Empoasca ecuadorensis, Southern, Phillip Sterling, 2006

Southern, Phillip Sterling, 2006, Three new species of Empoasca (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Empoascini) from northern South America, Zootaxa 1314, pp. 41-51 : 48-51

Empoasca ecuadorensis n. sp.

Body (male): Length: 3.5–3.7 mm; pronotal width: 0.78–0.81 mm; crown length: 0.22–0.29 mm; crown production: 0.10–0.13 mm; crown production ratio: 0.38–0.46; interocular width: 0.38–0.40 mm; face length: 0.90–0.95 mm; interantennal width: 0.33–0.35 mm. Dried specimens yellow or yellow­gold with cream markings. Forewings greenish yellow and subhyaline in basal 2/3, hyaline or dusky hyaline in apical 1/3, some specimens with diffuse dusky spot on commissural margin near apex of claval sutre; third apical cell stalked (3rd and 4th apical veins fused basally) arising from cell R. Hind wings characteristic of genus.

Pygofer in lateral view ( Fig. 3 a) broadly rounded; macrosetae (12–15) most numerous along posterodorsal margin. Plate expanded dorsolaterally near base, thence tapered very gradually to apex; apically curved strongly upward to near apex directed almost dorsad. Agroup setae (3–4) similar to B­group in diameter but longer; B­group setae (16–24) uniseriate; C­group setae (17–21) roughly biseriate basally, becoming uniseriate apically; D­group setae (20–39) roughly biseriate. Style in lateral aspect ( Fig. 3 c) with body bowed downward, parallel­sided, dentifer straight, apex truncate; in ventral view ( Fig. 3 d) style bowed mediad with apex of dentifer directed posterolaterad; teeth (6–9) spaced along apical half of dentifer; setae (3–4) in row along lateral margin of body. Pygofer process in lateral view long, extending nearly to posterior margin of plate, nearly straight, angled slightly upward, tapering gradually to sharp apex, apically flattened dorsoventrally and faintly concave on dorsal surface, bearing sparse aculeae on dorsal face near apex; in ventral view ( Figs. 3 b, 3f) bowed slightly inward; apical portion of process bladelike in ventral view, in some specimens tapered to a more acute apex than illustrated; with minute serrations on medial margin. Anal hook in lateral view ( Fig. 3 g) bifurcate, anterior ramus long, thin, bowed strongly cephalad, posterior ramus stout, very short; in posteroventral view ( Fig. 3 i) longer ramus thin, curved somewhat toward aedeagus near acute apex, shorter ramus triangular (2 rami of hook do not lie in common plane). Aedeagus in lateral aspect ( Fig. 3 h) with long preatrium, atrium narrow, lacking distinct postatrium, shaft not diverging strongly from line of atrial complex, shaft bowed slightly posteroventrad, subparallel­sided to broadly rounded apex, short peglike process arising from each side of shaft near ventral margin at about 1/4th length of shaft; in posteroventral view ( Fig. 3 i) atrial complex relatively thin, shaft thin and subparallel­sided to rounded apex, processes near sides of shaft and bowed slightly outward, gonopore near apex. Connective ( Fig. 3 j) roughly trapezoidal; apical notch broad and deep (depending on exact plane of view); with strong anterior sclerotization but little or no sclerotization along midline. Dorsum of genital capsule ( Fig. 3 k) with horns widely separated basally, each tapering to rounded apex; bridge between anterior margin and transverse bar short, distinct, anterior margin bowed strongly caudad.

First sternal complex ( Fig. 3 m) with dorsal apodeme well developed, shape of medial notch variable but in most specimens constricted above base forming a 2­stepped taper. Second sternal apodemes ( Fig. 3 n) reaching abdominal segment 4 ¼–4 ¾ (length: 0.20–0.24 mm, width: 0.33–0.36 mm), apices rounded. Second tergal apodeme ( Figs. 3 p, 3q) with plate of complex shape on each side of midline (plates may be easily lost in preparation). Third tergal apodemes occurring primarily as low ridge, but in some specimens ridge flattened laterally into very short horizontal plate extending caudad.

Holotype male: ECUADOR:/ 40 mi. S. Alausi./ Chimborazo/ II­20 ­955// E.I. Schlinger/ & E.S. Ross/ collectors// PSS RESEARCH/ 05­354­2// HOLOTYPE / Empoasca / ecuadorensis n. sp. / P.S. Southern 2006 (CAS). Paratypes: 1 male same collection data as holotype, 3 males ECUADOR: 16/ mi. N. Latacunga/ Cotopaxi/ 3000 m. II­21­55 (CAS, NCSU).

The specific name ecuadorensis refers to the country of origin of the holotype.

In the key to Empoasca of eastern Peru ( Southern, 1982), E. ecuadorensis keys to couplet 15. If the bifurcation of the anal hook is considered to be in the transverse plane (in fact, the two rami do not obviously lie predominately in either the transverse or sagittal plane), the species keys to couplet 16 and thence to couplet 17 and Empoasca salazari Southern 1982 and Empoasca trindula Southern 1982 . This species differs from E. salazari and E. trindula in the shape of the anal hook in lateral view, the anterolateral ramus being strongly curved (C­shaped); in the short and triangular shape of the posteromedial ramus of the anal hook in posteroventral view; in the shape of the aedeagus in lateral view, the average line of the shaft not diverging from the line of the atrial complex at nearly a right angle; in the position of the aedeagal processes, which arise distad of the base of the shaft; in the length of the second sternal apodemes, which do not reach the fifth abdominal segment; and in the structure of the second tergum, which includes a well­sclerotized plate of complex shape (three­dimensional) loosely articulated to each side of the midline.

E. ecuadorensis , E. salazari , E. trindula , E. papae Ruppel and DeLong 1956 , and E. cisnora Langlitz 1966 may form a group of related species. In all species, the anal hooks bifurcate in a transverse (or nearly transverse) plane; the pygofer processes are long, straight, apically flattened, and bear aculeae and microserrations; the styles have a truncate apex; and the aedeagi are generally similar. This complex is similar in many characters to that including E. joshuai , mentioned above, but differs in the apical shape of the style. E. cisnora is intermediate in the shape of the style, possibly linking these two species groups.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Empoasca ecuadorensis n. sp.