Penthimia melanocephala de Motschulsky 1863
Creators: name: Shobharani, M.
name: Viraktamath, C. A.
name: Webb, M. D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Penthimia
Penthimia melanocephala

description: Penthimia melanocephala Motschulsky
Figs 201–209.
Penthimia melanocephala de Motschulsky 1863: 95; Melichar, 1903: 162; Distant 1908: 241.
Head and thoracic sternites black, pronotum and scutellum orange-brown; forewing brownish hyaline with orangebrown spots, claval suture and sometimes outer margin of clavus in basal half, black.
Length. Male 3.6mm, female 4.0– 4.8mm.
Material examined. India, Karnataka: 3♀, Nandidrug, T. V. Campbell; 1♀, S. India: Shambaganur, Madura; Darjiling: 1♀, Peshoke, 2000–3500ft, 28.iv.–11.v.1915, Gravely; 1♀, Gopaldhara, 344 0–4720ft, 23.vi.1917, H. Stevens. Myanmar: 1♀, Myitta (Doherty) 1♀, Mishmi Hills, Lohit River, 18.iii.1935, M. Steele. Sri Lanka: 1♀, Green collection. All BMNH.
Other material examined. 1♂, India: Karnataka: Biligiri Rangan Hills, 16.i.1985, C.A.Viraktamath (UASB).
Male genitalia. Pygofer with rounded caudal lobe. Subgenital plate obtusely produced laterally near base, caudal angle acutely rounded, with short hairlike setae. Style body slightly widened distally, apical apophysis short and thumblike. Aedeagus short, stout, dorsal apodeme short, preatrium not developed, shaft short and broad, cylindrical, with dorsal keel, curved caudodorsally with distinct angle on ventral margin, without lateral flanges, but slightly narrowed apically, gonopore apical on ventral margin, large.
Remarks. This species was described from an unknown number of specimens from Sri Lanka with data: ‘Des Montagnes de Nura-Ellia’. Melichar (1903: 162) indicated a type in (Berlin Museum) and other material from Bandarawella in Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. A female specimen matching these data is present in Budapest (Figs 201–202) and is probably the specimen borrowed and figured by Distant (1908, Fig. 153). Other type material was not found in the remains of Motschulsky’s collection (ZMSU) (pers com. Dmitri Tishechkin). Motschulsky gave his description in Latin which was also repeated verbatim by Melichar (1903). Distant redescribed the species based on the borrowed specimen noted above and from the specimen from Myanmar listed above.
In this species the head is entirely black, the pronotum and scutellum are orange-brown and the forewing claval suture and sometimes outer margin of clavus in basal half are black. One male (from Biligiri Rangan Hills, India) and the female specimens are similar in their relatively small size and color and are therefore tentatively identified as the same distinct species despite their wide distribution.
This species is very similar to P. attenuata in the male genitalia but differs in having more sharply narrowed apex of the aedeagal shaft that is without the lateral flanges, apart from having very distinctive coloration.
description: Published as part of Shobharani, M., Viraktamath, C. A. & Webb, M. D., 2018, Review of the leafhopper genus Penthimia Germar (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from the Indian subcontinent with description of seven new species, pp. 1-45 in Zootaxa 4369 (1) on page 13, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4369.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1135478