Melanastera roraima Serbina & Malenovský & Queiroz & Burckhardt 2025
Creators: name: Serbina, Liliya Š.
name: Malenovský, Igor
name: Queiroz, Dalva L.
name: Burckhardt, Daniel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Liviidae
Melanastera
Melanastera roraima

description: 21 Melanastera roraima sp. nov.
(Figs 3C, D, 10A, 16D, 26A–F)
Type material. Holotype ♂: Brazil: RORAIMA: Amajari, Tepequém, Cachoeiras do Paiva, N3.7566, W61.7183, 610 m, 4.iv.2015, Guatteria sp. (D. Burckhardt & D.L. Queiroz) #157(2) (UFPR; dry).
Paratypes. Brazil: RORAIMA: 2 ♂, 3 ♀, same as holotype but (NHMB, UFPR; dry, slide; NMB-PSYLL0005575, NMB-PSYLL0008592, NMB-PSYLL0008593, NMB-PSYLL0008078 [LSMelror-36]); 1 ♀, same but outside village, N3.7566, W61.7183, 720 m, 3.iv.2015 (D. Burckhardt & D.L. Queiroz) #155 (NHMB; slide; NMB-PSYLL0008079 [voucher 45-1]); 2 ♂, 6 ♀, same but along river, N3.7566, W61.7183, 720 m, 3.iv.2015, Guatteria sp. (D. Burckhardt & D.L. Queiroz) #156(1) (MMBC, NHMB; slide, 70% ethanol; NMB-PSYLL0008055, NMB-PSYLL0008076 [LSMelror-36], NMB-PSYLL0008077 [LSMelror-36]).
Description. Adult. Coloration similar to M. cacantis sp. nov.
Structure. Forewing (Fig. 16D) oval, widest in the middle, broadly and unevenly rounded apically, wing apex situated in the middle of the margin of cell r 2; C+Sc curved in in apical third; pterostigma wider in the middle than r 1 cell, distinctly convex in apical two thirds; Rs slightly convex along most of its length, strongly curved; M longer than M 1+2 and M 3+4; Cu 1a weakly curved, ending at M fork; cell cu 1 short and wide; surface spinules present in all cells, very dense, hexagons hardly distinct, leaving very narrow spinule-free stripes along the veins. Hindwing with 7–9 ungrouped or 5 + 3 grouped costal setae. Metatibia bearing 6–7 grouped apical spurs, arranged as 3 + 3–4, anteriorly separated by 3–4 bristles.
Terminalia (Fig. 26A–F). Male. Proctiger posteriorly weakly produced in basal third; densely covered with long setae in apical two thirds. Subgenital plate subtriangular; dorsal margin slightly sinuate, posterior margin almost straight; with dense, moderately long setae. Paramere, in lateral view, irregularly lanceolate, posterior margin bearing conspicuous lobe in basal half; paramere apex, in lateral view, subacute, directed slightly anteriad, in dorsal view, apex forming short narrow process, acute, directed inwards and slightly anteriad, with sclerotised tooth; outer and inner faces with dense, moderately long setae; posterior margin with long setae. Proximal segment of aedeagus with apical part strongly sclerotised and subdivided. Distal segment of aedeagus strongly sinuate in basal third; ventral process situated slightly proximal of the middle of the segment, spatulate, in lateral view, with a narrow base, broadest slightly distal of the middle, with narrow, claw-like apex strongly curved dorsad; in dorsal view, ventral process broader than apical dilation, subtrapezoidal basally, with short and narrow, apically truncate median lobe arising from the base ventrally; apical dilation, in lateral view, long, moderately thick, slightly inflated apically, with rounded apex, base bearing a small membranous extension at dorsal margin, in dorsal view, distinctly constricted submedially between ventral process and apex; sclerotised end tube long and almost straight.—Female terminalia cuneate; densely covered with setae. Dorsal margin of proctiger, in lateral view, slightly concave posterior to the circumanal ring, apex pointed and slightly upturned; in dorsal view, apex pointed; circumanal ring, in dorsal view, cruciform. Subgenital plate, in lateral and ventral views, pointed apically.
Fifth instar immature. Unknown.
Host plant. Adults were collected on Guatteria sp. (Annonaceae) which is a probable host.
Distribution. Brazil (RR).
Derivation of name. Named after Roraima, the State in Brazil, where the species was collected.
Comments. Melanastera roraima sp. nov. differs from the other members of the M. amazonica -group as indicated in the keys. From M. olgae sp. nov. with which it shares similarities in the forewing venation and terminalia, it differs in the dotted forewing (versus uniformly coloured).
description: Published as part of Serbina, Liliya Š., Malenovský, Igor, Queiroz, Dalva L. & Burckhardt, Daniel, 2025, Jumping plant-lice of the tribe Paurocephalini (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Liviidae) in Brazil, pp. 1-164 in Zootaxa 5585 (1) on pages 64-65, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5585.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15007669