Pravistylus pollediscus Stiller 2010, sp. n.
Creators: name: Stiller, M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Pravistylus
Pravistylus pollediscus

description: Pravistylus pollediscus sp. n.   
(Figs 1 ab–ad; 2 t; 3 t –v; 4 r–t; 5 ai–ak; 6 s–u; 7 bq–bt; 8 bb–bd)  
 Diagnosis. Plate with 2–6 macrosetae subapically; 1.6–1.9 times as long as wide; apex short, digitate; apex 0.06–0.14 times as long as length of plate; apex sometimes directed dorsad, but never inserted into genital capsule (Figs 1 ab-ad, 2 t). Style distal part separated from base; apophysis digitate, extending into basal quarter of plate (Figs 5 ai–ak). Female sternite 7 base rectangular; posterior margin ligula narrow, triangular (Figs 7 bq–bt).   
 Etymology. Latin, plate (discus) with a short, digitate thumb-like process (pollex).   
 Male and female. Ochraceous or yellowish. Without distinct fuscous markings dorsally (Figs 8 bb–bd).   
 Male. Dimensions. (n = 59) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.2–2.5 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.4–3.0 mm; vertex medially 0.4–0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.8–0.9 mm; pronotum 0.7–0.8 mm. Ocellar diameter 23.1–30.2 µm; ocellocular distance 34.7–47.7 µm.   
 Genital capsule. Pygofer ventral posterior margin slightly bulbous; dorsal posterior margin lobate (Figs 1 ab–ad). Pygofer lobe base almost as wide as pygofer; apex broadly rounded, of variable length, shape (Figs 1 ab–ad): dorsal margin horizontal, ventral margin angled dorsally (Fig. 1 ab); lobe subapical, dorsal and ventral margins convergent (Fig. 1 ac); dorsal margin declivous, ventral margin horizontal (Fig. 1 ad). Lobe surface spinulate (Figs 1 ab & ad). Plate narrowly triangular; apex short, digitate, directed dorsoposteriad or posteriad; subbasal lateral margin sinuous, with two clusters of short setae; basal lateral margin more or less straight; plate 1.6–1.9 times as long as wide; 2–6 subapical macrosetae, uniseriate, often unequal numbers on both plates (Fig. 2 t). Aedeagus, in lateral view, with shaft arising basally from atrium; preatrium short; base Cshaped, with apex straight; gonopore elongate, lateroventral, about one third as long as shaft; dorsal view, dorsal apodeme constricted (Figs 3 t –v, 4 r–t). Style distal part separate from anterior medial lobe; apophysis digitate, straight, acutely angled to preapical lobe; preapical lobe acute or rounded; 3–6 ventral teeth (Figs 5 ai–ak). Connective stem Y-shaped; in lateral view, straight, distal apex curved dorsad (Figs 6 s–u).   
 Female. Dimensions. Specimens from Wonderkloof Pass (n = 23) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.3–2.5 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.8–3.2 mm; vertex medially 0.5–0.6 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3–0.4 mm. Width: head 0.9 mm; pronotum 0.8 mm. Ocellar diameter 28 µm; ocellocular distance 39.3–50.2 µm.   
 Female. Dimensions. Specimens from Longtom Pass and Mauschsberg (n = 90) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.3–2.9 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.9–3.4 mm; vertex medially 0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3–0.4 mm; pronotum medially 0.3–0.4 mm. Width: head 0.9–1.0 mm; pronotum 0.8–0.9 mm. Ocellar diameter 25.8–30.5 µm; ocellocular distance 41.9–60.4 µm.   
 Genitalia. Specimens from Wonderkloof. Sternite 7 base rectangular; ligula about as long as median length of base, lateral margins of ligula triangular or slightly concave, apex notched (Figs 7 bq & bt, Longtom specimen; Fig. 7 br, Sterkspruit Nature Reserve specimen; Fig. 7 bs, Wonderkloof specimen).   
 Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Mpumalanga. Wonderkloof Pass summit, 25°21ʹS, 30°35ʹE, 1260 m, 19.ii.2005, DVac, grass in fire break (SANC). Paratypes. 67♂, 23♀. Mpumalanga. 1♂, Longtom Pass near Lydenburg, 25°08ʹS, 30°32ʹE, 2100 m, 18.xii.2000, sweeping; 16♂, Longtom Pass, 20 km East Lydenburg, 25°06ʹS, 30°34ʹE, 2040 m, 8.iii.2002, J. du Plessis, DVac; 20♂, Mauchsberg Pass, near summit, 25°08ʹS, 30°36ʹE, 2150 m, 6.iii.2003, DVac; 13♂, River valley in Sterkspruit Nature Reserve Lydenburg, 25°11ʹS, 30°33ʹE, 1800 m, 6.iii.2003, sweeping; 16♂, 23♀, same data as holotype; all M. Stiller (BMNH, INHS, SANC).   
 Remarks. This species is difficult to distinguish as it is similar to and sympatric with P. longitrunculus. Their distributions overlap on Longtom Pass and Mauchsberg, where they are apparently most abundant. The only locality where only P. pollediscus was found, was at Wonderkloof Pass. Differences between females of P. pollediscus and P. longitrunculus were not found, and therefore females are not included in the material examined. Differences in the males of these two species include the shape of the dorsal apodeme of the aedeagus that is constricted in P. pollediscus (Figs 4 r–t) and wide and broadly rounded in P. longitrunculus (Fig. 4 z). Furthermore the shape of the apex of the plate in P. pollediscus (Fig. 2 t) is abruptly narrowed, the apex rounded, and angled dorsad (Figs 1 ab–ad). The plate in P. longitrunculus is gradually tapered, truncated (Fig. 2 k) and angled posteriad (Fig. 1 p). To a lesser extent the arrangement of the macrosetae of the plate differs. Macrosetae are apical in P. pollediscus (Fig. 2 t), and medial in P. longitrunculus (Fig. 2 k). Pravistylus pollediscus has three distinct forms of the pygofer lobe (Figs 1 ab–ad), with the respective plate, style and aedeagus depicting little variation. Possibly the aedeagal shaft of the Wonderkloof Pass specimens are slightly narrower than the shafts of the specimens from the other localities. The plate of the Boschhoek specimens in P. odontiophallus (Fig. 2 m) appear identical to the plate of P.pollediscus (Fig. 2 t) and even the pygofer lobes of the latter coincide (Figs 1 x, 1 ab–ad, respectively). However, the aedeagus of P. odontiophallus in dorsal view has the lateral apex of the shaft denticulate (Figs 4 k & l). Less similar is P. digitidiscus that has a very long and narrow digitate apex to the plate (Fig. 2 c). It is much longer than that of P. pollediscus (Fig. 2 t) and P. odontiophallus (Figs 2 m & n), and it has 0–2 macrosetae (Fig. 2 c).   
 The sternite 7 of the female of P. odontiophallus (Figs 7 bj & bk) is variable and not a reliable means of species recognition. As mentioned above the sternite 7 of P. pollediscus (Figs 7 bq–bt) is similar to that of P. longitrunculus (Figs 7 al–ao).
description: Published as part of Stiller, M., 2010, Revision of the Southern African leafhopper genus Pravistylus (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) 2468, pp. 1-81 in Zootaxa 2468 (1) on pages 42-43, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10094177