Vilargus bicornicans, Stiller, 2010

Stiller, M., 2010, Revision of Vilargus Theron (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from South Africa, Zootaxa 2674 (1), pp. 1-25 : 5

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5308822

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/D11C8787-7D46-FFDA-FF11-6AA9FE85FEEC

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Vilargus bicornicans
status

sp. nov.

Vilargus bicornicans View in CoL sp. n.

( Figs 1–3 View FIGURES 1–6 , 35–42 View FIGURES 35–42 ).

Diagnosis. Aedeagus dorsally with transverse, ovoid dorsal apodeme, laterally with tapered process arising lateroventrally from basal part of shaft, and curved dorsad, shaft and process of similar length. Plate medial margin straight, posterior margin broadly rounded, lateral margin rounded, sometimes slightly sinuous. Pygofer and pygofer lobe extending well beyond apex of plate; posteromedial margin below pygofer lobe with medially curved sclerotized lobe. Female with sternite 7 posterior margin with narrow, parallel-sided notch.

Etymology. Latin, bi, two, cornus, horn, referring to the aedeagus appearing to have two horn-like structures.

Colour. Male, female and nymph. Ochraceous ( Figs 1–3 View FIGURES 1–6 , specimens from Dordrecht, Eastern Cape Province).

Male. Dimensions. (n=65) Length from apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.2–2.3 mm, length from apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.5–2.8 mm, median length of vertex 0.4 mm, length of vertex next to eye 0.3 mm, length of pronotum 0.3 mm, width of head 0.8 mm, width of pronotum 0.7–0.8 mm, diameter of ocellus 27–30 µm, ocellocular distance 28–41 µm.

Genitalia. Aedeagus, dorsally, dorsal apodeme transverse, reniform; shaft tapered, with ventrolateral, tapered process ( Fig. 35 View FIGURES 35–42 ); laterally, process basally widely merged with shaft, tapering towards apex; shaft tubular, both curved dorsad, of similar length; gonopore dorsal, apical ( Fig. 36 View FIGURES 35–42 ). Connective symmetrical, stem slightly wider than width across arms ( Fig. 37 View FIGURES 35–42 ). Style with anterior medial arm short, not extending beyond base of apophysis, acutely angled to base; apophysis elongate, apex truncate, with teeth ventrally on posterior margin, fine serration ventromedially ( Fig. 38 View FIGURES 35–42 ). Plate in general roundly triangular; medial margin straight, posterior margin broadly rounded, lateral margin rounded, sometimes slightly sinuous ( Fig. 39 View FIGURES 35–42 ); 2–5 marginal macrosetae. Pygofer, laterally, dorsal and basal ventral margins parallel, distal ventral margin angled dorsad, medially with sclerotized, rounded protrusion ( Fig. 41 View FIGURES 35–42 ); dorsally as in Fig. 40 View FIGURES 35–42 . Pygofer lobe short, rounded ( Fig. 41 View FIGURES 35–42 ); extending well beyond apex of plate.

Female. Dimensions. (n=36) Length from apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.3–2.5 mm, length from apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 3.0– 3.4 mm, median length of vertex 0.5 mm, length of vertex next to eye 0.3 mm, length of pronotum 0.3 mm, width of head 0.9 mm, width of pronotum 0.7–0.9 mm, diameter of ocellus 26–31 µm, ocellocular distance 35–47 µm.

Genitalia. Sternite 7 posteriorly with narrow, deep notch, narrower, and deeper than in any other species ( Fig. 42 View FIGURES 35–42 ).

Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa. Eastern Cape Province. Dordrecht , 31°32ʹS, 26°57ʹE, 1436 m, 26.iv.2006, M. Stiller, DVac, short grazed grass and forbs in road reserve ( SANC) GoogleMaps . Paratypes. 68♂, 41♀, 4 nymphs. Eastern Cape Province . 1♂, 3♀, Cathcart , 32°18ʹS, 27°12ʹE, 20.i.1984, J.G. Theron, sweeping GoogleMaps ; 1♂, Ongeluksnek , site #44, 30°20ʹS, 28°21ʹE, 1740 m, 5.xii.2005, MDTP survey, sweeping GoogleMaps ; 1♂, Ongeluksnek , site #39, 30°20ʹS, 28°19ʹE, 1824 m, 8.xii.2005, MDTP survey, sweeping GoogleMaps ; 1♂, Prentjiesberg , 31°07ʹS, 28°10ʹE, 1428 m, 11.xii.2005, MDTP survey, sweeping GoogleMaps ; 7♂, 3♀, Penhoek, between Aliwal North and Queenstown , 31°26ʹS, 26°41ʹE, 1854 m, 19.iv.2006, DVac, grazed pasture GoogleMaps ; 13♂, 5♀, 1 nymph, Charlton Farm , N Somerset East, 32°40ʹS, 25°40ʹE, 1271 m, 23.iv.2006, DVac, pasture with tufted, ungrazed (unpalatable) grass GoogleMaps ; 23♂, 17♀, Doon Farm, Thomas River, Cathcart , 32°28ʹS, 27°17ʹE, 1115 m, 24.iv.2006, DVac, grass on rocky outcrop covered with aloes GoogleMaps ; 19♂, 12♀, 3 nymphs, ibid., holotype GoogleMaps ; 1♂, between Dordrecht and Rossouw , 31°48ʹS, 26°06ʹE, 1767 m, 26.iv.2006, DVac, road reserve GoogleMaps ; 2♂, 1♀, Groendal, Dordrecht , 31°09ʹS, 27°06ʹE, 1804 m, 26.iv.2006, DVac, road reserve; all collected by M. Stiller ( BMNH, INHS, SANC) GoogleMaps .

Remarks. The plate of V. bicornicans ( Fig. 39 View FIGURES 35–42 ) resembles that of V. pumilicans ( Figs 72, 73 View FIGURES 68–85 ) and to a lesser extent with that of V. budenticans ( Fig. 47 View FIGURES 43–51 ). However, there are marked differences in the aedeagal configuration of these three species. Vilargus pumilicans has an elongate ventral paraphysis and short aedeagal shaft ( Figs 68, 69 View FIGURES 68–85 ), V. budenticans has a short ventral paraphysis and long aedeagal shaft ( Figs 43, 44 View FIGURES 43–51 ) and V. bicornicans has a dorsally curved shaft and ventrolateral tapering process arising from the base of the shaft ( Figs 35, 36 View FIGURES 35–42 ). The female sternite 7 of V. bicornicans has a notch that is narrower, parallel-sided and deeper ( Fig. 42 View FIGURES 35–42 ) than that of any other species of Vilargus . None of the dissections of 13 males and 5 females shows deformities.

SANC

Agricultural Research Council-Plant Protection Research Institute

INHS

Illinois Natural History Survey

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hemiptera

Family

Cicadellidae

Genus

Vilargus

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