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

description: Pravistylus deltoplacus sp. n.   
(Figs 1 e; 2 aa; 3 c; 4 c; 5 n; 6 b; 7 g –i; 8 f & g)  
 Diagnosis. Plate uniformly triangular, apex narrowly rounded, sclerotized (Fig. 2 aa). Aedeagal shaft depressed, in lateral view widely U-shaped; apex short; gonopore apical (Figs 3 c, 4 c). Female sternite 7 with wide, short ligula on posterior margin; notch rounded or irregular (Figs 7 g –i).   
 Etymology. Greek, compound word for triangle (delta) and plate (plakos), for the triangular shape of the plate.   
 Male and female. Ochraceous, without any significant dorsal markings (male, Figs 8 f & g). Clypeus with numerous horizontal arcs. Most specimens brachypterous, with about 10% macropterous (118 specimens examined). Hind wing reduced, about half as long as tegmina; normal in macropterous specimens.   
 Male. Dimensions. (n = 61) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 1.9–2.5 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.3–2.6 mm; vertex medially 0.4 mm; vertex next to eye 0.2–0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.7–0.8 mm; pronotum 0.7 mm. Ocellar diameter 14.9–27.8 µm; ocellocular distance 42.3–58.1 µm.   
 Genital capsule. Pygofer, in lateral view, with posterior dorsal apex produced; ventral posterior margin with small triangular lip (Fig. 1 e). Pygofer lobe apex broadly rounded; base about as wide as pygofer (Fig. 1 e). Plate acutely triangular; median margin straight, lateral margin straight or slightly concave; uniseriate row of macrosetae laterally; plate membranously fused with valve (Fig. 2 aa); plate 1.4–1.6 times as long as wide. Aedeagal shaft arising ventrally from atrium, flattened dorsoventrally; in lateral view widely C-shaped; gonopore subapical, dorsal (Figs 3 c, 4 c). Style distal part far from base; apophysis acute, 3–4 teeth; preapical lobe right-angled; anterior medial arm short (Fig. 5 n). Connective in lateral view straight; in dorsal view with stem expanded apically, about one third length of arms (Fig. 6 b).   
 Female. Dimensions. (n = 47) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.1–2.5 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.6–3.0 mm; vertex medially 0.4 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.8–0.9 mm; pronotum 0.7–0.8 mm. Ocellar diameter 13.7–24.5 µm; ocellocular distance 44.4–60.7 µm.   
 Genitalia. Sternite 7 posteriorly with median notch flanked by rounded lobes (notch rounded as in Fig. 7 h, notch stepped as in Figs 7 g & i).   
 Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Western Cape. Wemmershoek Dam, N Franschhoek, 33°51ʹS, 19°03ʹE, 201 m, 14.xii.2004, DVac (SANC). Paratypes. 135♂, 86♀, 8 nymphs. Eastern Cape. 1♂, Misgund, 33°45ʹS, 23°30ʹE, 20.i.1982, J.G. Theron, sweeping, Elytropappus rhinocerotis (Asteraceae); 2♂, Devil’s Bellows Neck, 32°25ʹS, 26°40ʹE, 1646 m, 19.iv.2006, DVac; 1♂, Joubert Pass, Lady Grey, 30°43ʹS, 27°15ʹE, 1920 m, 19.iv.2006; 3♂, 2 nymphs, Naude’s Neck, Rhodes, 30°46ʹS, 28°06ʹE, 2593 m, 27.iv.2006, DVac. Free State. 1♀, Platberg, E near masts, 28°15ʹS, 29°12ʹE, 2362 m, 11.i.2006. KwaZulu-Natal. 6♂, 14♀, 3 nymphs, Tugela River, summit of Drakensberg, 28°45ʹS, 28°53ʹE, 2980 m, 5.i.2007, sweeping; 2♂, Elands River, valley on summit of Drakensberg, 28°45ʹS, 28°48ʹE, 3040 m, 7.iv.2007, sweeping; all M. Stiller. Western Cape. 1♂, Slagboom, 33°14ʹS, 19°17ʹE, 29.xii.1967, sweeping; 1♂, Jonkershoek, 33°56ʹS, 18°52ʹE, 28.xi.1968, sweeping; 5♂, 1♀, Paradyskloof, Stellenbosch, 33°57ʹS, 18°51ʹE, 6.xi.1969; 5♂, Slagboom, 33°14ʹS, 19°17ʹE, 13.xii.1969; 3♂, 1♀, Table Mountain, 33°28ʹS, 18°22ʹE, 23.xii.1969; 1♂, 1♀, Chapman’s Peak, Drive Hout Bay, 34°04ʹS, 18°21ʹE, 28.ix.1970, M.C. Walters; 1♂, Rawsonville, 33°41ʹS, 19°19ʹE, 16.i.1971; 2♂, 3♀, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Houtbaai, 34°04ʹS, 18°21ʹE, 19.ii.1971; 10♂, Jonkershoek, 33°56ʹS, 18°52ʹE, 23.xi.1971; 6♂, 5♀, Ceres, 33°22ʹS, 19°18ʹE, 25.xi.1971; 1♂, Pearly Beach, 34°39ʹS, 19°30ʹE, 50 m, 15.xii.1971; 1♀, between Koelenhof and Klapmuts, 33°53ʹS, 18°48ʹE, 15.xi.1974; 5♂, 3♀, Viljoen’s Pass, 34°05ʹS, 19°04ʹE, 5.xii.1974; 1♂, 3♀, Kraaifontein, 33°51ʹS, 18°44ʹE, 3.xii.1975; 1♂, Rondebosch Common, 33°57ʹS, 18°29ʹE, 15.xi.1976; 1♂, 2♀, Clanwilliam, Cedarberg, 32°30ʹS, 19°15ʹE, 21.xii.1976; 1♂, 1♀, Clanwilliam, Cedarberg, 32°30ʹS, 19°15ʹE, 14.x.1977; 1♀, Cape Point, 34°20ʹS, 18°29ʹE, 4.iii.1978; 4♂, 4♀, Betty’s Bay, 34°22ʹS, 18°56ʹE, 30.xi.1979; 2♀, Cape Point, 34°20ʹS, 18°29ʹE, 3.v.1985; all other J.G. Theron; 1♂, Sweetwater Resort, Kommetjie, 34°10ʹS, 18°20ʹE, 20 m, 8.xii.2004; 18♂, 9♀, Silvermine Nature Reserve, Noordhoek, 34°04ʹS, 18°24ʹE, 438 m, 9.xii.2004, DVac; 1♂, 4♀, Arniston, 34°39ʹS, 20°13ʹE, 40 m, 11.xii.2004, DVac, grass in depression, Ehrharta calycina var. calycina (Poaceae) common; 9♂, 5♀, 3 nymphs, Bainskloof Pass, W Breerivier Station, 33°32ʹS, 19°10ʹE, 261 m, 13.xii.2004, DVac, Eragrostis curvula, Cynodon dactylon, Pentaschistis pallida (Poaceae); 17♂, 4♀, Gevonden Farm, E Rawsonville, 33°42ʹS, 19°14ʹE, 296 m, 13.xii.2004, sweeping, Ehrharta ramosa, Pentaschistis pallida regrowth after fire; 1♂, Mitchell’s Pass, S Ceres, 33°25ʹS, 19°17ʹE, 342 m, 13.xii.2004; 12♂, 10♀, same data as holotype; 12♂, 11♀, Theewaterskloof Dam, between Franschhoek and Villiersdorp, 33°57ʹS, 19°10ʹE, 341 m, 19.xii.2004, DVac; all M. Stiller (BMNH, INHS, SANC).   
 Remarks. The plate of this species (Fig. 2 aa) and that of P. mollidiscus sp. n. (Fig. 2 z) are uniformly triangular and with similar dimensions. However, in P. mollidiscus the apex of the plate is expanded and membranous and the aedeagus of P. mollidiscus is C-shaped (Fig. 3 g), with a tubular shaft that is directed posteriorly. The aedeagus of P. deltoplacus has a much narrower and longer shaft (Figs 3 c, 4 c). These two species are sympatric in the Eastern Cape Province. Pravistylus deltoplacus has a much wider distribution, from the western parts of the Western Cape Province (Fig. 8 f, specimen recorded from Silvermine) to high altitude grasslands in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Province (Fig. 8 g, specimen from Tugela River source). Females from the Western Cape (Fig. 7 h, Clanwilliam specimen; Fig. 7 g, Betty’s Bay specimen) and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces (Fig. 7 i, Tugela River specimen) do not depict significant differences.   
 Pravistylus deltoplacus also resembles Elginus theroni (Stiller 2009b) in colouration, internal and external morphology and distribution. Elginus and Pravistylus species are separated by the symmetry of the shaft, that in the former is asymmetrical, and in the latter is symmetrical. In E. theroni the aedeagus is variably asymmetrical, evident in the placement of the gonopore subapically and laterally on the shaft. Additional differences between P. deltoplacus and E. theroni are in a number of features tabulated below (Table 1).
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 13-15, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10094177