﻿Review of the leafhopper tribe Deltocephalini Dallas, 1870 (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) in Pakistan with description of a new species of Paramesodes

﻿Abstract A review of the leafhopper tribe Deltocephalini in Pakistan is provided, including comprehensive illustrated keys to all genera and species, along with their diagnosis and distribution. A new species of Paramesodes is described, P.dirensissp. nov., which was discovered in the Upper Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A detailed description of this new species is provided together with photographs for visual reference. This tribe now has three genera and 13 species from Pakistan. The genus Deltocephalus Burmeister includes two species, and Maiestas Distant has nine species; Paramesodes Ishihara is now represented with two species.


Introduction
Leafhoppers of the tribe Deltocephalini can be identified by their small to moderate size, tapering or parallel-sided clypellus, narrow lorum, linear connective with closely appressed anterior arms, connective fused to the aedeagus, and dorsal sculpturing of the first valvula imbricate.This tribe includes 74 genera and over 600 species distributed worldwide (Duan et al. 2020;Zhang et al. 2023).Until now, 12 species of Deltocephalini have been known from Pakistan (Naveed et al. 2021;Shah et al. 2021).
The genus Paramesodes Ishihara, comprising 16 Old World species, is poorly represented in Pakistan, with only a single previous species, P. lineaticollis (Distant), known.Wilson (1983) revised the genus and recognized one species from Europe and the Middle East, one species from Africa, and nine species from ZooKeys 1186: 207-219 (2023), DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1186.110266 Hassan Naveed et al.: Deltocephalini in Pakistan Asia.Five other species were subsequently included: P. montanus Rao, (1989) from India, P. wilsoni Rao & Ramakrishnan, (1990) from India, P. iraniensis Webb & Viraktamath, (2009) from Iran, and P. menghaiensis Li, Dai & Xing, (2011) and P. cangshanae Duan & Zhang, (2012) from China.Paramesodes is externally similar to Paramesus Fieber, Exitianus Ball, and Ctenurellina McKamey but they can be differentiated by having the forewing with the inner anteapical cell open basally (closed in Paramesus and Ctenurella), and the veins are always pale or white (usually brown in Exitianus).In the male genitalia the connective and aedeagus are fused (free in Paramesus and Exitianus), and the pygofer side has a dense covering of long, stout, pale macrosetae (2-6 dark or black macrosetae along apical margin in Exitianus) and the pygofer side has a large process (lower edge of pygofer pectinate in Ctenurella).This, together with the aedeagus, is the most important character for species identification (Duan and Zhang 2012).
In this paper, we provide a list of leafhoppers of the tribe Deltocephalini from Pakistan, illustrated keys to genera and species with their diagnostic characters, and a description and illustration of a new species, P. dirensis sp.nov.

Material and methods
All specimens were examined with a Leica ZOOM2000 stereomicroscope.Drawings were made using an Olympus drawing tube.Photos were taken by a ZEISS SteREO Discovery.V20 stereomicroscope equipped with a ZEISS AxiocamICc 5 camera that also provided measurements.Adobe Photoshop CS was used to compile photographs.Specimens from Pakistan are deposited in the various collections as indicated in the published records.Type specimens of the new species, examined and figured for this study, are deposited in the Entomological Museum, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.Diagnosis.This species can easily be identified by the color pattern and the aedeagus with a shallow apical notch.Distribution.China, India, Pakistan.Diagnosis.The identity of this species remains uncertain due to the limitations of the original description and the accompanying figures.Additionally, the type series from Karachi, which was indicated in the original account as deposited in the Zoological Museum of the University of Karachi (Ahmed et al. 1988), is unavailable (Khatri and Webb 2010: 11).Until the type material can be studied, pinpointing the precise classification of this species will be challenging.Distribution.Pakistan.Diagnosis.This species differs in appearance of its habitus, presence of fine, apical setae on the subgenital plate, the style having a thicker apical process than other species, and the aedeagus lacking a ventrobasal "heel".Distribution.Pakistan.

Maiestas subviridis (Metcalf)
Fig. 24 Stirellus subviridis Metcalf, 1946: 125 Diagnosis.This species can be identified by its relatively straight and stout style, apophysis with a serrated inner margin, and the aedeagus in lateral view evenly tapered from base to apex and relatively straight.Distribution.China, India, Pakistan.Diagnosis.This species can easily be distinguished from the others by the lateral, spine-like processes of the aedeagus.Distribution.India, Pakistan.
Remarks.Previously, only 1 species was recorded from Pakistan.This study adds one more new species to the genus, bringing the total to two for the country.
Female.Same in appearance as male.Seventh sternum with lateral margins not extended, posterior margin with median projection, rounded (Fig. 8).
Etymology.This species is named after type locality, the Upper Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Remarks.Paramesodes dirensis sp.nov. is similar to its congeners in general appearance, but it differs from those species in the combination of male genitalia features, i.e., the pygofer is oval posteriorly with a relatively straight process distally and the aedeagal shaft is distally recurved in lateral view and constricted preapically in ventral view.In the Wilson's (1983) key, the new species runs to couplet 7 along with P. lineaticollis.