Cardioscarta aurantia, Pecly & Quintas & Cavichioli & Mejdalani, 2018

Pecly, Nathalia H., Quintas, Victor, Cavichioli, Rodney R. & Mejdalani, Gabriel, 2018, A new species of Cardioscarta (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellini) from the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil and key to species of the genus, Zootaxa 4527 (1), pp. 124-130 : 125-129

Cardioscarta aurantia sp. nov.

( Figures 1–19 )

Length. Male holotype 10.8 mm, females 10.7–11.1 mm (n = 2).

Male holotype. Head ( Figs. 1, 2 , 19 ), in dorsal view, well produced anteriorly, median length of crown approximately 6/10 of interocular width and 4/10 of transocular width; anterior margin broadly rounded; without carina at transition from crown to face; ocelli located slightly before imaginary line between anterior eye angles, each closer to adjacent anterior eye angle than to median line of crown; disk of crown with transverse concavity between ocelli, without sculpturing or setae; frontogenal suture extending onto crown and attaining ocellus. Antennal ledge, in dorsal view, slightly protuberant; in lateral view, with anterior margin oblique and convex. Face ( Fig. 2 ) with frons convex, muscle impressions distinct; epistomal suture incomplete medially; clypeus slightly produced, in profile with its upper portion continuing contour of frons and lower portion more nearly horizontal, apex convex.

Thorax with pronotum ( Figs. 1, 2 , 19 ) slightly narrower than transocular width of head; lateral margins slightly convergent anteriorly; posterior margin slightly emarginate; disk without sculpturing, pubescence, or striae; in lateral view, disk distinctly declivous anteriorly. Mesonotum ( Figs. 1 , 19 ) with scutellum not transversely striate. Forewing ( Figs. 3 , 19 ) coriaceous, without sculpturing or setae; venation distinct, slightly elevated; with three closed anteapical cells, their bases slightly proximal in relation to claval apex, and four apical cells, base of fourth more proximal than base of third; without anteapical plexus of veins. Hind wing with vein R2+3 incomplete. Hind leg with femoral setal formula 2:1:1; length of first tarsomere greater than combined length of two more distal tarsomeres, with two parallel rows of small setae on plantar surface.

Terminalia with pygofer ( Fig. 4 ), in lateral view, well produced posteriorly; apex rounded; without processes; macrosetae distributed mostly at apical third. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 5 ), in ventral view, subtriangular, strongly narrowed along basal half; plates not fused to each other basally; surface with multiseriated macrosetae located mostly on basal half, minute setae distributed more apically. Connective ( Fig. 6 ), in dorsal view, Y-shaped; stalk broad, with median keel. Style ( Fig. 6 ), in dorsal view, without preapical lobe; apophysis elongate, curved, extending about as far posteriorly as connective; apex narrow, truncate. Aedeagus ( Fig. 7 ) with shaft slightly asymmetrical; in lateral view, slender, elongate, tubular; in ventral view, shaft slightly curved along basal third; gonoduct distinct, gonopore located apically; basidorsal area of aedeagus, in lateral view, with pair of elongate asymmetrical processes, ventral process extending as far posteriorly as shaft and with spine at basal third directed ventrally, dorsal process smaller than ventral one and with spine at basal third directed dorsally. Paraphyses symmetrical ( Fig. 6 ); stalk long, articulated with connective apex; rami with acute apexes, extending slightly beyond subgenital plates.

Color ( Figs. 1, 3 , 19 ). Ground color of dorsum (head, pronotum, mesonotum, and forewings) dark brown to black; pair of spots on anterior margin of crown (extended from face), most of antennal ledge, and pair of lateral spots associated with scutoscutellar suture, pale yellow; lateral margins of scutellum yellowish-brown; forewing with two large orange areas: one, subtriangular, extended from basal portion of corium to distal portions of discal cells, another covering most of clavus, except small areas at base and apex and narrow stripes along basal half of claval sulcus and commissural margin; dark brown stripe formed at brachial cell between orange areas (distal portion of brachial cell of left forewing with orange spot). Face, lateral and ventral portions of thorax, and legs mostly pale yellow; frons with median, dark brown narrow triangular marking on superior portion (extended from crown) and brown markings associated with muscle impressions.

Female. Terminalia with sternite VII ( Figs. 8, 9 ), in ventral view, strongly produced posteriorly; distal half of lateral margins gently converging posteriorly; posterior margin with pair of conspicuous lateral projections, forming deep median emargination between them; in lateral view, each projection forming distinct superior lobe. Pygofer ( Fig. 8 ), in lateral view, well produced posteriorly; posterior margin narrowly rounded; macrosetae distributed on posterior portion and extending anteriorly along ventral margin. “Internal” sternite VIII ( Fig. 10 ), in dorsal view, with conspicuous, elongate median tongue-like sclerite projected anteriorly. Valvifer I ( Fig. 11 ), in lateral view, subquadrangular, with associated basal oblong sclerite at anterior margin. Valvula I ( Figs. 11–13 ), in lateral view, with acute apex; dorsal sculptured area extending from basal portion to apex of blade, formed by scale-like processes arranged in oblique lines, except basal portion with irregular linear processes; ventral sculptured area restricted to apical portion of blade, formed by scale-like processes; ventral interlocking device restricted to basal half of blade; in ventral view, basal portion of valvula I slightly expanded outwards. Valvula II ( Figs. 14–18 ), in lateral view, expanded beyond basal curvature and more distinctly narrowed at apical third; preapical prominence small but distinct; apex obtuse; dorsal margin convex, with about 50 teeth, most subquadrangular, except irregular ones at basal portion; denticles distributed on teeth and on apical portion of blade (ventral dentate apical portion longer than dorsal one); blade with ducts extending towards teeth and to apical portion. Gonoplac (partially visible in Fig. 8 ) of usual Cicadellinae type: in lateral view, with basal half narrow; apical half expanded, gradually narrowing towards apex; latter subacute.

Etymology. The new species name, aurantia , refers to the two orange areas or single large orange area on the basal two-thirds of the forewings ( Fig. 19 ).

Type material. Atlantic Forest, southeastern Brazil. Male holotype: “PARNASO [Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos]/Guapimirim \ RJ [state of Rio de Janeiro]/ Brasil IV/2007 \ Lab. [Laboratório] Ecologia de \ insetos - UFRJ” (MNRJ). Paratypes: two females, “PARNASO/ RJ/ Brasil \ VIII[?]/2 0 0 7 \ Lab. Ecologia de insetos/ \ UFRJ col.” ( MNRJ) and “PARNASO/ RJ/ Brasil \ XII/2007 \ Lab. Ecologia de insetos/ \ UFRJ col.” ( MNRJ) .

Taxonomic notes. The aedeagus of C. aurantia sp. nov. ( Fig. 7 ) is most similar to those of C. albigutta and C. vernicosa (see Young 1977, figs. 166f and 167e, respectively). The new taxon can be easily distinguished from the latter two (see Figs. 19–21 ), as well as from the remaining species of the genus, by the pronotum without spots and the forewing with two large orange areas, one extended from the basal portion of the corium to the distal portions of the discal cells and another covering most of the clavus, or with single large orange area on the basal two-thirds. Cardioscarta includes beautiful, relatively large and colorful species (see digital images in Wilson et al. 2009), both males and females of which can be distinguished using the key we provide below.

The following two features of the new species ( Fig. 19 ) do not agree with the diagnostic features of the genus proposed by Cavichioli & Mejdalani (2016): ocelli located slightly before imaginary line between anterior eye angles and pronotum slightly narrower than transocular width of head. However, the morphology of the male terminalia clearly indicates that it belongs in Cardioscarta . The two female paratypes have the forewing brachial cell almost entirely orange, resulting in the aforementioned large orange area on the basal two-thirds of the wing, and one of them has a large dark brown to black area on each side of the frons. Concerning the female terminalia, we highlight as peculiar features of C. aurantia sp. nov. the conspicuous sclerite of the “internal” sternite VIII ( Fig. 10 ) and the sclerite associated with valvifer I ( Fig. 11 ); sclerites of sternite VIII were also observed in C. quadrifasciata (see Young 1977) and C. splendida (see Cavichioli & Mejdalani 2016). The posterior margin of sternite VII of the new species ( Fig. 9 ) is similar to that of C. sponsa ( Young 1977, fig. 168i).

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Cardioscarta aurantia sp. nov., male. 1, head, pronotum, and mesonotum, dorsal view. 2, head and prothorax, lateral view. 3, forewing. 4, pygofer, lateral view. 5, subgenital plate, ventral view. 6, connective, style, and paraphyses, dorsal view. 7, aedeagus, lateral view.

FIGURES 8–18. Cardioscarta aurantia sp. nov., female. 8, apical portion of abdomen, lateral view. 9, sternite VII, ventral view. 10, sclerite of “internal” sternite VIII, dorsal view. 11, valvifer I and valvula I, lateral view. 12, dorsal sculptured area. 13, ventral sculptured area. 14, valvula II, lateral view. 15, basal teeth. 16, median teeth. 17, apical teeth. 18, ventral preapical prominence. APL = apical lobe of sternite VII; ASC = sclerite associated with valvifer I; GON = gonoplac; VID = ventral interlocking device; VLI = valvifer I.

FIGURES 19–21. Body of Cardioscarta species in dorsal view (antennae and legs not depicted). 19, C. aurantia sp. nov., male holotype, length 10.8 mm. 20, C. albigutta (Walker, 1851), female from Viçosa, state of Minas Gerais (USNM), length 11.2 mm. 21, C. vernicosa (Le Peletier & Serville, 1825), female from Serra dos Órgãos, state of Rio de Janeiro (NHM), length 11.6 mm. Figures 20 and 21 modified from Wilson et al. (2009).