Andinodarnis pectoralis Flórez-V & Evangelista 2022, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Flórez-V, Camilo
name: Evangelista, Olivia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Membracidae
Andinodarnis
Andinodarnis pectoralis

description: Andinodarnis pectoralis (Stål, 1869) comb. nov.
(Figures 1C–G, 2,3)
Tomogonia pectoralis Stål 1869: 259 (Type locality: Bogota); Funkhouser 1927: 165; Goding 1929e: 234; Metcalf and Wade 1965: 683; McKamey 1998: 478.
Diagnosis: Head and pronotum pale to ochraceous yellow. Forewing hyaline with macula on anterior area of apex. Pronotum with highest point of dorsal outline past mid-dorsum.
Description: Color: Head ochraceous yellow, eyes silver to dark grey, ocelli ochraceous yellow. Pronotum entirely ochraceous yellow, bright green in live specimens (Fig. 1C, 1E). Labium, thoracic pleurites and sternites, coxae and base of metathoracic femur dark brown. Forewings fuscous hyaline, veins ochraceous yellow to brown, dark brown macula between apex of M basal cell, first discoidal cell, second and third apical cell and adjacent area of apical limbus. Pro- and mesothoracic femora, tibiae and tarsomeres ochraceous yellow to brown; apex of third tarsomeres brown. Abdomen ochraceous yellow to dark brown (Fig. 2).
Abdomen: Female. Gonoplac with round apex in lateral view, ventral outline widely arched, basal half distinctly narrower than apical half. First valvula blade-shaped, slender, dorsal outline widely arched upward and then straight before apex; longitudinal dorsal axis on apical ¾ and apex ventrally ornate with oblique and lineal integumental processes, ramus extended up to apex, pores along ramus extension, ramus extended almost until apex with pores along, ventral sculptured area restricted to apex. Second valvula distinctly more sclerotized than first valvulae, dorsal outline widely arched, ramus extended almost until apex, canals at apical 1/3 extended toward rounded teeth which are only present on apical 1/3; two relatively more sclerotized teeth, one at base of apical 1/3 and the other before middle of apical 1/3, longitudinal ventral axis ornate basally with linear and oblique integumental processes, and apically with escamiform integumental processes (Fig. 3).
Male and nymphs unknown.
Measurements: Female (mm; n=2): Body length: 9.69, 10.1; forewing length: 8.25, 8.50; pronotal length: 8.17, 8.22; pronotum height: 2.39, 2.77; pronotal width: 4.5, 4.15; head width: 3.68, 3.63; vertex length: 1.63, 1.46.
Distribution. COLOMBIA: Antioquia: Belmira (2950 masl), Sonsón (2700 masl); Putumayo: San Rafael (2700 masl). ECUADOR: Pichincha: Nono-Tandayapa (1900 masl). PERU: Cuzco: Urubamba: Machupicchu (Fig. 8). This is the first record of the species A. pectoralis for Ecuador.
Examined material. COLOMBIA: Antioquia: Belmira: “ COLOMBIA. Antioquia, Belmira, Camino hacia el páramo de Santa Inés, 2900–3000 msnm \ Sep. 3/2017 \ leg. V. Correa, C. Flórez-V,A. Ospina, D. Taborda \ CBUCESF” (2 females in CBUCES); “ COLOMBIA. Antioquia, Sonsón, vereda Manzanares, Camino de Murringo, ~2700 msnm, Manual, en Piper, Mar. 08/ 2021., leg. D. Gómez; S. Montoya; F. Orozco; A. Ospina, CBUCES-F” (1 female in CBUCES; collected on Piperaceae: Piper sp.). Putumayo: San Rafael: “ COLOMBIA. Putumayo, San Rafael, Vía Mocoa-Sibundoy, 2700–2900 msnm, manual, bosque ripario, en Solanaceae cerca de agrupación de Alchisme grossa, May. 2018, leg. S. Carvalho, C. Flórez-V, M.J. Sanín, CBUCES-F” (1 female in CBUCES; collected on an undetermined species of Solanaceae). ECUADOR: Pichincha: “Nono-Tandayapa Road, 1900 m, Feb. 27/ 1983, leg. L. Huggert”, “ Tomogonia pectoralis \ Stål, 1869 \ det:A. M. Sakakibara”, “ Darnini [handwritten by Dr. Sakakibara]” (1 female in DZUP). PERU: Cuzco: Urubamba: “Machupicchu, 1969, leg. Bordón”, “ Tomogonia pectoralis \ Stål, 1869 \ det: A. M. Sakakibara”, “ Darnini [handwritten by Dr. Sakakibara]” (1 female in DZUP).
Biology. Specimens were collected on Piperaceae (Piper) and Solanaceae (Fig. 1F), as outlined in the examined material. Additional field data is required to determine whether these were true host plants or if the association was transitory. In two instances, solitary females of A. pectoralis were observed near aggregations of other treehopper species that were displaying strong egg-guarding behavior. Solitary females were recorded feeding near aggregations of Aetalion cf. fissum Walker, 1851 and Alchisme grossa (Fairmaire, 1846) (in Belmira and San Rafael, respectively; Figs. 1C, F, G). Representatives of Andinodarnis gen. nov. might be more easily observed in, or even potentially benefit from, enemy-free space created by the females of unrelated treehopper species that aggressively protect their offspring from predators with a suite of defensive maternal traits.
Remarks. Type specimens of T. pectoralis could not be located despite a thorough search of Membracidae holdings in major European institutions. No representatives were found at the Swedish Museum of Natural History (NHRS), which was originally designated as the repository institution (‘Mus. Holm.’, Stål 1869; Gunvi Lindberg, personal communication). In the absence of type specimens, the identity of the species was inferred based on the original description of Stål (1869), which offers sufficient information for accurate identification. For instance, the author mentions several distinguishing features, including color, vestiture, pronotal shape and forewing venation, which closely match the examined specimens. Identifications based on the original description are congruent, as exemplified by a previous determination label from A. M. Sakakibara in which he recognizes that A. pectoralis comb. nov. should be transferred to Darnini.
This species can be readily distinguished from A. atromeris sp. nov. by the following features: head and pronotum entirely light to ochraceous yellow and forewings hyaline with a macula on anterior part of apex. The forewing s crossvein varies in position from distad to basad of r-m.
Scattered distribution records show that A. pectoralis is found in the montane cloud forests of the Northern and Central Andes from Colombia to Peru (Fig. 8). All exemplars were collected above 1500 masl. Live specimens are bright green with a pale yellow metopidium (Fig. 1). Like many other insects, the green pigments fade to yellow in preserved specimens. Exemplars from Peru were generally lighter in coloration, while those from Colombia have a golden or amber tinge. A comparative analysis of a larger series may confirm whether this represents intraspecific color variation, as currently circumscribed, or indicates multiple cryptic taxa.
description: Published as part of Flórez-V, Camilo & Evangelista, Olivia, 2022, Andinodarnis gen. nov., a new treehopper genus from the Andes (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Darninae), pp. 37-50 in Zootaxa 5200 (1) on pages 40-44, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5200.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/7251848