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

description: Pravistylus mecophysis sp. n.   
(Figs 1 s; 2 ab; 3 d; 4 d; 5 t; 6 c; 7 au; 8 ag & ah)  
 Diagnosis. Style apophysis acute, longer than base, extending well beyond posterior margin of plate (Fig. 5 t). Plate medial proximal margin straight, distal margin shallowly concave, lateral margin rounded; apex digitate; apex curving medially (Fig. 2 ab). Aedeagus very small; shaft depressed, straight, with apex curved dorsad (Figs 3 d, 4 d).   
 Etymology. Greek, for the very long (mekos) apophysis of the style.   
 Male and female. Pale ochraceous; feint fuscous marking sometimes on apex of vertex. Tegmina with costal cells opaque. Pygofer dorsolaterally at anterior margin with large fuscous marking (Figs 8 ag & ah). Hind wing reduced, triangular, about half the length of tegmina.   
 Male. Dimensions. (n = 21) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.0– 2.2 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.1–2.5 mm; vertex medially 0.3–0.4 mm; vertex next to eye 0.2–0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.2–0.3 mm. Width: head 0.7 mm; pronotum 0.6–0.7 mm. Ocellar diameter 11.5–23.5 µ m; ocellocular distance 36.9–49.1 µm.   
 Genital capsule. Pygofer, in lateral view, with dorsal and ventral margins extending uniformly into broadly rounded lobe (Fig. 1 s). Plate apex digitate, curved medially; medial margin straight basally, slightly sinuous subapically, lateral margin rounded; 7–8 marginal macrosetae (Fig. 2 ab); plate 1.4–1.7 times as long as wide. Aedeagus, in lateral view, with shaft arising medially on atrium; preatrium and dorsal apodeme short; dorsal view, shaft depressed, about twice as wide as width in lateral view; base of shaft straight, apex curved dorsad; gonopore subbasal, dorsal (Figs 3 d, 4 d). Style distal part far from anterior medial lobe; apophysis distinctly elongate, tapering gradually to narrow point, longer than base of style; apophysis extending well beyond posterior margin of plate (Fig. 2 ab); teeth on apophysis extending from apex to base (Fig. 5 t). Connective with stem about as long as base; in lateral view, straight (Fig. 6 c).   
 Female. Dimensions. (n = 10) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 2.0– 2.4 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.2–2.7 mm; vertex medially 0.3–0.4 mm; vertex next to eye 0.2–0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.7–0.8 mm; pronotum 0.6–0.7 mm. Ocellar diameter 14.1–24.6 µ m; ocellocular distance 40.7–44.1 µm.   
 Genitalia. Sternite 7 ligula short, notched, flanked on either side by slightly shorter, obtusely triangular process (Fig. 7 au).   
 Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Western Cape. Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, Scarborough, 34°14ʹS, 18°25ʹE, 60 m, 10.xii.2004, DVac, Pseudopentameris macrantha, Pentaschistis curvifolia, Tribolium hispidum (Poaceae) (SANC). Paratypes. 20♂, 4♀, 2 nymphs. Western Cape. 8♂, 2♀, Silvermine Nature Reserve, Noordhoek, 34°06ʹS, 18°25ʹE, 76 m, 9.xii.2004, DVac; 7♂, 5♀, same data as holotype; 3♂, between Betty’s Bay and Pringle Bay, 34°21ʹS, 18°52ʹE, 19.xii.2004, DVac, rehabilitated refuse dump; 3♂, 2♀, 2 nymphs, Hangklip, Pringle Bay, 34°23ʹS, 18°50ʹE, 19.xii.2004, DVac; all M. Stiller (BMNH, INHS, SANC).   
 Remarks. All examined specimens except one have the hind wing reduced. The tegmina is sometimes as long as the abdomen, but usually shorter. No other species of Pravistylus has a similarly elongate style apophysis that protrudes far beyond the plate (Fig. 2 ab). However, the styles in species such as P. bidentidiscus (plate as in Fig. 2 ar) and P. scolophallus sp. n. (plate as in Fig. 2 as) have the apophysis protruding beyond the plate to a lesser extent. These two species have the plate modified to a greater degree than in species from the Grassland Biome. The aedeagi of P. deltoplacus (Fig. 3 c), P. mecophysis (Fig. 3 d) and P. bidentidiscus (Fig. 3 e) are very similar, although the styles and plates differ distinctly. To an extent the aedeagi of P. brachyplacus (Fig. 3 f) and P. mollidiscus sp. n. (Fig. 3 g) bear some resemblance, but have shorter and more tubular shafts than that of P. mecophysis (Fig. 3 d).
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 30-31, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10094177