Christopherus mictlantecuhtli, Pinedo-Escatel & Blanco-Rodríguez, 2024

Pinedo-Escatel, Jorge Adilson & Blanco-Rodríguez, Edith, 2024, A new genus of Cicadellini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from the Oaxacan Cloud Forest, with taxonomic notes on allied red-striped genera, European Journal of Taxonomy 930 (1), pp. 205-228 : 215-217

Christopherus mictlantecuhtli sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5931072A-D84A-4872-A158-513DEA9C3850

Figs 1–10

Etymology

The epithet is dedicated to the Aztec god of death and king of Mictlan (underworld), named “Mictlantecuhtli” based on the Nahuatl language (pronunciation: Mict-lan-te-cuht-li). The most prominent deity that ruled over other gods and goddesses of the Mictlan in Aztec culture. Gender masculine.

Type material

Holotype MEXICO – Sierra Juárez • ♂; “Hwy 175 33mi S. Valle Nacional , 7800 ft, 16 May 1983, C. & L. O’Brien, & G.B. Marshall ”; INHS.

Description

COLORATION. Body red with longitudinal black stripes. Face almost entirely black with paired vertical red markings on ecdysial line; crown with well-defined inconspicuous red marks; ocelli red; postfrontal sutures faint black. Midline faint with red and black, not carinate. Antennal ledge black with margin straight. Frontoclypeus mostly black with minute red dots; surface rugose and striated. Anteclypeus colored with black markings near apical suture and apex red. Gena mostly black with paler areas near basal eye angle, laterally, and basally. Lora entirely black. Pronotum with three longitudinal red bands, two laterally and one central surrounded by black. Scutellum with red band in center and black borders. Forewings with three longitudinal red and two black stripes running along total length. Abdomen with dorsum mostly black and venter dark yellow. Legs light yellow. Male genital capsule dark yellow.

MALE TERMINALIA. Pygofer 1.5× as long as tall; posterior margin rounded; 4 rows of 7–12 macrosetae with microsetae scattered distally. Subgenital plate triangular; broad at base tapering to tip with preapical constriction on inner margin; 10–13 uniseriate macrosetae on lateral margin with several intercalated long fine setae. Style narrow; surface smooth; base acute, medial anterior lobe absent, preapical lobe weakly developed, apophysis somewhat long and slightly curved with apex pointed outwards. Connective much longer than style; 1.3 × as long as style. Aedeagus extended nearly to apex of pygofer, broad; recurved dorsad, apex emarginate in lateral view; base bulbous and corrugated dorsally, basal atrium process strongly recurved with apex extended to left side.

FEMALE TERMINALIA. Unknown.

Measurements in millimeters

Total length ♂ 6.00, ♀ unknown; width 1.50. Head: width 1.33; midlength 0.46; eye width 0.30; eye length 0.19; crown mid width before eyes 0.94; crown posterior width between eyes 0.72; distance between ocelli 0.52; frontoclypeus width 0.77; frontoclypeus length 0.91; anteclypeus width 0.22; anteclypeus length 0.20; lorum width 0.11; lorum length 0.25; gena width 0.33; gena length 0.39. Pronotum: width 1.41; length 0.89. Scutellum: width 0.76; length 0.56. Forewing: length 4.70. Male capsule: pygofer height 0.45; pygofer length 0.97; valve width 0.36; valve length 0.39; subgenital plate, apex width 0.12; mid width 0.25, base width 0.27; plate length 0.80; style length 0.25; connective length 0.35; aedeagus length 0.45.

Type locality

33 mi S of Valle Nacional (near Cascada de Niebla de Comaltepec).

Remarks

This new species is externally similar in appearance to Gillonella ampulla Nielson & Godoy, 1995 but C. mictlantecuhtli gen. et sp. nov. can be easily distinguishable by the (1) 10 th abdominal segment without processes; (2) joint of atrium to 10 th segment membranous, and (3) aedeagus with an elongated compressed basal atrial process.

Figures

Figs 1–3. Christopherus mictlantecuhtli gen. et sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (INHS), overall habitus. 1. Body, dorsal view. 2. Body, lateral view. 3. Face, anterior view.

Figs 4–8. Christopherus mictlantecuhtli gen. et sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (INHS), terminalia. 4. Pygofer, lateral view. 5. Subgenital plates and styles, ventral view. 6. Styles, ventral view. 7. Aedeagus and basal atrial process, lateral view. 8. Aedeagus and paraphysis, posterior view.

Fig. 9. Known distribution of Christopherus mictlantecuhtli gen. et sp. nov.

Fig. 10. Habitat of Christopherus mictlantecuhtli gen. et sp. nov. Ancient Cloud Forest from Sierra Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico. Images taken by Juvenal Aragón-Parada.