Pravistylus tanyoplacus Stiller 2010, sp. n.
Creators: name: Stiller, M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Pravistylus
Pravistylus tanyoplacus

description: Pravistylus tanyoplacus sp. n.   
(Figs 1 ah; 2 d; 3 r; 4 p; 5 am; 6 q; 7 ca; 8 bh–bk)  
 Diagnosis. Distal half of plate elongate, subparallel, about half as wide as width across base; apex slightly expanded laterad; macrosetae medially on subparallel section (Fig. 2 d). Plate 2.2–2.4 times as long as wide; almost extending as far as apex of pygofer lobe; plate with subbasal emargination, tufts of setae proximally and distally of emargination (Fig. 2 d). Aedeagal shaft not extending much beyond dorsal apodeme, arising medially from atrium (Figs 3 r, 4 p). Style with distal part separated from base (Fig. 5 am).   
 Etymology. Greek, compound word for the plate (plakos) and stretched out (tanyo), for the elongate apical half of the plate.   
 Male and female. Ochraceous (Figs 8 bh–bk), brown markings sometimes dorsally on vertex and posterior discal cell.   
 Male. Dimensions. (n = 19) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.6–2.7 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.7–3.0 mm; vertex medially 0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.9 mm; pronotum 0.8 mm. Ocellar diameter 28.0 µm; ocellocular distance 36.9–47.8 µm.   
 Genital capsule. Pygofer, in lateral view, with posterior dorsal margin lobate, ventral posterior margin not expanded (Fig. 1 ah). Pygofer lobe subapical, acutely triangular; base about one third as wide as width of pygofer (Fig. 1 ah). Plate apical half elongate, subparallel, about half as wide as width across base; apex truncate and slightly expanded or pointed laterally and medially; 3 subapical macrosetae; plate subbasally emarginate, flanked proximally and distally by cluster of short setae (Fig. 2 d); plate 2.2–2.4 times as long as wide. Aedeagus, in lateral view, with shaft arising medially from atrium, shaft narrow, tubular; shaft short, about as long as distance between dorsal apodeme and preatrium; gonopore ventral, oblique (Figs 3 r, 4 p). Style distal part separate from anterior medial lobe; apophysis acute; preapical angle acute, preapical lobe narrowly rounded (Fig. 5 am). Connective, in dorsal view, with arms at base widely separated (Fig. 6 q); in lateral view with stem angled dorsally.   
 Female. Dimensions. (n = 26) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.6–2.9 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 3.2–3.5 mm; vertex medially 0.5–0.6 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3–0.4 mm; pronotum medially 0.3–0.4 mm. Width: head 0.9–1.0 mm; pronotum 0.8–0.9 mm. Ocellar diameter 28.0 µ m; ocellocular distance 38.4–54.5 µm.   
 Genitalia. Sternite 7 base rectangular; posterior marginal ligula uniformly triangular, apical half parallelsided; apex truncate, or concave, with lateral margins expanded triangularly (Fig. 7 ca).   
 Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Mpumalanga. Elandskrans Resort, Waterval Boven, 25°39ʹS, 30°21ʹE, 1450 m, 19.ii.2005, M. Stiller, sweeping grass, along path, altitude 1400–1500 m (SANC). Paratypes. 28♂, 48♀, 4 nymphs. Mpumalanga. 5♂, 17♀, Dullstroom vicinity, 25°24ʹS, 30°04ʹE, 17.xii.2000, M. Stiller, sweeping short grass and forbs; 1♂, 4♀, Steenkampsberg Pass Summit, 25°16ʹS, 30°09ʹE, 17.xii.2000, M. Stiller, sweeping grass; 8♂, 17♀, 3 nymphs, Steenkampsberg Pass near summit, 25°14ʹS, 30°09ʹE, 2100 m, 9.iii.2002, M. Stiller, J. du Plessis, DVac, common grass species: Andropogon schirensis, Eragrostis racemosa, Microchloa caffra, Monocymbium ceresiiforme, Sporobolus sp., Themeda triandra (Poaceae); 14♂, 10♀, 1nymph, same data as holotype (BMNH, INHS, SANC).   
 Remarks. The peculiar shape of the plate (Fig. 2 d) makes it easy to identify the males of this species. Females are however more difficult to distinguish. Variants in the shape of the sternite 7 of P. lobus (Figs 7 ag–ak) and P. mecistoplacus (Figs 7 ar–at) sometimes are similar in the shape to the sternite 7 of P. tanyoplacus sp. n. (Fig. 7 ca). In P. mecistoplacus the apex of the ligula is short and the triangular base extends close to the apex of the ligula. In P. lobus the ligula is similar, but narrower, and the triangular base is less uniform. Neither of these latter two species have a similar known distribution to that of P. tanyoplacus.
description: Published as part of Stiller, M., 2010, Revision of the Southern African leafhopper genus Pravistylus (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) 2468, pp. 1-81 in Zootaxa 2468 (1) on pages 46-47, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10094177