Parallygus divaricatus Melichar

Dai, Wu & Zhang, Yalin, 2012, Revision of the Oriental leafhopper genus Parallygus Melichar (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) with description of new species, Zootaxa 3157, pp. 41-53 : 45-47

Parallygus divaricatus Melichar

Figs 4 A–F.

Parallygus divaricatus Melichar, 1903: 179 –180, pl.V, figs 7a–b.

Coloration as described by Melichar (1903) and the English translation by Distant (1908) is reproduced here. “Brownish-yellow; on the margin of vertex four black spots, of which the two inner ones are at the tip, and sometimes connected with a very small angulated spot, the lateral spots contiguous to the ocelli; face yellowish without markings; pronotum marbled with brown, a black longitudinal streak on the sides; scutellum with several dark longitudinal streaks which form the borders of the usual basal triangles, two dots before the impressed transverse line and two marginal spots before the tip; tegmina brownish-yellow, with brown not very strong veins, the apical part spotted with brown, sometimes with indistinct longitudinal spots in the cells; wings smoky brown; pectus, abdomen and legs brownish-yellow; back black.”

Male genitalia: Pygofer triangular with dorsal marginal plate-like lobe similar to that in P. guttatus (see below); sclerotized bridge across pygofer lobes. Subgenital plates rounded with anterior process directed dorsally. Connective rather U-shaped without well developed stem. Aedeagus with well developed dorsal apodeme, base stout, with short tubular shafts, one basal pair of filamentous, sinuate processes twice as long as shaft and one pair of ventral process strongly hooked in apical 0.2 length.

Measurements. Male 6.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide across eyes. Female 7.2 mm long, 1.6 mm wide across eyes and 1.9 mm wide across hind margin of pronotum.

Material examined. SRI LANKA: HOLOTYPE 3, Ceylon, Rutres, divaricatus det. Melichar, Parallygus divaricatus n.g. n.sp. Melichar ( ZMB). Other material: SRI LANKA: 1 Ƥ, Dijatalawa, ix.1907, T.B. Fletcher ( BMNH).

Remarks. Paler than P. b u r m i n d i c u s and P. rameshi (see below), lacking facial spots and costal brown stripe. Distant (1908: 347, Fig. 220) translated and reproduced the description by Melichar (1903) in English and placed this species in the genus Phlepsius Fieber. However , it is clear that Distant misidentified the species as he figured a different species ( Zhang & Webb 1996).

This is the only species of Parallygus possessing a sclerotized bridge across the pygofer lobes ( Fig. 4 D).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Parallygus divaricatus Melichar. A. Male genital capsule; B. Pygofer process, ventral view; C. Connective, anteroventral view; D. Sclerotized bridge across pygofer lobes, posterior view; E. Style and connective, posterodorsal view; F. Aedeagus, lateral view. Free hand diagrams not to scale.