Thlasia signata VIRAKTAMATH & WEBB & YESHWANTH 2025, comb. nov.
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
Thlasia
Thlasia signata

description: Thlasia signata (Distant) comb. nov.
Figs 16A–E, 22J, 36A–I.
Petalocephala signata Distant 1916: 218, fig. 160.
Diagnosis. Greenish ochraceous, crown with large central dark brown stripe not reaching posterior margin, face with upper large dark brown spot continued on frontoclypeus either occupying entire frontoclypeus or half of it. Style blade-like with elongate, slightly dorsoventrally curved apophysis, apex narrowed. Aedeagus distally membranous, lanceolate, with four apical lobes and one subapical lateral rounded lobe at base of apical expansion.
Description. Distant (1916 a) described and figured the external features of this species. Additional features observed are as follows. Crown with well-developed median longitudinal carina, about 0.8× as long medially as interocular distance, about as long as or shorter than pronotum. Pronotum rugose punctate on disc and rest punctate with one depressed spot in anterior half on either side of median line, lateral margins slightly divergent posteriorly (posterolateral angles about 1.2x wider than anterolateral angles).
Male genitalia. Pygofer in lateral view of same height in anterior half, then ventral margin narrowing in posterior half, making posterolateral region acutely angled, about 1.5× in lateral view as its height anteriorly, ventral process relatively long and blade-like. Subgenital plates widest in proximal 033 distance then narrowed, about 2.8× as long as wide. Style with short anterior apodeme, body short and triangular, apophysis blade-like, long, slightly curved dorsoventrally with apex narrowed. Aedeagus with well-developed dorsal apodeme about 0.66 as long as shaft, bilobed, shaft directed posteriorly in proximal region then curved dorsally, apical region membranous, widened and more or less lanceolate, with one pair of small rounded lateral lobes near base and two pairs of larger apical lobes, gonopore subapical.
Female not known.
Measurements. Male 8.0– 8.7 mm long, 2.4 mm wide across eyes and 2.7–2.8 mm wide across posterolateral angles of pronotum.
Material examined. INDIA: SYNTYPE ♂, “Kodai Kanal, S. India, Campbell”, “KK 5.14” (under specimen mount)”, “ Petalocephala signata Dist. Type”, “Type”, “ Syntype ”, “NHMUK 010592236” (BMNH). Other material. INDIA: Tamil Nadu: 26♂, same data as syntype (with various numbers under specimen mounts) (BMNH); 1♂, Kodaikanal, 23.viii.2021, Shankararaman; 1♂, Palani Hills, Kukkal Shola, 1833m, 24.x.2012, Prathapan, K.D. (UASB).
Remarks. This species was described from an unknown number of specimens (syntypic) with the following data: “South India; Kodaikanal (T. V. Campbell)”. It is uncertain if any other of the many topotypical specimens in the BMNH of this species (see Material examined) form part of the type series (see Shobharani et al. 2018). T. signata can readily be recognized by its characteristic coloration. P. insignis Distant (Sikkim) also has the frontoclypeus black and the crown with a dark brown stripe, but it is known only from a female and also has a dark brown longitudinal stripe on the forewing submargin that is lacking in this species. A number of topotypical females similar to the males of this species are there under T. signata in the BMNH collection. These have a longer head and generally without marking compared to the males and whether they are conspecific is uncertain.
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 pages 26-27, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5623.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15324666