Research Article |
Corresponding author: Yuehua Song ( songyuehua@163.com ) Academic editor: Allen Sanborn
© 2024 Jinqiu Wang, Wenming Xu, Tianyi Pu, Ni Zhang, Yuehua Song.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Wang J, Xu W, Pu T, Zhang N, Song Y (2024) Four new erythroneurine leafhopper species from karst areas in Southwestern China (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae, Erythroneurini). ZooKeys 1204: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1204.122042
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Four new erythroneurine leafhopper species, Empoascanara aparaoides Wang & Song, sp. nov., Motaga mengyangensis Wang & Song, sp. nov., Motaga acicularis Wang & Song, sp. nov., and Tautoneura qingxiuensis Wang & Song, sp. nov. from karst areas in Southwestern China, are described and illustrated.
Homoptera, morphology, new taxa, taxonomy
Erythroneurini is the largest tribe of Typhlocybinae (
The genus Empoascanara was established by
As part of this work, some interesting erythroneurine leafhopper materials from karst areas of Southwestern China were collected. Following examination and comparison of these materials, four new species, Empoascanara aparaoides Wang & Song, sp. nov., Motaga mengyangensis Wang & Song, sp. nov., Motaga acicularis Wang & Song, sp. nov., and Tautoneura qingxiuensis Wang & Song, sp. nov., were discovered, and these are described and illustrated in this paper.
Specimens were collected by sweeping-net method. Male genitalia and abdominal apodemes were dissected and cleared in a 10% NaOH solution. Morphological terminology used in this study follows
Empoascanara Distant, 1918: 94.
Empoascanara prima Distant, 1918, by original designation.
Dorsum yellow, white, pale red or brown. Crown broadly rounded medially. Vertex unicolorous, with a single dark median apical spot or a pair of spots. Crown nearly equal, slightly wider or narrower than widest part of pronotum. Pronotum pale, with darker posterior margin. Forewings with or without markings.
Male genitalia. Pygofer microtrichia well developed. Pygofer lobe with caudal margin rounded or angulate. Dorsal pygofer appendage movably articulated, with or without ventral pygofer appendage. Subgenital plate expanded subbasally, with 2–4 basal macrosetae and numerous short stout setae along upper margin in lateral view. Style with preapical lobe prominent. Aedeagus with dorsal apodeme not or slightly expanded in lateral view. Aedeagal shaft usually symmetrical, slender in lateral view. Aedeagus with or without apical, subapical, or basal processes, and with or without preatrial ventral process or processes. Connective with median anterior lobe and arms short.
Oriental, Afrotropical, and Australian regions.
The new species can be distinguished from other species by the aedeagal shaft with one pair of longer subapical processes and one pair of shorter apical processes; the aedeagus without any basal process; the subgenital plate provided with three macrosetae on lateral surface; the pygofer dorsal appendage tapering towards apex; the connective with body strong, but lateral arms and central lobe short.
Body small, ochraceous with brown markings. Vertex ochre-yellow; with one large, irregular, brown spot in middle of anterior margin (Figs
Male abdominal apodemes small, not exceeding 3rd sternite (Fig.
Male genitalia. Pygofer lobe with numerous microsetae distributed densely at ventrolateral area and caudal part; three peg-like setae located on subdorsal area (Fig.
Holotype
: ♂; China, Yunnan Prov., Jinghong; 6 August 2021; Jinqiu Wang leg.;
Male length 2.3–2.4 mm, female length 2.4–2.5 mm.
This species is similar to Empoascanara apara Dworakowska, 1979, but can be distinguished by its differently shaped pygofer dorsal process and an aedeagal shaft with one pair of long and one pair of short apical processes compared to only one pair of long processes in E. apara; also, the aedeagal shaft in E. aparaoides is without the medial hook-like process of E. apara.
The new species is named from the similar species, E. apara, the Greek suffix –oides denotes the similarity of the new species species to E. apara.
Motaga Dworakowska, 1979: 12.
Motaga rokfa Dworakowska, 1979, by original designation.
Body gray to brown, without or with markings. Eyes gray to black. Crown fore margin weakly produced, broadly rounded apically. Pronotum usually without conspicuous pits. Mesonotum grayish brown. Forewing transparent or semitransparent. Peripheral vein at costal margin of hind wing absent.
Male genitalia. Pygofer lobe broad, sparse setae on outer surface. Pygofer dorsal appendage curved ventrally in lateral view. Pygofer ventral appendage absent. Subgenital plate with 2–4 basal macrosetae; numerous short and stout setae forming continuous row from subbase to apex; several microsetae scattered on apical disc. Style apex truncated or expanded, foot-like. Connective with central lobe large. Aedeagus with dorsal apodeme expanded in lateral view; aedeagal shaft slender, curved dorsad in lateral view, with paired processes arising from base and shorter than shaft.
Oriental region.
The new species can be distinguished from other species by the aedeagal shaft bifurcated at apex, crab claw-like, with one pair ½ length of aedeagal shaft basal processes; pygofer dorsal appendage expanded at base and tapering towards apex; subgenital plate with row of four macrosetae medially on outer surface; connective with central lobe broad and stem well developed.
Body brown (Figs
Male abdominal apodemes broad, extending to anterior margin of 4th sternite (Fig.
Male genitalia. Pygofer lobe broad, with numerous microtrichia scattered along caudal edge and dorsal margin (Fig.
Holotype
: ♂; China, Yunnan Prov., Jinghong City, Mnegyang Town; 2 August 2021; Tianyi Pu leg.;
Male length 2.3–2.4 mm, female length 2.4–2.5 mm (including wings).
This species is very similar to Motaga fara Dworakowska, 1980, but it differs from M. fara in having the dorsal pygofer process with a stouter base, the length of the aedeagal shaft proportionally longer compared to the basal processes, and the gonopore located at about halfway along the length of the aedeagal shaft.
The new species is named after its type locality, Mengyang Town.
The new species can be distinguished from other Motaga species by its extremely long and slender in lateral view aedeagal shaft, which has a pair of short basal processes that are not bifurcated at apex; the pygofer dorsal appendage, which tapers to the apex and is bent ventrad and hook-like apically; the connective with two long arms; the subgenital plate with four macrosetae; and the very small male abdominal apodemes.
Vertex light brown (Figs
Male abdominal apodemes extremely small, not exceeding 3rd sternite (Fig.
Male genitalia. Pygofer lobe broad, with numerous microtrichia; several peg-like setae scattered on middle area and hind edge (Fig.
Holotype
: ♂; China, Guangxi Prov., Liuzhou; 18 July 2021; Ni Zhang leg.;
Male length 2.3–2.4 mm, female length 2.4–2.5 mm (including wings).
This species is very similar to Motaga rokfa Dworakowska, 1979 but can be distinguished by having the aedeagal shaft without a bifurcated apex, the preatrium expanded but short, and the paired basal processes approximately 1/3 length of aedeagal shaft.
The species epithet is the Latin word acicularis, which means slender, as a needle and refers to the needle-like aedeagal shaft.
Tautoneura Anufriev, 1969: 186. Type species: Tautoneura tricolor Anufriev, 1969.
Erythroneura (Balila) Dworakowska, 1970: 347. Type species: Chlorita mori Matsumura, 1906.
Havelia Ahmed, 1971: 277. Type species: Havelia alba Ahmed, 1971.
Body white to yellow. Crown fore margin strongly produced medially, and slightly narrower or slightly wider than pronotum. Pronotum broad, with or without irregular spots. Mesonotum white to yellow, with basal triangles dark or indistinct. Forewing transparent, usually with single or multiple patches.
Male genitalia. Pygofer lobe rounded, usually with several macrosetae at basal ventral angle and few peg-like setae at distal part on inner surface. Pygofer dorsal appendage slender and apically tapering, ventral appendage absent or present. Subgenital plate lateral margin distinctly widened subbasally, with 2–4 basal macrosetae. Style preapical lobe prominent, apex slender or truncate and expanded or with three points. Connective M- or Y-shaped, with slender median anterior lobe. Aedeagus dorsal apodeme usually expanded in lateral view; aedeagal shaft usually with single or paired processes apically and of variable length.
Palaearctic and Oriental regions.
The new species can be distinguished from other Tautoneura species by subapically broadened the aedeagal shaft in ventral view, with one pair of processes at apex; the extremely short preatrium; the apical gonopore; the dorsal pygofer appendage with base expanded; and the Y-shaped connective, with long, slim stem.
Body milky-yellow (Figs
Male abdominal apodemes narrow and extending to midlength of 4th sternite (Fig.
Male genitalia. Pygofer lobe with a few fine setae scattered on lateral surfac; pygofer microtrichia conspicuous, well developed; dorsal pygofer appendage distally tapered and basally expanded (Figs
Holotype
: ♂; China, Guangxi Prov., Nanning, Qingxiu Mountain; 21 July 2021; Wenming Xu leg.;
Male length 2.1–2.2 mm, female length 2.2–2.3 mm (including wings).
This species closely resembles Tautoneura maculosa Sohi, Mann & Shenhmar, 1987, but it can be distinguished by the absence of prominent, dark markings on head, pronotum, and mesonotum (present in T. maculosa), the subgenital plate bearing two macrosetae (vs three), and the much stouter aedeagus than in T. maculosa.
The new species is named after its type locality, Qingxiu Mountain.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
No ethical statement was reported.
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32260120), the Training Program for High-level Innovative Talents of Guizhou Province (Qiankehepingtairencai-GCC [2023]032), the Natural Science Foundation of Guizhou Province (Qiankehejichu-ZK [2023] General 257), and the Science and Technology Innovation Talent Team Building Project of Guizhou Province (Qiankehepingtairencai-CXTD [2023]010).
Data curation: JW, WX. Funding acquisition: YS. Investigation: JW, TP, WX, NZ. Methodology: JW. Resources: YS. Software: WX, NZ, TP, JW. Supervision: YS. Validation: YS. Visualization: TP, NZ, JW, WX. Writing – original draft: JW. Writing – review and editing: YS.
Jinqiu Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0675-8245
Wenming Xu https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8936-1650
Tianyi Pu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6867-1527
Ni Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8604-8448
Yuehua Song https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3567-3056
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text.