Fonsecaiulus guttiformis, Felix, Marcio, Antunes, Cauan, Carvalho, Rachel A. & Mejdalani, Gabriel, 2015

Felix, Marcio, Antunes, Cauan, Carvalho, Rachel A. & Mejdalani, Gabriel, 2015, Three new species of Fonsecaiulus (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Cicadellini) from Brazil and key to species of the genus, ZooKeys 526, pp. 131-144 : 133-138

Taxon classification Animalia Hemiptera Cicadellidae

Fonsecaiulus guttiformis sp. n. Figs 2, 3

Diagnosis.

Fonsecaiulus guttiformis sp. n. is characterized by the combination of the following features: (1) single yellow stripe on median portion of clavus (Fig. 2a), directed to commissural margin; (2) valve (Fig. 2d) broad and subtriangular; (3) styles and connective stalk (Fig. 2e) very elongate; (4) aedeagus (Fig. 2f) strongly curved ventrally with apex broad; (5) paraphyses (Fig. 2f, g) very complex, with short basal plate and pair of broad and long rami with processes; (6) female sternite VII (Fig. 3a) subtriangularly produced posterolaterally, with well-produced median lobe.

Etymology.

The specific epithet, guttiformis, refers to the shape of the aedeagal shaft in lateral view.

Description.

Length. Male holotype, 5.4 mm; male paratypes, 5.0-5.5 mm; female paratype, 5.5 mm.

Male holotype. Head and thorax. Head (Fig. 2a, b) with median length of crown slightly less than 7/10 interocular width and slightly less than 4/10 transocular width; frons slightly flattened medially, muscle impressions distinct; epistomal suture obsolete medially; clypeus with contour continuing profile of frons. Pronotum (Fig. 2a, b) with width equal to transocular width; lateral margins slightly convergent anteriorly. Remaining morphological characteristics of head and thorax as in the generic description of Young (1977: 760-763).

Male genitalia. Pygofer (Fig. 2c) slightly concave posteriorly; ventroapical margin with small rounded lobe, directed medially. Valve (Fig. 2d) broad and subtriangular. Subgenital plates (Fig. 2d) narrow on apical half; dorsal surface with two minute, sclerotized dentiform processes on median portion, near which apical portion of styles rests; short microsetae along outer margin. Styles (Fig. 2e) elongate, extending as far posteriorly as connective apex; outer preapical portion with long sparse setae; apex directed outwards. Connective (Fig. 2e) Y-shaped in dorsal view; stalk elongate, with well-produced median keel. Aedeagus (Fig. 2f, g), in lateral view, with shaft long and gutiform, strongly curved ventrally; apex broadly convex; gonopore apical; dorsal apodemes long and curved posteriorly. Paraphyses (Fig. 2f, g) symmetrical, with short basal plate and pair of complex broad and long rami; each ramus with inner basal process, slender and very short; ventral margin with short process between basal and median thirds, slightly curved posteriorly; apex bifurcated into two long and narrow acute processes, inner one posteromedially curved and crossing median line of pygofer, the other one directed posteriorly, with short triangular basiventral projection.

Color. Dorsum brown with longitudinal yellow stripes (Fig. 2a, b). Head and thorax (Fig. 2a, b) with three stripes, median one extending from apex of crown to apex of clavus, posteriorly narrowed from median portion of pronotum, and pair of lateral stripes extending from frontogenal suture to median portion of clavus, almost attaining median portion of commissural margin. Clavus (Fig. 2a, b) with narrow yel low stripe adjacent to claval sulcus, absent on basal portion. Corium (Fig. 2a, b) with broad yellow irregular stripe adjacent to brachial cell, extending posteriorly to inner anteapical cell, narrowed on portion opposite claval apex; two elongate oblique yellow maculae near costal margin, anterior one opposite claval apex (interrupted in the right forewing) and posterior one on outer anteapical cell. Face pale yellow. Frons with pair of dorsolateral brown maculae continuous with color pattern of crown. Anten nal ledges brown (Fig. 2b). Thoracic sclerites (Fig. 2b) mostly yellow; lateral lobe of pronotum dorsally brown. Legs (Fig. 2b) mostly pale yellow. Thoracic sternum mostly pale yellow.

Female genitalia (based on one paratype). Sternite VII (Fig. 3a) subtriangularly produced posterolaterally; posterior margin with well-produced median lobe. “Internal” sternite VIII without sclerites. Pygofer (Fig. 3b, c) moderately produced posteri orly in lateral view; surface with sparse row of macrosetae along ventroapical margin and a few grouped near apex. First valvifers (Fig. 3 c–e) large, subrectangular in lateral view, each with long, basally articulated anterior process directed posteroventrally; basal portion of processes, in ventral view, medially produced and connected to each other by membrane (Fig. 3c). First ovipositor valvulae (Fig. 3 e–h) with basal portion enlarged and subrectangular; basal margin truncate and oblique in ventral view (Fig. 3c); sculptured areas mostly scalelike, with linear tegumentary processes on basidorsal portion (Fig. 3f) and separated scales on ventroapical portion (Fig. 3h); ventral margin broadly concave; apex acute. Second valvulae (Fig. 3 i–l) broadened beyond basal curvature, narrowing slightly towards narrowly rounded apex; ventral margin approximately rectilinear; preapical prominence (Fig. 3l) conspicuous, narrowly rounded; dorsal margin with approximately 22 mostly triangular continuous teeth, extending from expanded basal portion to apical portion of blade; most teeth with steep, small ascending portion, and gradually declivous, large descending portion (Fig. 3j, k); denticles distributed on teeth (Fig. 3j, k) and on apical portion of blade, except on apex (Fig. 3l); blade with ducts attaining teeth or terminating below them, also extending to apex (Fig. 3 i–l). Gonoplacs with basal half distinctly narrow, abruptly expanded on median portion; ventral margin slightly concave on median third; apex rounded.

Intraspecific variation (based on nine male and one female paratypes). Short curved process between basal and median third of paraphyses rami with variable length; ventral margin of each ramus sometimes irregular, with slight projections and emarginations.

Type specimens.

Brazil, Espírito Santo State. Holotype: male, “Coleção Santa \ Teresa"; "BR, ES, Sta. Teresa, Est. \ Biol. Santa Lúcia 17- \ 21.IV.2012, Buys & Leibão \ leg." (CEIOC). Paratypes: one male and one female, same data as holotype (CEIOC); three males, "BR, ES, Sta. Teresa, Est. \ Biol. Santa Lúcia, Trilha do \ Ruschi, 22.VII.2012, Buys, \ leg. Prato Amarelo" (CEIOC); one male, "BR, ES, Sta. Teresa, Est. \ Biol. Santa Lúcia, 18.X.2012, \ Buys, Cordeiro & Tinoco, \ leg. Prato amarelo" (MNRJ); four males, "BR, ES, Sta. Teresa, Est. \ Biol. Santa Lúcia, Trilha do \ Rio, 17.X.2012, Buys, \ Cordeiro & Tinoco leg." (CEIOC).

Remarks.

Fonsecaiulus guttiformis sp. n. (Fig. 2a, b) is similar in color pattern and male and female structures to Fonsecaiulus cognatus . In the new species the lateral yellow stripes on anterior dorsum converge posteriorly to the commissural claval margins (Fig. 2a). In Fonsecaiulus cognatus these stripes have similar position on clavus but they are paired ( Wilson et al. 2009: http://naturalhistory.museumwales.ac.uk/sharpshooters/browserecord.php?-recid=1008).

The male genitalia of Fonsecaiulus guttiformis are the most distinct in the genus. The valve is broad and subtriangular (Fig. 2d), whereas this structure is short and broadly convex posteriorly in the remaining species of the genus. The styles and connective stalk are uncommonly elongate (Fig. 2e). The aedeagus is strongly curved ventrally with the apex broad (Fig. 2f). Fonsecaiulus cognatus is the only other known species in which the aedeagal shaft has a ventral curvature ( Young 1977: fig. 625q), but it is slighter than in Fonsecaiulus guttiformis . The paraphyses are very complex in the latter species, with short basal plate and pair of broad and long rami presenting processes (Fig. 2f, g). Until now, the paraphyses of Fonsecaiulus flavovittata were the most complex in the genus ( Young 1977: fig. 622r).

Regarding the female genitalia, the sternite VII of Fonsecaiulus guttiformis (Fig. 3a) is similar to that of Fonsecaiulus cognatus ( Young 1977: fig. 625i), both being posterolaterally produced and with a well-produced median lobe. The lateral lobes in the new species are subtriangular, whereas in Fonsecaiulus cognatus they are narrowly rounded.

The first valvifers of Fonsecaiulus guttiformis bear a conspicuous anterior process that is basally articulated (Fig. 3d, e). Young (1977) described a pair of elongate processes projecting from the dorsal membrane into the genital chamber in Fonsecaiulus sciotus (see fig. 626p from that author). The position and shape of these processes are similar to the ones observed in Fonsecaiulus guttiformis . Carvalho and Mejdalani (2014) described processes originating from the same portion of the valvifers, but not basally articulated to them, in two species of Erythrogonia Melichar, 1926: Erythrogonia phoenicea (Signoret, 1853) (see fig. 8 from those authors) and Erythrogonia calva (Taschenberg, 1884) (see fig. 22 from those authors). This genus, as well as Fonsecaiulus , is included in the Erythrogonia generic group ( Young 1977).