Curtara (Curtara) itatiaia Laranjeira & Gonçalves & Takiya 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Laranjeira, Vanessa Cristina
name: Gonçalves, Clayton Corrêa
name: Takiya, Daniela Maeda
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Curtara
Curtara itatiaia

description: Curtara (Curtara) itatiaia sp. nov.
(Figures 26–39, 94, 95)
Type locality. Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.
Diagnosis. Head and thorax (Figs 94, 95) brown, without punctures. Frons (Fig. 27) with dorsal median large black macula. Forewing (Fig. 29) pale brown mottled with dark brown maculae; outer discal cell without inner apical accessory vein. Male sternite VIII (Fig. 30) subrectangular with lateral margins straight; posterior margin excavated medially. Male pygofer (Fig. 32), in lateral view, with posterodorsal margin upturned, dorsal margin rounded with an internally directed serrated lobed process. Subgenital plate (Fig. 34), in ventral view, elongated and subrectangular; with small robust setae on apical portion of ventral surface; apex rounded. Connective (Fig. 35) Y-shaped. Style (Fig. 36) with apex foot-shaped with dorsal tooth. Aedeagus (Figs 37, 38), atrium with a pair of elongated falcate processes; shaft with basal portion curved forming a U, with a preapical pair of ventrolateral bifurcated processes, anterior branch twice as long as posterior branch.
Measurements (mm). Total length. Holotype male: 9.5. Male paratypes (n = 4): 9.5–10.0.
Coloration. Head and thorax (Figs 94, 95) brown. Crown (Fig. 26) with three pairs of black maculae: first pair larger, median, and adjacent to anterior margin, second pair anterior and around ocelli, and third pair smaller, posterior to ocelli, and adjacent to posterior margin of crown. Face (Fig. 27) pale brown; frons with large dorsal median black macula; antennal pits dark brown. Pronotum (Fig. 26) with a pair of median spots near anterior margin, irregular markings behind eyes, transverse stripe over posterior margin, dark brown. Proepimeron (Fig. 28) mostly dark brown; pronotal carina yellow. Mesonotum (Fig. 26) lateral angles with small ivory macula outlined by dark brown. Forewing (Fig. 29) pale brown mottled with dark brown maculae; veins brown, appendix brown with a median ivory macula. Legs pale brown with dark brown areas; metatibia with macrosetae bases dark brown.
Description. Head (Fig. 26), in dorsal view, crown with median length approximately half-length of interocular width, transocular width nine-tenths of pronotal humeral width; texture with irregular transverse striae, except oblique between ocelli; anterior margin rounded; ocelli equidistant between the anterior and posterior margins of the crown and closer to midline than to compound eyes. Head (Fig. 27), in ventral view, slightly wider than tall; frons 1.1 times longer than wide, texture shagreen; frontogenal suture distant from eye margin 1.5 times the diameter of antennal scape; antennal ledge carinated almost horizontal, slightly extended over frons; clypeus 1.4 times longer than maximum width, lateral margins straight, parallel, apex straight. Head (Fig. 28), in lateral view, with transition crown-face defined with few transverse striae closer eyes. Pronotum (Fig. 26), in dorsal view, lateral margins shorter than length of eye. Forewing (Fig. 29) outer discal cell without inner apical accessory; m-cu1 crossvein equidistant from m-cu2 crossvein and from R+M fork, m-cu2 posterad to r-m1; appendix wider than first apical cell. Metatarsomere I pecten with 4 platellae and external spine. Metatarsomere II with pecten with 2 platellae and a spine on each side.
Male terminalia. Sternite VIII (Fig. 30), in ventral view, subrectangular; 1.5 times wider than long; lateral margins straight; posterolateral angles rounded; posterior margin excavated medially. Valve (Fig. 31), in ventral view, 2.1 times wider than long; posterior margin strongly projected posteriorly forming two lobes on either side of the midline. Pygofer (Fig. 32), in lateral view, subquadrangular; 1.2 times longer than high; posterodorsal margin upturned; posteroventral margin slightly rounded; microsetae grouped at apical third; apex rounded; in dorsal view (Fig. 33) posterodorsal margin with serrated lobed process directed inwardly. Anal tube (Fig. 32) sclerotized. Subgenital plate (Fig. 32), in lateral view, long, extending beyond pygofer apex; in ventral view, (Fig. 34), elongated, subrectangular; 3.8 times longer than maximum width; outer lateral margin straight and with small setae; inner lateral margin straight; ventral surface with small robust setae on apical portion; apex rounded. Connective, in dorsal view (Fig. 35), Y-shaped; dorsal keel present. Style (Fig. 35), in dorsal view, with outer lobe subquadrate, well produced; in lateral view (Fig. 36), blade tall at basal half and distinctly narrow at apical half; ventral margin slightly serrated at apical third; apex foot-shaped, with a dorsal tooth. Aedeagus (Figs 37–39) with preatrium short; dorsal apodeme developed; atrium with a pair of elongated falcated processes, each slightly shorter than shaft, moderately expanded at median third, apex acute; shaft elongated, thin, straight and tubular, symmetrical, basal portion, in lateral view, curved forming a U, apex slightly expanded with a pair of preapical ventrolateral bifurcated processes with acute apices, directed dorsally, anterior ramus twice as long as posterior ramus.
Female terminalia. Female unknown.
Etymology. The species epithet refers the type locality of the species and is a noun in apposition.
Material examined. Holotype male: “ Brazil, RJ, Itatiaia, PNI, Trilha\ dos Três Picos, 19–23.IX.2018,\ Malaise trap, Freitas, A. S,\ Ferreira, A. L. D. & Santos, A.\ P. M.” (DZRJ). Paratypes: Itatiaia: 2♂, “ Brazil, Itatiaia, PNI, Trilha,\ Ruy Braga, Cachoeira do\ Maromba, 13.IV–23.V.2014,\ Barbosa, L” (MNRJ); 1♂, “ Brazil, RJ, Itatiaia, PNI,\ 01.XI.2014, S22º25’59.6’’ W\ 44º37’39.7’’, 1280m, ponto\ 2, Monteiro et al.” (DZRJ); 1♂, “ Brazil, RJ, Itatiaia, PNI,\ 07.I.2015, S22º26’01.4’’ W\ 44º36’49.5’’, 1070m, ponto\ 01, Monteiro et al.” (DZUP).
Taxonomic notes. Curtara (Curtara) itatiaia sp. nov. resembles Curtara (Curtara) tupy Coelho & Da-Silva, 1996 by its external morphology, color pattern, male pygofer with apical portion curved dorsally (Fig. 32), subgenital plates rectangular (Fig. 34), style with apex foot-shaped (Fig. 36), and aedeagus with basal portion of shaft curved forming a C (Fig. 37). However, Curtara (Curtara) itatiaia sp. nov. differs from C. (Curtara) tupy by its aedeagus with one pair of preapical processes while C. (Curtara) tupy has two pairs.
Curtara (Curtara) itatiaia sp. nov. was collected at PNI at altitudes from 1,070 to 1,260 m a.s.l.
description: Published as part of Laranjeira, Vanessa Cristina, Gonçalves, Clayton Corrêa & Takiya, Daniela Maeda, 2024, Curtara DeLong & Freytag, 1972 (Cicadellidae: Iassinae: Gyponini) from Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Southeastern Brazil: description of six new species and new species records, pp. 547-571 in Zootaxa 5458 (4) on pages 556-558, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5458.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/11548094