Membracis obliquifasciata Evangelista and Sakakibara, 2010

Sakakibara, Albino M. & Evangelista, Olívia, 2010, Membracis foliata (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Membracinae) and allied species: an effort towards their correct determination, Journal of Natural History 44 (35 - 36), pp. 2131-2148 : 2144-2145

Membracis obliquifasciata Evangelista and Sakakibara sp. nov.

( Figures 19, 25 , 28 )

Diagnosis

Pronotum black, with vertical yellow band on anterior margin extended from anterior lobe to dorsum and, another, running along lateral margins above humeral angles to apex of posterior process; in lateral view, fusiform, highly elevated above humeral angles and gradually descending towards apex of posterior process.

Measurements

Male/female (mm): total length 10.62/12.62; length of pronotum 8.87/10.62; length of tegmina 8.12/9.87; width of head 2.25/2.37; width between humeral angles 2.81/3.18; length of head 1.25/1.50.

Description

Female. Pronotum black; in lateral view, with two yellow bands: one vertical, occupying all the anterior margin, from anterior lobe to dorsum at the highest point; the second one, running obliquely from above humeral angles downwards to lateral margin and expanded dorsally at the apex of posterior process. Head blackish, eyes and ocelli castaneous. Tegmina dark, opaque; hind wings hyaline, slightly amber. Ventral surface of head, thorax, abdomen and legs, concolorous with pronotum, except for brown tarsi.

Head approximately as wide as long, finely punctuate and pubescent, especially above the epistomal suture; vertex weakly convex, lateral borders very slightly curved anteriorly; epistomal suture indistinctly grooved; superior margin inconspicuously sinuous; ocelli prominent, closer to eyes than each other; suprantennal ledges somewhat straight, foliaceous, vertical, almost parallel to each other; postclypeus diamond shaped, as long as wide, extended half its length beyond lower margins of vertex, apex truncate, covered with dense and shining pubescence.

Pronotum finely punctuate, sparsely pubescent; highly elevated above humeral angles, almost twice as long as high and then gradually arcuate to apex; in lateral view, fusiform, distinctly projected for a short distance anterior to the head, anterior lobe rounded and weakly projected downwards, not reaching the level of ocelli; humeral angles obsolete; apex of posterior process acute, reaching distal angle of fifth apical cell of tegmina. Sutural line uniformly arcuate, almost parallel to dorsal margin.

Tegmina with veins R, M and Cu divergent at base; one discoidal and five apical cells; transverse veins s, r-m and 2 m-cu present; veins distinct, weakly punctuate throughout.

Male. Identical to female, smaller. Genitalia closely resembling that of other Membracis species : aedeagus U-shaped, shaft directed vertically, anterior surface denticulate apically; styles slender, apical hook of shank curved, apex truncate with sharp edges, the ventral edge more pronounced; gonopore large, eliptical, subapical on posterior surface, membrane not produced.

Holotype female. “ Equateur | Versant Amazonien | Shushufindi | vi.1985 | B. Perthuis réc.” . Paratypes: 1 male and 4 females with the same label data as holotype ( MNHN) and 1 female: “ DEPT. PUTUMAYO RIVE DROITE DU RIO | PUTU- MAYO EL PAUJIL 300 M. 12-XI-1968 ”, “Muséum Paris | Colombie | M. Descamps rec” ( MNHN) ; 1 male with the same label data as holotype and 2 females: “ EQUA- TEUR | VERSANT AMAZONIEN”; “SHUSHUFINDI | vi.1985 | B. PERTHUIS REC” ( DZUP) .

Distribution

ECUADOR: Sucumbios [Shushufindi].

Remarks

Membracis obliquifasciata sp. nov. superficially resembles M. foliata (L.) in having the frontal yellow band covering the anterior margin of pronotum and the posterior band running along the lateral margins until the apex. It differs, however, in the form of pronotum, being fusiform instead of semicircular and the posterior yellow band somewhat oblique, not curved in a straight angle up to the dorsal margin.

Figures

Figures 24–26. Membracis species, frontal view. (24) M. latifasciata Sakakibara and Evangelista sp. nov. (holotype 3, ZMUC); (25) M. obliquifasciata Evangelista & Sakakibara sp. nov. (holotype ♀, MNHN); (26) M. luizae Evangelista and Sakakibara sp. nov. (holotype ♀, DZUP). Note: Scale bar, 1 mm.

Figures 27–29. Membracis species, paratype male genitalia, lateral view. (27) M. latifasciata Sakakibara and Evangelista sp. nov.; (28) M. obliquifasciata Evangelista and Sakakibara sp. nov.; (29) M. luizae Evangelista and Sakakibara sp. nov. Note: Scale bar, 0.5 mm.