Hecalus veracious, Naveed & Zhang, 2018

Naveed, Hassan & Zhang, Yalin, 2018, Review of the grass feeding leafhopper genus Hecalus Stål (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) with description of four new species from Pakistan, Zootaxa 4415 (3), pp. 580-590 : 587-588

Hecalus veracious , sp. nov.

( Fig. 6A–H ; Plate IIG–I)

Length. Male: 6mm; female: 7.6mm.

Colouration and Morphology: Yellow greenish to pale yellowish in colour (Plate IIG). Crown and face without submarginal fuscous lines (Plate IIG, I). Crown pale yellowish in colour, with greenish fuscous spot on each side of dorsal marginal ridge. Pronotum yellowish green, laterally carinate. Scutellum with three yellowish longitudinal fuscous bands. Crown subangularly produced; triangular. Ocelli on margin next to eyes, prominent. Genae strongly sinuate below eyes. Pronotum as wide as head, laterally carinate.

Genitalia: Pygofer lobe long; acute apically, heavily setose in posterior half ( Fig. 6A ). Valve broadly triangular ( Fig. 6E ). Subgenital plates elongate, broad basally, tapered apically with 7–8 submarginal setae except in apical half ( Fig. 6E ). Connective “Y”-shaped with stem short ( Fig. 6C ). Style with pointed apophysis, digitate, preapical lobe moderately developed ( Fig. 6B ). Aedeagus with finger-like dorsal apodeme ( Fig. 6G ). Aedeagal shaft long, straight with few serrations above median length dorsally; pair of leaf-like dorsally serrated apical processes, directed cephalad (Figure 8F–G); gonopore apical.

Type material: Holotype: ♂, Pakistan, Punjab Prov., Faisalabad, Mianwali City , 24 June 2016, Coll. Hassan Naveed . Paratypes: 2♂, 2♀, same data as holotype .

Remarks: This species is similar to H. morrisoni Rao & Ramakrishnan, 1990 in having the pygofer lobe acute apically and the leaf-like aedeagal processes directed cephalad. But it differs in having the much straighter aedeagal shaft without median constriction and few serrations above median length. Male genitalia are also much closer to H. umballaensis Distant, 1908 but the pygofer lobe is acute in this new species and aedeagal shaft is without apical constriction.

Etymology: The species epithet refers to the straight aedeagal shaft without constriction.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Hecalus veracious sp. nov. A. PygoPhore, lateral view; B. style, dorsal view; C. connective, dorsal view; D. subgenital Plate, dorsal view; E. valve; F. aedeagus, dorsal view; G. aedeagus lateral view; H. female seventh sternite, ventral view.