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

description: Pravistylus brachyphysis sp. n.   
(Figs 1 b; 2 q; 3 l; 4 j; 5 l; 6 i; 7 c)  
 Diagnosis. Plate apex acutely triangular, sclerotized, medial margins straight, contiguous, lateral margin abruptly sinuate subapically (Fig. 2 q). Style apophysis truncate, 2–4 teeth apically, anterior medial lobe very narrow; distal part far from base (Fig. 5 l). Aedeagus, in lateral view, C-shaped, with apical half straight, shaft tapering towards apex (Fig. 3 l). Connective, lateral view, with apex curved dorsally. Pygofer lobe broadly rounded, almost as wide as pygofer (Fig. 1 b).   
 Etymology. Greek, for the style with the dorsal apophysis (apophysis) that is truncate and short (brachys).   
 Male and female. Pale ochraceous, 2–3 pairs of light brown, longitudinal stripes on vertex and pronotum respectively. Tegmina with fuscous marking in inner anteapical cell, sometimes in anterior claval and anterior discal cells.   
 Male. Dimensions. (n = 6) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.5–2.7 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.8–3.0 mm; vertex medially 0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.9 mm; pronotum 0.8 mm. Ocellar diameter 22.1–29.3 µm; ocellocular distance 43.1–64.2 µm.   
 Genital capsule. Pygofer ventral posterior margin with membranous lobe, dorsal subapical margin lobate. Pygofer lobe broadly rounded; about two thirds as wide as width (Fig. 1 b). Plate apex sclerotized, acutely triangular, sclerotized, 6–8 macrosetae; medial margins contiguous, lateral margin abruptly sinuous subapically, medially shallowly sinuous (Fig. 2 q); length 1.4–1.6 times as long as wide. Aedeagus, in lateral view, with base C-shaped, apical half straight; shaft arising from ventral part of atrium; preatrium short; gonopore apical, lateral, oblique (Figs 3 l, 4 j). Style distal part far from anterior medial lobe; apophysis parallel-sided, apex truncate, 2–4 ventral teeth, anterior medial arm narrow (Fig. 5 l). Connective, in dorsal view, with stem parallel-sided (Fig. 6 i); lateral view, apex curved dorsally.   
 Female. Dimensions. (n = 2) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.7 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 3.3 mm; vertex medially 0.6 mm; vertex next to eye 0.4 mm; pronotum medially 0.4 mm. Width: head 1.0 mm; pronotum 0.8 mm. Ocellar diameter 28.0 µm; ocellocular distance 56.0 µm.   
 Genitalia. Sternite 7 hind margin triangularly produced, with shallow notch at apex; base rectangular (Fig. 7 c).   
 Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Western Cape. Baardskeerdersbos, 34°38ʹS, 19°32ʹE, 14.xii.1971. J.G. Theron (SANC). Paratypes. 6♂, 3♀. Western Cape. 5♂, 3♀, same data as holotype; 1♂, Struisbaai, 34°49ʹS, 20°03ʹE, 30.ix.1981, sweeping, Senecio sp. (Asteraceae), all J.G. Theron. (SANC, DCEE).   
 Remarks. This species is similar to P. oxyphysis sp. n. and P. mutilidiscus sp. n. with regard to some male and female genitalic features. In P. oxyphysis some specimens have the apex of the plate pointed (Fig. 2 o), as in P. brachyphysis (Fig. 2 q), but the style apophysis of the former is always acute (Figs 5 y & z), with numerous teeth along the entire ventromedial margin and the anterior medial arm is robust. In contrast the style of P. brachyphysis (Fig. 5 l) has a truncate dorsal apophysis and a narrow anterior medial arm. The pygofer lobe of P. oxyphysis is much narrower and acute (Fig. 1 z). Some specimens of P. oxyphysis have a similar distribution to that of P. brachyphysis. Pravistylus mutilidiscus has the plate considerably shorter and less acute (Figs 2 ak–ap), but has a similar truncate apex of the apophysis of the style (Figs 5 v & w) and similar proportions of the aedeagus (Figs 3 i–k) to that of P. brachyphysis.
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 10-11, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10094177