Species Varicopsella apecurvata Yang, Dietrich and Zhang, 2017
Compiler and date details
5 June 2017 - Murray J. Fletcher
- Varicopsella apecurvata Yang, L.Y., Dietrich, C.H. & Zhang, Y.L. 2017. Three new Macropsini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) leafhopper species from Australia. Zootaxa 4273(2): 271–278 [276].
Type data:
Holotype QMBA ♂ (coll> at house light, 6 Jan 2005, K. Hill, D. Marshall and M. Moulds, 180m.), Noonbah Station, SW of Longreach, Queensland [24º4' S 143º11' E].
Paratype(s) INHS 29 ♂ 7♀, same as the holotype.
Introduction
This species represents the first record of the Oriental genus Varicopsella Hamilton in Australia.
Distribution
States
Queensland
Extra Distribution Information
Australian Endemic.
IBRA
Qld: Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD)
Ecological Descriptors
All stages: phloem feeder.
Diagnosis
Length. ♂ 3.7–3.9 mm, ♀ 4.2–4.4 mm. Head, pronotum, mesonotum and scutellum light brown, marked with dark brown lines and dots. Face light brown, with dark brown dots concentrated on dorsal half, eyes red brown. Mesonotum with basal triangles ochre. Forewing translucent light brown, with numerous small irregular dark spots. Body distinctly flattened dorsoventrally. Head including eyes wider than pronotum. Crown prominent, V-shaped in dorsal view. Face flat, longer than wide, lower half strongly inflated in male. Ocelli situated about 6 times closer to adjacent eyes than to each other. Pronotum long and broad, slightly declivous, striations on surface dense and oblique. Mesonotum and scutellum together shorter than pronotum. Hind tibia chaetotaxy PD 10, AD 8, AV 5. Forewings with 3 anteapical cells. Male genitalia. Pygofer broad, with 4–5 short spinelike distal processes on inner surface of lobe. Subgenital plate slender, parallel-sided, with scattered setae, dorsal setae longest. Aedeagus with preatrium weakly developed, shaft tubular, bent dorsally and evenly tapered to acute apex; in posterior view with atrium broadened near base with lateral margins evenly tapered dorsad, shaft slightly tapered toward rounded apex, gonopore subapical. Dorsal connectives divided into two sections, upper part long, curved laterad, with cheliform apex, ventral parts with a wide base and irregularly four-lobed apex in lateral view. Connective small, posterior margin truncate, with fingerlike protrusion in middle between dorsally bent anterolateral arms. Style relatively short and broad, apex abruptly tapered and upturned. Female. Body coloration and appearance similar to male. The new species resembles V. odentoidea Yang et al. but can be distinguished from the latter by the number of pygofer distal processes and the shape of the dorsal connective (Yang et al. 2017).
Diagnosis References
Yang, L.Y., Dietrich, C.H. & Zhang, Y.L. 2017. Three new Macropsini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) leafhopper species from Australia. Zootaxa 4273(2): 271–278 [276]
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macropsinae Evans, 1935 | 05-Jun-2017 | ADDED | Dr Murray Fletcher |