Scaphoideus intermedius Matsumura, 1914

Chen, Fangying, Dai, Wu & Zhang, Yalin, 2015, Review of species of the Scaphoideus albovittatus group (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from China, with a checklist and distribution summary for Chinese species in the genus, Zootaxa 3904 (3), pp. 334-358 : 347

Scaphoideus intermedius Matsumura, 1914

( Fig. 3 D)

Scaphoideus intermedius Matsumura, 1914:225

Coloration, external shape as described by Matsumura (1914) in German. Description is reproduced from English translation, photos of lectotype on the website of the National Digital Archives Program/ National Museum of Natural Science (NMNS) (2011) and notes from Kitbamroong & Freytag (1978).

Vertex with 3 dark spots at front edge, one is small located at apex, other two narrow and along lateral edge; anterior margin of face with 2 black transverse lines, in male lower one is interrupted in middle, while in female 3 small black spots show between antennae; forewing strongly mottled, but with less white than in S. albovittatus , and veins somewhat stronger intermittent.

Male genitalia. Pygofer short, posterior margin straight; genital plates 3 times as long as valve, tip pointed. Aedeagal shaft with pair of apical processes curved ventrally and pair of subapical dorsal processes.

Female genitalia. Seventh sternum emarginate arched at back edge laterally, with medial protuberance, stained brownish, protuberance abruptly concave in middle.

Distribution. China ( Taiwan).

Remarks. This species was described by Matsumura (1914) from Taiwan from several specimens deposited in Hokkaido University. However, no specimens of this species were examined during the study. The species was very briefly described and without recourse to the study of male genitalia it is difficult to separate it from other similarly colored species. Fortunately, photos of the lectotype specimen of S. intermedius with label data “ Taiwan, Koshun, 7 May 1906, Matsumura S., Scaphoideus intermedius det. Matsumura”, are available on the website of the National Digital Archives Program/ National Museum of Natural Science (NMNS) (2011). According to the original description from Matsumura (1914), notes from Kitbamroong & Freytag (1978) and photos, the shape and appearance of S. intermedius is very similar to S. kumamotonis and S. maai , but the former differs in (1) the smaller size; (2) crown more strongly produced anteriorly, medial length 1.6 times as long as width between eyes; (3) two large, round spots next to eyes with diameter equal to 1.5 times their distance from hind margin of head; (4) aedeagal shaft with a pair of apical processes curved ventrally and a pair of subapical dorsal processes. This species is also very similar to S. ryukyuensis Kamitani & Hayashi (2013) in external shape and male genitalia, and is not possible to differentiate them based on available data. Here we provisionally distinguish it by the strongly produced crown and two large round spots next to the eyes.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Head and thorax, dorsal view. A. Scaphoideus albovittatus; B. Scaphoideus rostratus sp. nov.; C. Scaphoideus coniceus; D. Scaphoideus intermedius; E. Scaphoideus kumamotonis; F. Scaphoideus maai; G. Scaphoideus yuani sp. nov.; H. Scaphoideus sagittatus sp. nov. (D. after NMNS, used with permission)