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

description: Pravistylus digitidiscus sp. n.   
(Figs 1 h; 2 c; 3 ad; 4 ab; 5 ad; 6 aa; 7 m & n; 8 k & l)  
 Diagnosis. Plate generally triangular; apex narrow, digitate, directed dorsally, that protrudes for at least half its length into genital capsule; plate usually 0–3 macrosetae, sometimes one plate setous; 2.1–2.4 times as long as wide; length of apex 0.1–0.3 times as long as length of plate (Fig. 2 c). Style distal part separate from base; apophysis digitate, and extending about half-way into plate (Fig. 5 ad). Female sternite 7 almost square, posterior margin ligula short, sometimes recessed into base (Figs 7 m & n).   
 Etymology. Latin, plate, (discus) with apex finger-like (digitus).   
 Male and female. Ochraceous. Sometimes fuscous marking on laterodorsal anterior margin of pygofer. Hind wing very small, rounded (Fig. 8 k, male; Fig. 8 l, female).   
 Male. Dimensions. (n = 74) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.3–2.7 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.7–3.2 mm; vertex medially 0.5 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 24.5–30.0 µm; ocellocular distance 38.6–50.5 µm.   
 Genital capsule. Pygofer with dorsal and ventral margins parallel (Fig. 1 h). Pygofer lobe broadly rounded, about two thirds as wide as pygofer (Fig. 1 h). Plate triangular; lateral subbasal margin sinuous, tufts of setae proximally and distally of sinuation; mostly without macrosetae, or rarely up to three macrosetae, sometimes on one plate; plate 2.1–2.4 times as long as greatest width at base; length of apex 0.2–0.3 times as long as length of plate (Fig. 2 c); apex of plate of undissected specimens often bent dorsally at 90°, with apex extending into gap between otherwise closed ventral margins of pygofer lobes. Aedeagus, in lateral view, with shaft widely C-shaped, arising basally from atrium; preatrium reduced; dorsal view, shaft wide at base, tapering towards apex; dorsal apodeme constricted medially; gonopore subapical, lateroventral, dorsal apodeme constricted (Figs 3 ad, 4 ab). Style distal part moderately separate from anterior medial lobe; apophysis elongate, digitate; extending about half-way into plate (Fig. 5 ad). Connective stem Y-shaped, broader than base, about one third as long as base; lateral view, apex curved dorsally (Fig. 6 aa).   
 Female. Dimensions. (n = 60) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.4–2.7 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.9–3.3 mm; vertex medially 0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3– 0.4 mm. Width: head 0.9–1.0 mm; pronotum 0.8–0.9 mm. Ocellar diameter 24.8–30.2 µm; ocellocular distance 40.8–55.1 µm.   
 Genitalia. Sternite 7 base almost square; short, median posterior ligula; less than half as long as median length of the base; sometimes recessed into base; notch shallow (Fig. 7 m, ligula marginal, Longtom Pass specimen; Fig. 7 n, ligula recessed, Trout Cottage specimen).   
 Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Mpumalanga. Trout Cottage, road between Mt Sheba and Sabie, 24°58ʹS, 30°39ʹE, 1826 m, 12.xi.2005, DVac (SANC). Paratypes. 133♂, 89♀, 7 nymphs.   
 Mpumalanga. 1♂, Pilgrim’s Rest, 24°55ʹS, 30°44ʹE, 27.ii.1991, sweeping; 13♂, 18♀, Mauchsberg Pass near transmitter tower, 25°10ʹS, 30°37ʹE, 1860 m, 6.iii.2003, DVac, grass and forbs on east and west facing slopes of summit near mast; 2♀, Deer Cottage, road between Mt Sheba and Sabie, 24°58ʹS, 30°41ʹE, 1918 m, 12.xi.2005, DVac; 21♂, 6♀, road between Graskop and Pilgrim’s Rest, 24°56ʹS, 30°47ʹE, 1639 m, 12.xi.2005, DVac, grass regrowth after fire; 19♂, 5♀, Mt Sheba road, 24°54ʹS, 30°42ʹE, 1874 m, 12.xi.2005, DVac; 24♂, 7♀, same data as holotype; 4♂, 9♀, Trout Cottage, road between Mt Sheba and Sabie, 24°58ʹS, 30°40ʹE, 1881 m, 12.xi.2005, DVac; 2♂, 6♀, 2 nymphs, road between Longtom Pass and Sabie, 25°08ʹS, 30°36ʹE, 2133 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac; 8♂, 5♀, road between Longtom Pass and Sabie, 25°09ʹS, 30°37ʹE, 2014 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac; 5♂, 6♀, road between Longtom Pass and Sabie, 25°09ʹS, 30°37ʹE, 1899 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac; 5♂, 9♀, Longtom Pass, valley opposite summit of pass, 25°07ʹS, 30°37ʹE, 2101 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac, also Festuca sp. (Poaceae); 20♂, 7♀, 1 nymph, Malidyke Blue Swallow Reserve, 24°57ʹS, 30°59ʹE, 1367 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac, grassland rehabilitation with Themeda triandra dominant; 8♂, 8♀, Mauchsberg, Longtom Pass near mast, 25°09ʹS, 30°37ʹE, 2200 m, 13.xi.2005, DVac, short grass; 4♂, 1♀, 4 nymphs, Blyde River Nature Reserve, 24°41ʹS, 30°52ʹE, 1464 m, 14.xi.2005, DVac, moribund grass and Festuca sp., all M. Stiller (BMNH, INHS, SANC).   
 Remarks. The long and narrow process at the apex of the plate is unique. This narrow apex is however difficult to see in undissected specimens, as it is inserted into the pygofer between the ventral margins of the pygofer lobe. Also the plate is usually devoid of macrosetae. Measurement of its length is less accurate because the apex of the plate is bent at 90°. In species such as P. mecistoplacus sp. n. (Fig. 2 b) the plate is more elongate (2.4–3.0 times as long as wide) than in P. digitidiscus (Fig. 2 c) (plate 2.1–2.4 times as long as greatest width at base) and has the apex inserted into the genital capsule, but with the apices shorter than that of P. digitidiscus. Additionally P. mecistoplacus has 3–4 subapical macrosetae on the plate and the style has the distal part close to its base of the style (Fig. 5 f) and is positioned near the valve. Also P. mecistoplacus has the aedeagal shaft arising dorsally from the atrium and the shaft is narrowly curved (Figs 3 h, 4 h). The sternite 7 of the female of P. mecistoplacus has an elongate triangular or convex ligula on a rectangular base (Figs 7 ar–at). The sternite 7 of P. digitidiscus has a short ligula arising from a square base (Figs 7 m & n). In P. pollediscus sp. n. the process of the plate is short, and does not reach the ventral margin of the pygofer lobe, and the length of is plate 1.6–1.9 times as long as wide and it always has subapical macrosetae. Otherwise the style and aedeagus of P. pollediscus and P. digitidiscus are similar, although the shaft in dorsal view in P. pollediscu s is parallel-sided, and in P. digitidiscus it tapers. In P. longitrunculus the apex of the plate is truncate and touches the ventral margin of the pygofer, that sometimes is parted in this region, but the apex of the plate never protrudes into the genital capsule. The length of the plate of P. longitrunculus is 1.7–1.9 times as long as wide, that is a little less than for P. digitidiscus (2.1–2.4 times as long as greatest width at base). The elongate shape of the plate of P. varicudiscus is similar to that of P mecistoplacus and P. digitidiscus when viewed ventrally. In lateral view the long and right-angled apex of the plate of P. varicudiscus is the distinguishing feature of this species.
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 16-17, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10094177