Melanastera spinosa Serbina & Malenovský & Queiroz & Burckhardt 2025
Creators: name: Serbina, Liliya Š.
name: Malenovský, Igor
name: Queiroz, Dalva L.
name: Burckhardt, Daniel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Liviidae
Melanastera
Melanastera spinosa

description: 16 Melanastera spinosa sp. nov.
(Figs 9F, 15I, 24T–Z)
Type material. Holotype ♂: Brazil: AMAZONAS: Manaus, Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, S2.9645, W59.9202, 100 m, 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana (J.C.H. Guerrero, P.O.I. de Lima & G.P.L. Mesquita) F3- 30 (8) (INPA; dry).
Paratypes. Brazil: AMAZONAS: 1 ♀, same as holotype but 17.xi.1995, fogging of Eschweilera pseudodecolorans (J.C.H. Guerrero, P.O.I. de Lima & G.P.L. Mesquita) F2-32 (7) (INPA; dry); 1 ♂, same but 21.vii.1995, fogging of Eschweilera wachenheimii, F2-35 (2) (INPA; slide; [LSMelspin-95]); 1 ♂, same but 21.vii.1995, F2-68 (BMNH; dry); 1 ♀, same but 15.xi.1995, fogging of Eschweilera pseudodecolorans, F2-129 (3) (NHMB; dry; NMB-PSYLL0008149); 1 ♂, same but 16.viii.1995, fogging of Pouteria glomerata, F2-146 (3) (INPA; dry); 1 ♂, same but 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana, F3-30 (3) (MMBC; dry); 1 ♀, same but 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana, F3-30 (6) (MMBC; dry); 1 ♂, same but 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana, F3-30 (8) (NHMB; dry; NMB-PSYLL0008148); 1 ♂, same but 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana, F3-30 (9) (INPA; dry); 1 ♀, same but 18.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera rodriguesiana, F3-30 (10) (INPA; slide; [LSMelspin-95]); 1 ♀, same but 22.vi.1996, fogging of Eschweilera pseudodecolorans, F3-129 (8) (BMNH; dry).
Description. Adult. Coloration. Body brownish yellow; head (Fig. 9F) and thorax with small dark brown dots. Clypeus brown at base. Antennal segments 3–8 with dark brown apices, segments 9–10 entirely brown. Mesopraescutum with two orange patches at fore margin; mesoscutum with four broad and, in the middle, one narrow longitudinal orange stripes; mesoscutellum and metanotum with dark brown stripe in the middle. Forewing (Fig. 15I) brownish yellow with scattered contrasting dark brown dots; apex of pterostigma and apices of Rs, M 1+2, M 3+4, Cu 1a and Cu 1b dark brown. Femora with brown dots. Abdominal sternites dark brown. Young specimens with less extended dark colour.
Structure. Head, in lateral view, inclined at <45° from longitudinal body axis. Vertex (Fig. 9F) trapezoidal, with distinct imbricate microsculpture and microscopical setae. Thorax weakly arched, with microscopical setosity. Forewing (Fig. 15I) oval, widest in the middle, evenly, broadly rounded apically; with wing apex in the middle of the margin of cell r 2; C+Sc weakly curved in apical third; pterostigma as wide as or slightly narrower as r 1 cell in the middle, weakly convex in apical third; Rs almost straight, weakly curved to fore margin apically; M longer than M 1+2 and M 3+4; Cu 1a weakly convex, ending at level of M fork; cell cu 1 relatively narrow; surface spinules present in all cells, spinules absent at least in basal third of cell c+sc, leaving relatively broad spinule-free stripes along the veins, forming hexagons of a single or double row of spinules. Hindwing with 4–5 + 2–3 grouped costal setae. Metatibia bearing 6–7 apical spurs, arranged as 3 + 3–4, anteriorly separated by ca. 5 bristles.
Terminalia (Fig. 24T–Z). Male. Proctiger narrowly cylindrical, almost straight posteriorly; densely covered with long setae in apical two thirds. Subgenital plate, in lateral view, narrowly ovoid, dorsal margin strongly angular in apical thirds, posterior margin slightly convex; with sparse, short setae. Paramere, in lateral view, digitiform, widest basally, narrowing to apex; paramere apex, in lateral view, rounded, directed upwards, in dorsal view, truncate with anterior angle sharp, directed inwards, bearing two spur-like setae on its inner face; outer face with dense, short and long setae in apical two thirds; inner face with sparse, short setae and a row of six spur-like setae in basal third near posterior margin, well-visible in posterior view; with very long setae posteriorly. Proximal segment of aedeagus with apical part moderately subdivided. Distal segment of aedeagus slender in basal half, with dorsal margin sinuate; ventral process absent, in lateral view, ventral margin sinuate, in dorsal view, slightly expanded in apical third; apical dilation moderately long and narrow, in lateral view, fusiform, rounded apically, with distinct membranous extension basally at dorsal margin, in dorsal view, apical dilation with subparallel margins, only slightly widening to apex; sclerotised end tube moderately long and straight.—Female terminalia cuneate; covered with setae. Dorsal margin of proctiger, in lateral view, sinuate posterior to circumanal ring, apex slightly upturned, pointed; in dorsal view, apex subacute or blunt; circumanal ring, in dorsal view, vaguely cruciform. Subgenital plate, in lateral view, abruptly narrowing to apex in apical third, slightly upturned and pointed apically; in ventral view, apex blunt.
Fifth instar immature. Unknown.
Host plant. Unknown. The type material was fogged from Eschweilera pseudodecolorans S.A.Mori, E. rodriguesiana S.A.Mori, E.wachenheimii (Benoist)Sandwith and Pouteria glomerata (Miq.) Radlk. (Lecythidaceae), which are unlikely hosts.
Distribution. Brazil (AM).
Derivation of name. From the Latin noun spina = thorn, referring to the spur-like setae on the inner face of the paramere.
Comments. Melanastera spinosa sp. nov. resembles M. cabucu sp. nov. in the forewing shape, venation and colour but differs in the details of the male and female terminalia.
The amazonica -group
Description. Adult. Head, in lateral view, inclined at 45° or more from longitudinal axis of body (Fig. 7D). Vertex (Figs 9G–J, 10A, B) trapezoidal, with distinct imbricate microsculpture and microscopical setae. Thorax weakly to moderately arched, with microscopical setae. Forewing (Figs 15J, 16A–E) beset with brown dots; pterostigma strongly expanding towards the middle or apical third, shorter than 4.0 times as wide; vein R 1 strongly curved medially relative to costal wing margin. Paramere lanceolate. Ventral process of the distal aedeagal segment, in lateral view, claw-like and directed dorsad.
Immature. Antenna 10-segmented.
Comments. The six Brazilian species are associated with Annonaceae. Due to a similar forewing shape and venation as well as the structure of the distal segment of the the aedeagus, the six species and also M. olgae sp. nov. from the olgae -group could be closely related.
description: Published as part of Serbina, Liliya Š., Malenovský, Igor, Queiroz, Dalva L. & Burckhardt, Daniel, 2025, Jumping plant-lice of the tribe Paurocephalini (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Liviidae) in Brazil, pp. 1-164 in Zootaxa 5585 (1) on pages 56-57, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5585.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15007669