Virganana DeLong & Thambimuttu, 1973

Zahniser, James N., 2021, Revision of the New World leafhopper tribe Faltalini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) and the evolution of brachyptery, Zootaxa 4954 (1), pp. 1-160 : 133-134

Virganana DeLong & Thambimuttu

Type species: Virganana herbida DeLong & Thambimuttu, 1973 ; designated.

Virganana DeLong & Thambimuttu, 1973: 167–172 [original description, new species, illustration, morphology]; Cwikla & Blocker, 1981: 172, 177 [morphology]; Linnavuori & DeLong, 1977: 199 [key]; Oman et al., 1990: 259, 366 [catalogue]; Paradell & Remes Lenicov, 2005: 136 [morphology]; Zanol, 2008: 3 [catalogue]; Remes Lenicov & Paradell, 2009: 264 [examined]; Zahniser & Dietrich, 2010: 508 [classification]; Zahniser & Dietrich, 2013: 85 [classification]; Zanol, 2008: 71 [catalogue]; Zahniser, 2007 [online catalogue]; Freytag & Gaiani, 2017 [online catalogue]

Diagnosis. Virganana can be distinguished from other genera by the brachypterous males and females with reticulated forewing venation, crown nearly as long or little longer than interocular width, texture of discal region of crown indistinct and mostly smooth, crown sharply angled to face, ocelli present and distant from eyes, texture of frontoclypeus predominantly shagreen, metatarsomere I plantar surface with two rows of 2–4 tapered setae, male pygofer without distinct posterodorsal tooth, and male and female pygofers without or with few macrosetae.

Body. Male, 3.5–4.2 mm. Female, 4.3–4.9 mm. Body length 3.1–3.5x width of pronotum (males), 3.4–4.2x (females). Crown sharply angled to face; anterior margin of head subfoliaceous, texture shagreen to rugose ventrally, dorsally with one or more irregular carinae, shagreen next to eyes. Crown length (males and females) 0.85–1.0x interocular width; texture mostly smooth, shagreen anterolaterally near eye to rugose near apex. Ocelli present, distant from adjacent eye by 1/3 distance from eye to crown apex. Frontoclypeus texture shagreen. Antennal sockets near middle of eye. Pronotum broad, straplike; carinate laterally; texture mostly shagreen on anterior half, transversely furrowed on posterior half. Scutellum texture completely shagreen. Protrochanter with stout apical PV seta. Profemur row AV with 8–10 relatively long stout setae; intercalary row with 7–8 fine setae; AM1 present; AV1 present; dorsally with apical pair of macrosetae. Protibia dorsal macrosetae 4+4. Mesofemur row AV with numerous short stout setae. Mesotibia dorsal macrosetae 4+4. Metafemur apical macrosetae 2+2+1. Metatibia in dorsal view slightly bowed throughout length. Metatarsomere I slightly longer than II+III combined; slightly expanded apically; plantar surface with two rows of tapered setae; apex with row of 5 platellae flanked on each side by tapered seta. Brachypterous. Forewing veins reticulated. Hindwing lobelike; anterior margin of hindwing differentiated to wing base; posterior margin of hindwing not differentiated much past posterior margin of metanotum.

Color. General color whitish, with slight to significant brown and dark brown markings. Crown centrally with cruciate shaped ivory macula, laterally with longitudinal ivory stripes; macula and stripes bordered by dark brown; posteriorly with pair of brown spots mesad of longitudinal ivory stripes. Pronotum with three or four pairs of whitish longitudinal stripes bordered by dark brown, with intervening area tawny to dark brown, whitish stripes sometimes interrupted or incomplete. Abdomen with three to four pairs of whitish stripes, as on pronotum.

Male. Pygofer incised dorsally nearly to midlength; in lateral view subquadrate; without macrosetae; with few scattered small setae, especially near posterior margin; membranous cleft reaching or nearly reaching posterior margin. Valve broad, triangular; width more than 2.5x median length. Subgenital plates short; outer margin rounded; without macrosetae or with one submarginal row of 4–5 moderately long setae; with numerous small setae loosely arranged near lateral margin. Connective Y-shaped; stem longer than anterior arms. Styles broadly bilobed at base; preapical lobe distinct, bluntly angled; apophysis digitate, straight, with tuberculate texture, with small tooth ventrally at apex. Aedeagus with base tall, deeply excavated posteriad of base; shaft narrow, curved dorsally and anteriorly; gonopore elongate, slit-like, subapical on ventral side; apically with pair of distinct or very small teeth; articulated with connective. Segment X membranous. Phragma forming pair of slender sinuate processes inside apical margin of pygofer.

Female. Pygofer with numerous very small setae. Ovipositor tip extending just beyond pygofer apex. Sternite VII width more than 2x median length; excavate medially. First valvula relatively straight in lateral view; dorsal sculpturing pattern granulose, submarginal with distinct unsculptured band on dorsal margin; VSA present, distinctly delimited, sculpturing granulose. Second valvula lanceolate, slightly expanded subapically; without dorsal teeth. Gonoplac with numerous short setae; without distinct rows of longer setae.

Distribution. Chile, Ecuador.

Remarks. Virganana herbida and V. maculata were included in the phylogenetic analyses here, but the characters included failed to resolve them as a monophyletic group. Nonetheless, the two species are very similar morphologically especially in the form of the aedeagus. V. danasensis occurs geographically distantly from the other two species and differs in the shape of the aedeagus but shares the subfoliaceous anterior margin of the head and a similarly shaped male pygofer without a posteroventral tooth. More data, especially molecular data, are needed to resolve the generic status and relationships between species of Kramerana , Virganana , and Aequcephalus . The genus appears to be most closely related to Aequcephalus , and members of both genera have been collected west of the Andes mountain range in Chile.

Included species: