Scaralina obfusca Yanega 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yanega, Douglas
name: Goemans, Geert
name: Dam, Matthew Van
name: Gómez-Marco, Francesc
name: Hoddle, Mark
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Fulgoridae
Scaralina
Scaralina obfusca

description: Scaralina obfusca Yanega, sp. nov.
(Figs 22, 36, 51, 66, 91, 104)
Etymology. The epithet is a play on words, and may never have been used in Latin; there is a Late Latin verb “obfuscare” (“I make darker”) from which the term “obfuscate” is ostensibly derived, referring simultaneously to the relative darkness of this taxon, and also to the complication of species circumscriptions this taxon represented late in the course of this revision, including the difficulty of associating the two sexes confidently. Since there is no evidence that it is a genuine Latin adjective, it is to be treated as a noun in apposition.
Diagnosis. This is another of the taxa that is very similar to S. marmorata in structural details, but geographically removed from other populations, and with coloration different enough to suggest it is probably not conspecific. The hindwing bases are more reddish than the orange typical of other taxa in the species group (other than sullivani), and the pattern of dorsal thoracic markings distinguishes this from all other taxa. Even in the female specimen at hand, the head, prothorax, and forelegs have more dark integument overall than any of the other marmorata - group taxa; while otherwise very similar to obrienae, including the structure of the male gonostyli, the evanescent costal crossveins, the expanded lower frons, and similar clypeal markings, it is decidedly outside of the range of variation seen in that taxon. The biogeography is such that the two known specimens of obfusca are from similar habitat some 400 miles apart, along the northwestern edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental. This does not appear to overlap the range of any other marmorata -group taxa, and only metcalfi occurs farther west. The paratype female differs from the holotype male in having the light portions of the body and wings much lighter and thus much more strongly contrasting, but we believe this is an artifact of differential preservation, with the male slightly darkened and discolored after pinning, and the female slightly bleached from being stored in ethanol for 12 years; the patterns of markings on the dorsal head and thorax are otherwise nearly identical (compare Figs 22 & 51), and the wing markings are also similar.
Description. Head (Figs 36, 51, 104) Frons and clypeus vary from extremely dark to largely pale, with scattered very fine dark or black spots (compare Figs 36 & 104), clypeus lighter along midline and just laterad of midline, upper inflexed portion of frons palest along upper edge. Lateral margin of frons slightly concave, lower lobes slightly expanded. Vertex almost entirely dark except along midline and supra-ocular lobes.
Thorax (Fig. 51). Prothorax with very large dark patches on either side of midline, laterally pale with irregular small dark markings. Mesonotum with highly contrasting black and pale areas, the latter most extensive along the midline, but also the lateral carinae, posterior mesonotal lobe, and areas behind the tegulae. Lateral carinae very weakly sinuate. Dorsal setae long.
Wings (Figs 22, 66). Forewings with many features similar to obrienae, though with basal crossveins more contrasting, and medial crossveins generally darker. Costal crossveins relatively few, obscure or absent in basal half or more of cell. Hindwings with basal markings distinctly more reddish-orange than in marmorata, obrienae, and other related species.
Abdomen (Fig. 22) Dorsal abdomen mostly black, pale laterally on terga 4–6.
Male terminalia (Fig. 91). Gonostyli very similar to obrienae, with a strong curving but mostly transverse ridge on the dorsal incurved surface separating the medial portion from the relatively short apical portion; however, the dorsal setose bulge has the setae somewhat denser, and lower edge of gonostyli nearly straight for much of their length rather than gently convex (compare Figs 88 & 91).
Type material. Holotype, male: MEXICO: Durango: “ 3 mi S El Salto,” 2440 m (“ 8000 ft ”), 10.viii.1986, J. Brown (black light trap); (EMEC).
Paratype, female: Chihuahua: Hwy 16 nr. La Ladrillera, 28°16’48”N, 108°15’31”W, 2250m, 15.vii.2007 M. Van Dam (UCRC ENT 554759).
Distribution. So far known only from two localities, in western Durango and western Chihuahua, approximately 600 km apart.
description: Published as part of Yanega, Douglas, Goemans, Geert, Dam, Matthew Van, Gómez-Marco, Francesc & Hoddle, Mark, 2024, Description of a new genus of North and Central American planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) with fourteen new species, pp. 1-53 in Zootaxa 5443 (1) on pages 38-40, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5443.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10997023