Malaysiapona, Lu & Dietrich & Webb & Zhang, 2019

Lu, Lin, Dietrich, Christopher H., Webb, M. D. & Zhang, Yalin, 2019, Two new genera of Pacific Paraboloponina leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Drabescini) with description of three new species, Zootaxa 4604 (1), pp. 176-182 : 176-177

Malaysiapona gen. nov.

Type species: Malaysiapona brevipenis sp. nov.

Description. Length (including tegmen). Male: 6.5–9.5 mm.

Body olive green; crown with orange band occupying distal half, with a black spot ( filamenta ) or without a black spot ( brevipenis ) close to eye; face dark greenish at base and stramineous apically; pronotum with anteromedial, medial and posterolateral pairs of symmetrical orange markings; mesonotum and scutellum each with pair of submedial orange markings, apex of scutellum orange; forewing smoky hyaline with costal and commissural margins orange and orange spot at base of corium. Front tibia orange.

Body oblong, relatively broad, somewhat depressed. Head slightly broader than pronotum; anterior margin relatively thick in profile, weakly bicarinate with few additional fine transverse striations; ocelli small, situated in sulcus of foremargin, separated from adjacent eye by distance equal to own diameter ( filamenta ) or twice own diameter ( brevipenis ). Crown flat, slightly depressed behind anterior margin, anterior margin broadly rounded in dorsal view, only slightly longer medially than next to eye. Face with lateral frontal sutures strongly divergent dorsad of antennal pits, extended to ocelli; clypeus relatively narrow, lightly swollen dorsally, depressed ventrally; clypeal suture straight; anteclypeus with lateral margins concave, apex expanded; lora broad; gena emarginate below eyes; antenna longer than half body length; antennal pits situated near upper corner of eyes, encroaching onto clypeus; antennal ledges moderately developed and oblique but not carinate. Pronotum well produced between eyes, hind margin slightly concave; lateral margin short, carinate; posterior two thirds with irregular transverse striations; mesonotum and scutellum together slightly broader than long; scutellar suture arcuate. Forewing with four apical cells and three subapical cells, inner subapical cell open; two anterior branches of R reflexed; appendix broad. Fore femur with AM1 near midheight of femur, AV with few stout setae in basal half; IC with series of several fine, close-set setae; fore tibia with dorsal setal arrangement of rows AD and PD: 1 (small stout seta) +5. Hind femur macrosetae 2+2+1.

Male genitalia. Pygofer dorsal bridge moderately long; lobe very long, constricted basally, tapered to acutely rounded apex, posterior margin smooth or denticulate, processes absent, with numerous macrosetae. Valve broadly triangular. Xth segment long, anterodorsal margin ‘V’ shaped in dorsal view. Subgenital plate with base broad and rounded laterally, apex attenuate, macrosetae absent, scattered long fine setae present. Style apophysis stout with lateroposterior angle acutely produced (avicephaliform), finely denticulate, preapical lobe poorly developed. Connective small, Y-shaped with stem broadened apically, arms thickened and weakly divergent. Aedeagus with dorsal apodeme moderately well developed, column-like, bifurcate apically; shaft short to moderately long, curved dorsad without processes; gonopore large, apical on ventral surface; basal preatrium-like area present, laterally expanded with sides forming curved sclerotised rods, fused dorsally to distal part of basal apodeme and ventrally extended into a pair of elongate processes, directed caudally, central area weakly sclerotised with a thin transverse band subbasally giving rise to a medial caudally directed process. Small accessory sclerite (paraphysis) between connective and aedeagus.

Female unknown.

Distribution. Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak).

Remarks. This genus can be distinguished externally by its bright orange markings and short head with anterior margin relatively thick in profile. The new genus, together with Chandrapona gen. nov. can be distinguished in the male genitalia by the unusual laterobasal development of a preatrium-like area on the aedeagus giving rise to two caudally directed ventral processes and a third process in Malaysiapona (see descriptions). This genus is also similar in head shape and bright orange markings to three other Paraboloponina genera, Roxasellana Zhang & Zhang , Tenompoella Zhang & Webb and Nakula Distant. In addition to its unusual aedeagus Malaysiapona differs from Roxasellana by it Y-shaped connective and aedeagus with a simple non-branched dorsal apodeme, from Tenompoella by lacking a posterior process on the connective and from Nakula in having the vertex longer than next to eyes.

Etymology. The genus name is a combination of its locality Malaysia and the ending of the type genus Parabolopona of the subtribe.