Empoasca acanthafera Southern, 2010, n. sp.
Creators: name: Southern, Phillip Sterling
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Empoasca
Empoasca acanthafera

description: Empoasca acanthafera n. sp.
Body (male): Length: 3.75 mm; crown length: 0.23–0.28 mm; crown projection: 0.08–0.10 mm; crown projecton ratio: 0.30–0.34; head length (including eyes): 0.53–0.54 mm; interoccular width: 0.40 mm; head width (including eyes): 0.81–0.84 mm; pronotum width: 0.71–0.73 mm; pronotum length: 0.40–0.43 mm; face length: 0.95–0.97 mm; hind tibia length: 1.58–1.60 mm; hind tarsus length: 0.56–0.58 mm; hind tarsomere I length: 0.35–0.36 mm; hind tarsomere I/hind tarsus ratio: 0.59. Head (both crown and face) and thorax (including legs) uniformly orange/red. Crown ca. as long medially as next to eye, distinctly shorter than width between eyes. Coronal suture extending well beyond crown midlength. Head including eyes distinctly wider than pronotum. Eyes brownish. Ocelli on margin about equidistant between eye and mid-line. Rostrum distinctly overlapping base of hind coxae. Forewing with basal two-thirds subhyaline, orange-red except a clear area along claval suture closed distally by orange-red transverse line; apical one-third hyaline; apical veins faintly orange-red; apical cell 2 petiolate; apical cell 4 strongly tapered through most of length; vein MCu distinctly curved, ending near apex of anal margin; CuP distal segment ca. 1.5 X longer than segment of CuA between Cu stem and MP; punctations along veins absent or indistinct. Hind wing venation similar to that of E. fabae. Legs yellow with some orange on femur. Front femur row AV with 1 basal seta distinctly enlarged, AM1 distinctly enlarged. Middle femur with 1 dorsoapical macroseta. Hind tibia row AV with 6 preapical macrosetae. Abdomen orange/red with yellow along posterior margin of each segment.
Pygofer in lateral view with posterior margin broadly rounded (Fig. 2 a); 15–16 stout setae in group along posterior margin, extending onto mesal face, and in short line running anteroventrad from apex across outer face (Fig. 1 b); 2–3 filamentous setae on outer face; mesal face with well developed sensilla field. Pygofer process free from pygofer for most of length, in lateral view curved upward to roughly follow pygofer margin, curved slightly caudad just before apex, extending just beyond posterior margin of pygofer; in ventral view (Fig. 2 i) straight through most of length, angled mediad from near base; apically compressed and bladelike; dense field of aculeae on dorso-medial surface; micro-serrate on medial margin near apex. Plate with basolateral lamella absent, basal depressed section subequal to or longer than distal, compressed section; in lateral view (Fig. 2 a) apical portion lacks expansion and significant upward curve; in ventral view (Fig. 2 b) plates free basally; dorsomedial surface without conspicuous sensilla; A-group setae (3) near base of plate (Fig. 1 b), thin and long but shorter than D-group; B-group setae (13–14) uniseriate, extending from near Agroup setae to apex of plate, uniform in length; C-group setae (18) roughly biseriate basally, becoming uniseriate apically, reaching apex of plate; D-group setae (~28) sparse, roughly biseriate, ca. as long as Cgroup setae, extending to base of plate. Style in lateral view sinuate, with body bowed ventrad, dentifer bowed dorsad; in ventral view (Fig 2 g), bowed evenly mediad to near apex which curves caudad, dentifer not abruptly narrowed; teeth (4) small; apex narrowly rounded; setal bases few (setae not present in specimens available). Anal hook in lateral view long and thin, at least 2/3 depth of pygofer, weakly sinuate; in caudoventral view (Fig. 2 d1) long, thin, tapering, bowed laterad basally then recurved near apex, with low basal medial lobe (hook could be considered transversely bifurcate). Segment X without strongly sclerotized dorsal arch, densely microtrichiate ventrally. Aedeagus in lateral view (Fig. 2 c) with preatrium long, nearly straight; single (unpaired) process arising from atrium below and well separated from shaft tapered to acute apex, ca. ½ length of shaft; shaft diverges from line of atrial complex ca. 30°, straight but expanded abruptly dorsad in apical 1/4th, shaft well sclerotized throughout but slightly membranous around gonopore, somewhat variable (Figs. 2 d1, 2d2) field of short spines or processes arise from ventral margin of shaft at ca. mid-length, curved to lie subparallel to ventral margin. In caudoventral view (Fig. 2 d1) aedeagus narrow throughout, atrium barely expanded relative to preatrum and shaft, shaft compressed, lateral margins subparallel. Connective (Fig. 2 e) well sclerotized on anterior margin, posterior notch broad, wider than long. Dorsum of genital capsule (Fig. 2 k) with anterior margin well sclerotized, bridge broad, transverse bar well sclerotized, horns well scleotized, broadly separate diverging slightly, curved laterad near apex.
First sternal complex (Fig. 2 m) with broad medial notch abruptly narrowed at mid-depth. Second sternal apodemes (Fig. 2 n) parallel, each tapered slightly to rounded apices, of moderate length (reaching 4.9, 0.35 mm) and width (0.26 mm). Second tergal apodeme a low wall expanded ventrad on lateral ends. Other tergal apodemes not significantly developed. Sternum of 8th abdominal segment with medial notch in posterior margin.
Holotype male: PERU: Pasco Yanachaga- / Chemillén NP Huampal Stn / 10° 11’ 9” S 75° 43’ 27” W / 1050m 6–9.X.2002, Takiya, / Peña & Rakitov, Malaise trap / acr. R. Huancabamba // HOLOTYPE / Empoasca / acanthafera n. sp. / Southern & Dietrich (USML). Paratype male: 1 specimen, same collection data as holotype (INHS).
Etymology: This specific name, acanthafera, is an adjective meaning thorn-bearing and refers to the processes of the aedeagus.
Diagnosis: This species appears most similar, based on the genitalia, to Empoasca salazari Southern and Empoasca trindula Southern. Like E. acanthafera, these species have plates with weakly developed basolateral lamellae, pygofer processes which are compressed or flattened and bear aculeae and microserrations apically, transversely bifurcate anal hooks, aedeagal processes, and aedeagal shafts which are curved or expanded dorsad in the apical half. E. acanthafera differs from these species in possessing a large unpaired process arising from the atrial complex well separate from the shaft as well as a field of small processes arising from the shaft. Empoasca multicornis Southern is similar to E. acanthafera in having a field of relatively short processes arising from the aedeagal shaft (and atrial complex near the base of the shaft), transversely bifurcate anal hooks, compressed pygofer processes bearing aculeae and an aedeagal shaft which is apically expanded dorsad. This species is also largely red in coloration. However, E. multicornis lacks the large unpaired aedeagal process of E. acanthafera and has a more pronounced dorsolateral angle of the subgenital plates.
description: Published as part of Southern, Phillip Sterling, 2010, Eight new species of Empoasca (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Empoascini) from Peru and Bolivia, pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 2524 on pages 4-6, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.196388