Petalocephala fuscomarginata Cai & Kuoh
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
Petalocephala
Petalocephala fuscomarginata

description: Petalocephala fuscomarginata Cai & Kuoh
Figs 5E–H, 18 BC, 20J, 21I–L, 27A–G.
Petalocephala fuscomarginata Cai & Kuoh in Cai & Ge 1992: 118–119, fig.2A–H.
Diagnosis. Externally resembling P. viridula. Male pygofer narrowed posteriorly to an acutely rounded posterolateral angle, ventral process in lateral view stout and columnar. Aedeagus in lateral view with shaft sinuate, smoothly dorsally curved, slightly widened distad of half-length then narrowed to pointed apex, with one pair of spine-like subapical process exceeding shaft apex (Fig. 27F).
Description. Pale yellowish green otherwise very similar to P. viridula. One female and one male with yellowish mottling as in P. viridula, crown margin in some males dark fuscous.
Crown with finely punctate and longitudinally wrinkled, with well-developed median carina, 0.66 (in male) –0.8× (in female) as long as interocular distance, about as long as or longer than median length of pronotum. Ocelli in male closer to each other than to adjacent eye and in female closer to adjacent eye than to each other. Pronotum with disc coarsely transversely rugose-punctate, surrounded by dense punctation; 1.9–2.3× as wide as long medially, lateral margins slightly divergent posteriorly (about 1.2× wider across posterolateral angles of pronotum than across anterolateral angles), posterior margin medially slightly concave. Mesonotum punctate, slightly longer (1.2–1.4×) than median length of pronotum. Female sternite VII with anterior margin slightly concave, about 0.4 × as long medially as wide proximally, posterior margin medially concavely excavated (Fig. 20J).
Male genitalia. Pygofer triangular with dorsal margin almost straight, about 2.4× as long as height in lateral view, narrowed posteriorly to an acutely rounded posterolateral angle, ventral process in lateral view stout and columnar, in posterior view narrowed distally, apex acute. Subgenital plate about 1.1× length of pygofer in lateral view. Style with short anterior apodeme about 0.45× as long as total length, body broad proximally then narrowed, apophysis abruptly curved ventrally almost at right angle, with apex more or less rounded. Aedeagus in lateral view with shaft sinuate, smoothly dorsally curved, slightly widened distad of half-length then narrowed to pointed apex, with one pair of spine-like subapical process exceeding shaft apex; gonopore apical.
Female genitalia. Valvula I very similar to that in P. latifrons (see below) (Figs 21 IJ). Valvula II gradually widened distally, slightly curved dorsally, with proximal prominent tooth proximad of regular toothed area, toothed margin with proximal prominent tooth followed by crenulate margin (Figs 21 KL).
Measurements. Male 10.0- 10.4 mm long, 3.0- 3.1 mm wide cross eyes and 3.3 mm wide across posterolateral angles of pronotum. Female 13.1mm long, 3.4 mm wide across eyes and 3.8 mm wide across posterolateral angles of pronotum.
Material examined. INDIA: Meghalaya, 6♂, 1♀, Ri-Bhoi, ICAR, RC, NEH, Umiam, 8–10.vi.2013, Yeshwanth, H.M. (UASB); Assam: 1♂, AAU, Jorhat, 10.ix.1983, at light, V.V. Ramamurthy (NPC); Arunachal Pradesh: 3♀, Basar Dist. West Siang, 578m, 30.vi.2018, Tahseen, Stuti (NPC).
Remarks. Cai & Kuoh in Cai & Ge (1992) described this species from Yunnan Province, China. It is the first record of the species from the Indian subcontinent. This species is very similar to P. viridula in coloration and external structure, but has entirely different male genitalia. The aedeagal shaft is sinuate in P. fuscomarginata without a subapical process compared to the smoothly curved aedeagus with forked subapical processes in P. viridula. P. fuscomarginata has similar male genitalia as in P. chlorocephala, but differs in not having a spur proximad of the expanded shaft in lateral view, and the ventral pygofer process is stouter and longer compared to the shorter lamellate process in P. chlorocephala.
description: Published as part of VIRAKTAMATH, C. A., WEBB, M. D. & YESHWANTH, H. M., 2025, Leafhopper subfamily Ledrinae of the Indian subcontinent: 2. Genera Digitata Wang, Li & Dai, Latycephala McKamey, Petalocephala Stål and Thlasia Germar (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) with description of six new species, pp. 1-71 in Zootaxa 5623 (1) on page 16, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5623.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15324666