Madhyabus reticulatus VIRAKTAMATH, WEBB & YESHWANTH, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: VIRAKTAMATH, C. A.
name: WEBB, M. D.
name: YESHWANTH, H. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Madhyabus
Madhyabus reticulatus

description: Madhyabus reticulatus sp. nov.
Figs 2 IJ, 8N, 24A–G
Diagnosis. Ochraceous with dark brown markings on the head, thorax and forewings. Forewing venation reticulate. Male pygofer about 1.2× as long as broad in lateral view, ventral process blade-like extending along ventral margin. Valve with median short angulate projection on the posterior margin. Aedeagus compressed, with well-developed dorsal apodeme, with gonopore at midlength on the ventral surface, atrium not elongate. Externally the species resembles Palaearctic Allotapes nigrifacies Emeljanov (see, Dai & Dietrich 2011: figs 70–77) but has entirely different male genitalia: male pygofer with a ventral process (absent in A. nigrifacies), aedeagus compressed and without basal processes (aedeagus cylindrical with ventral processes in A. nigrifacies).
Description. Ochraceous with reddish brown to dark brown markings on head, pronotum, exposed mesonotum and forewings (Figs 2 IJ). Crown with one large irregular spot on either side of median line with lateral marginal dark brown border; series of small spots on anterior submargin dark brown. Frontoclypeus dark fuscous laterally and ochraceous medially; large spot surrounding base of antenna, upper half of lateral margins of lorum, one stripe on gena, lateral margins of clypoclypellar suture, dark brown. Pronotum with anterior submargin yellow with transverse dark brown spots laterally; disc piceous brown. Exposed mesonotum ochraceous, basal triangles and two small round spots between them, scutoscutellar suture, one transverse line across mesoscutellum at midlength, dark brown to black. Forewing cross veins marked with dark brown, one spot on cross vein connective claval veins, apex of clavus, one basal spot on corium, one spot on median area, three spots on costal margin (one slightly distad of median length, and other two on apices of veins reaching costal margin) dark brown. Some veins brownish.
Head slightly wider than pronotum. Crown 0.7× as long as median length, anteriorly subconically rounded. Eyes large more or less transverse. Pronotum 2.1× as wide as median length. Forewing richly reticulate both on corium and clavus.
Male genitalia. Male pygofer about 1.2× as long as broad in lateral view, ventral process blade-like running along ventral margin. Valve with median short angulate projection on posterior margin. Aedeagus strongly curved and compressed, almost U-shaped, with well-developed dorsal apodeme, atrium short, shaft apex obliquely truncate in lateral view, gonopore at midlength on ventral surface.
Measurements. Male 3.9–4.3 mm long, 1.0– 1.1 mm wide across eyes and 1.0 mm wide across posterolateral angles of pronotum. Female 4.6–5.1mm long, 1.2 mm wide across eyes and 1.1 mm wide across posterolateral angles of pronotum
Material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂, INDIA: Madhya Pradesh: Nehru Nagar, Durg Dist., 26.x.1996, Kalaichelvan (UASB). PARATYPES. INDIA: Tamil Nadu: 2♂, 4♀, Tharapuram 277m, 10049 ’89.3” N, 77027 ’ 810” E, 2.xi.2010, Suction trap, Yeshwanth, H.M.; 1♀: Thandigudi 1311m, 10018 ’ N, 77038 ’ E, 11.xi.2010, Sweep net, Yeshwanth, H.M. (NBAIR, UASB).
Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective reticulatus, -a, -um (= net-like, reticulated), referring to the reticulate forewing venation.
Remarks. The aedeagus in specimens from Tarapuram (Tamil Nadu) have the ventral surface of shaft apex in lateral view slightly more angularly produced.
description: Published as part of VIRAKTAMATH, C. A., WEBB, M. D. & YESHWANTH, H. M., 2025, Review of the Monobazus-group leafhopper genera (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from the Indian subcontinent with description of five new genera and twenty-eight new species, pp. 1-105 in Zootaxa 5567 (1) on page 21, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5567.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14703735