2014) .

Type locality. Reserva Biológica Guaribas, Mamanguape, Paraíba, Brazil.

Length. Male holotype, 7.2 mm; male paratypes, 6.4–7.2 mm; female paratypes, 7.2– 7.7 mm.

External morphology

Head ( Figure 7A ), in dorsal view, moderately produced anteriorly, median length of crown about 1/2 interocular width and 1/3 transocular width; anterior margin broadly rounded in dorsal view; ocelli located behind anterior eye angles, each closer to adjacent anterior eye angle than to median line of crown, situated at pair of slight concavities. Pronotum ( Figure 7A ) with width approximately equal to transocular width of crown; lateral margins convergent anteriorly; dorsopleural carinae incomplete, not attaining eye, oblique; mesonotum with scutellum not striate. Fore wings ( Figure 7A ) completely hyaline. Hind legs with length of first tarsomere greater than combined length of two more distal ones.

Coloration

Crown, anterior third of pronotum, mesonotum and fore wings pale yellow ( Figure 7A ). Posterior two-thirds of pronotum light brown ( Figure 7A ). Crown with pair of dark brown round maculae including ocelli ( Figure 7A ). Tergum of abdomen dark brown. Face, ventral portion of body and legs pale yellow. Prothorax, in lateral view, with a dark brown macula just behind eye.

Male genitalia

Pygofer ( Figure 7B ), in lateral view, moderately produced posteriorly; dorsal margin approximately rectilinear; posteroventral margin broadly convex; apex narrowly rounded; numerous macrosetae near apex and along posteroventral margin, gradually scattered along dorsal margin; elongate process arising from ventral margin and extending posterodorsally, almost attaining apex of pygofer. Subgenital plates ( Figure 7C ) subtriangular, not extending as far posteriorly as apex of pygofer, gradually tapered towards narrow apical portion; macrosetae multiseriate near base thence uniseriate towards apex. Styles ( Figure 7D ) slender, with preapical lobe, not extending as far posteriorly as apex of connective, curved outwards. Connective ( Figure 7D ) Y-shaped. Aedeagus ( Figure 7E ), in lateral view, directed posterodorsally, with dentiform process on ventroapical portion and pair of large and broad dentiform processes on dorsoapical portion. Paraphyses ( Figure 7E– F ) paired, symmetrical, rami curved dorsally and strongly curved outwards.

Female genitalia

Abdominal sternite VII ( Figure 7G ) longer than broad, lateral margins gradually tapered posteriorly; posterior margin convex. Valvulae II ( Figure 7H–K ) expanded beyond basal curvature and gradually tapered towards acute apex; ventral margin approximately rectilinear; dorsal margin convex, with thick and well delimited sclerotized portion including teeth ( Figure 7I–J ); preapical prominence indistinct ( Figure 7K ); primary teeth triangular, distributed along dorsal margin ( Figure 3I–J ); first ones with posterior flat area, which becomes gradually smaller towards apex, where it is absent; denticles on all teeth and on apical portion; dorsal and ventral dentate apical portions with approximately same length ( Figure 7K ).

Etymology

The species epithet, alba (from Latin: white), refers to the light coloration of the body.

Type material

Holotype: male, ‘ BRASIL: Paraíba,\ Mamanguape, REBIO [Reserva Biológica]\ Guaribas. Area 2\ Sweep 24.May.2012 \ A.H. Leal leg.’ ( MNRJ) . Paratypes: two females ( MNRJ) and one male and one female ( DSEC), same data as holotype; one male and two females ( MNRJ), same data as holotype, except: 16 .Jan .2012; one male: ‘ BRASIL: PI, Piracuruca – PN [Parque Nacional] de Sete \ Cidades, Riacho da Piedade \ 4°6 ʹ 34,00” S 41°43 ʹ 39,00”W \ 169m \ 19 .IV .2012\ Takiya, D. M.’ ( INPA).

Comparative notes

The new species resembles S. echinura , S. altmanni , S. oglobini , S. agkistroides sp. nov., and S. dolixoura sp. nov. due to the completely hyaline fore wings. However, the coloration of S. alba sp. nov. is lighter than that of the other species. Its male genitalia differ from those of the others by the following combination of characters: aedeagus with pair of large and broad dorsoapical dentiform processes ( Figure 7E ), similar to those of S. nargena , and rami of paraphyses strongly divergent ( Figure 7F ). In the female genitalia, the valvulae II of the ovipositor have a thick and welldelimited sclerotized area on the dorsal margin ( Figure 7I–J ), also found in S. agkistroides sp. nov., but S. alba sp. nov. is the only one in the genus in which the dorsal and ventral dentate apical portions are approximately the same size ( Figure 7K ).

Figures

Figure 3. Scopogonalia interruptula (Osborn, 1926). Dorsal habitus (A) from female holotype and (B) from male allotype and their respective labels. Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

Figure 7. Scopogonalia alba sp. nov. (A) Dorsal habitus; (B) male pygofer, lateral view; (C) valve and subgenital plates, ventral view; (D) styles and connective, dorsal view; (E) anal tube, aedeagus and paraphyses, lateral view; (F) paraphyses, ventral view; (G) female abdominal sternite VII, ventral view; (H–K) valvula II of ovipositor: (H) lateral view; (I) tooth at median portion; (J) teeth at apical portion; (K) apex. PT, primary tooth; DT, denticle; DM, dorsal margin and VM, ventral margin of dentate apical area. Scale bars: A = 1.0 mm; F = 0.25 mm; others = 0.5 mm.