Mahellus cardoni Viraktamath & Meshram, 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Viraktamath, C. A.
name: Meshram, Naresh M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Mahellus
Mahellus cardoni

description: Mahellus cardoni sp. nov.
Figs 1–2, 10, 32–39, 50.
Brownish ochraceous with brown markings. Crown with two spots on either side of median line, one lateral spot and thin marginal band on pronotum, basal triangles of mesoscutum brown; oblique band traversing pro- and mesopleura, anterior and posterior broad areas of metapleura, shining dark brown. Forewing veins interrupted by ochraceous spots. Frontoclypeus with darker shade of brown laterally. Bases of hind femoral apical setae dark brown, bases of tibial setae brown.
Crown with anterior margin slightly produced medially beyond compound eyes and more or less conically rounded. Pronotum almost three times wider than the length, combined length of head and pronotum almost equal to combined length of mesoscutum and scutellum.
Male pygofer abruptly narrowed postero-dorsally, ventral process elongate blade-like with prominent teeth on ventral margin, sclerotized process along dorsal margin, curved mesally and acuminate (Figs 32–33, 50). Subgenital plate elongate (8.5 times as long as width at midlength), more or less of uniform width, apex rounded, without spine-like projection (Fig. 36). Connective Y-shaped with median longitudinal apodeme, stem short. Dorsal connective membranous, unpigmented band-like. Style slender, apical half of apophysis produced into thin process (Fig. 35). Aedeagal shaft tubular and basal 1/3 lamellated, dorsal and lateral subapical processes more or less of same length; lateral process spinose apically, dorsal process spinose along inner margin and distal margin (Figs 37–39).Segment X in lateral aspect longer than broad, with flat ventral surface, in dorsal aspect broad at base and slightly narrowed distally, without ventral process.
Measurements. Male 6.4 and 6.8 mm long, head 1.6 mm wide across eyes and 1.8 and 2.0 mm wide across posterolateral angles of pronotum.
Material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂: INDONESIA: Sulawesi: “ Celebes ” “ Mandar P. Cardon” (IRSNB). Paratype, 1 ♂, data as holotype (IRSNB).
Etymology. The species is named after the collector, Mr. P. Cardon.
Remarks. The holotype and the paratype (slightly teneral specimen with one of the wings damaged) do not bear any label regarding the date of collection.
M. cardoni resembles M. determinatus (Distant) from Seychelles in having similar male genitalia. However, it differs from the latter in the following characters (characters of M. determinatus in parenthesis): subgenital plate more or less of uniform width throughout with apex rounded (of uneven width and apex truncate); the style with apical half abruptly narrowed into thin process (apical 1/4 gradually narrowed).
description: Published as part of Viraktamath, C. A. & Meshram, Naresh M., 2017, A review of the coelidiine leafhopper genus Mahellus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Coelidiinae) with description of two new species from the Oriental region, pp. 271-280 in Zootaxa 4258 (3) on page 273, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4258.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/569765