Christopherus mictlantecuhtli Pinedo-Escatel & Blanco-Rodríguez 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Pinedo-Escatel, Jorge Adilson
name: Blanco-Rodríguez, Edith
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Christopherus
Christopherus mictlantecuhtli

description: Christopherus mictlantecuhtli sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 5931072A-D84A-4872-A158-513DEA9C3850
Figs 1–10
Etymology
The epithet is dedicated to the Aztec god of death and king of Mictlan (underworld), named “Mictlantecuhtli” based on the Nahuatl language (pronunciation: Mict-lan-te-cuht-li). The most prominent deity that ruled over other gods and goddesses of the Mictlan in Aztec culture. Gender masculine.
Type material
Holotype MEXICO – Sierra Juárez • ♂; “Hwy 175 33mi S. Valle Nacional, 7800 ft, 16 May 1983, C. & L. O’Brien, & G.B. Marshall ”; INHS.
Description
COLORATION. Body red with longitudinal black stripes. Face almost entirely black with paired vertical red markings on ecdysial line; crown with well-defined inconspicuous red marks; ocelli red; postfrontal sutures faint black. Midline faint with red and black, not carinate. Antennal ledge black with margin straight. Frontoclypeus mostly black with minute red dots; surface rugose and striated. Anteclypeus colored with black markings near apical suture and apex red. Gena mostly black with paler areas near basal eye angle, laterally, and basally. Lora entirely black. Pronotum with three longitudinal red bands, two laterally and one central surrounded by black. Scutellum with red band in center and black borders. Forewings with three longitudinal red and two black stripes running along total length. Abdomen with dorsum mostly black and venter dark yellow. Legs light yellow. Male genital capsule dark yellow.
MALE TERMINALIA. Pygofer 1.5× as long as tall; posterior margin rounded; 4 rows of 7–12 macrosetae with microsetae scattered distally. Subgenital plate triangular; broad at base tapering to tip with preapical constriction on inner margin; 10–13 uniseriate macrosetae on lateral margin with several intercalated long fine setae. Style narrow; surface smooth; base acute, medial anterior lobe absent, preapical lobe weakly developed, apophysis somewhat long and slightly curved with apex pointed outwards. Connective much longer than style; 1.3 × as long as style. Aedeagus extended nearly to apex of pygofer, broad; recurved dorsad, apex emarginate in lateral view; base bulbous and corrugated dorsally, basal atrium process strongly recurved with apex extended to left side.
FEMALE TERMINALIA. Unknown.
Measurements in millimeters
Total length ♂ 6.00, ♀ unknown; width 1.50. Head: width 1.33; midlength 0.46; eye width 0.30; eye length 0.19; crown mid width before eyes 0.94; crown posterior width between eyes 0.72; distance between ocelli 0.52; frontoclypeus width 0.77; frontoclypeus length 0.91; anteclypeus width 0.22; anteclypeus length 0.20; lorum width 0.11; lorum length 0.25; gena width 0.33; gena length 0.39. Pronotum: width 1.41; length 0.89. Scutellum: width 0.76; length 0.56. Forewing: length 4.70. Male capsule: pygofer height 0.45; pygofer length 0.97; valve width 0.36; valve length 0.39; subgenital plate, apex width 0.12; mid width 0.25, base width 0.27; plate length 0.80; style length 0.25; connective length 0.35; aedeagus length 0.45.
Type locality
33 mi S of Valle Nacional (near Cascada de Niebla de Comaltepec).
Remarks
This new species is externally similar in appearance to Gillonella ampulla Nielson & Godoy, 1995 but C. mictlantecuhtli gen. et sp. nov. can be easily distinguishable by the (1) 10 th abdominal segment without processes; (2) joint of atrium to 10 th segment membranous, and (3) aedeagus with an elongated compressed basal atrial process.
description: Published as part of Pinedo-Escatel, Jorge Adilson & Blanco-Rodríguez, Edith, 2024, A new genus of Cicadellini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from the Oaxacan Cloud Forest, with taxonomic notes on allied red-striped genera, pp. 205-228 in European Journal of Taxonomy 930 (1) on pages 215-217, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.930.2495, http://zenodo.org/record/10925889