Curtara (Labata) ushima, Coelho, Luci Boa Nova & Da-Silva, Elidiomar Ribeiro, 2012

Coelho, Luci Boa Nova & Da-Silva, Elidiomar Ribeiro, 2012, A new species of Curtara DeLong & Freytag (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from Middle Western Brazil, Zootaxa 3478, pp. 77-80 : 77-79

Curtara (Labata) ushima sp.nov.

( Figs 1–8 )

Length of male 9 mm. General color pale brown with small brown spots. Crown twice as wide between eyes at base as median length; anterior margin rounded, slightly upturned at middle. Crown with median brown spot near anterior margin; coronal suture brown, not reaching anterior margin; three yellow spots near anterior margin, one nearest median brown spot, two nearest proximal eye; posterior margin with three small spots between median line and eye, one yellow, one dark-brown and another yellow. Eyes reddish-brown. Ocelli red, closer to median line than to adjacent eye. Pronotum with maximum width about twice median length; small dark-brown spot near anterior margin each side of median line; anterolateral area yellowish with irregular brown spots. Scutellum with small brown spot on each side of median line. Forewing beige with row of small brown spots, veins reddish-brown; apical cells with marginal dark-brown spots, vein CuA2 dark-brown; veins AA and AP with apical dark-brown spot, transverse vein of m cell spotted with darkbrown; base of appendix dark-brown, apical region suffused with brown. Hind wings with dark-brown veins.

Male genitalia. Subgenital plate about 3.5 times as long as broad, apex broadly rounded. Pygofer narrowed apically, somewhat triangular in shape (lateral view), bearing apical long slender dorsally directed spine about 1/2 length of pygofer. Style long, slender, narrowed on apical half, with short pointed enlargement on ventral margin at 3/4 length of blade; apex dorsally bent and pointed; small and delicate setae irregularly distributed from basal lobe to pre-apical area. Connective with main stem short and narrow, with lateral arms forming transverse plate, proportionally more robust. Aedeagus with rather slender shaft, broadened apically (ventral view), bearing pair of divergent retrorse apical processes, processes about 1/4 length of shaft; basal portion dorsally recurved, forming broad and flattened plate bearing pair of dorsally directed, distally branched processes, bases of processes fused medially; basal plate with pair of membranous expansions from anterolateral region parallel to shaft, medially linked to internal wall of the genital capsule and apically hood-like, bearing microsetae.

Type material. Holotype male, BRASIL, Mato Grosso: Manso (Usina Hidrelétrica de Manso), 25/i/1988, J.L.Nessimian leg. (deposited in “Coleção Entomológica José Alfredo Pinheiro Dutra”, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil).

Comments. Curtara ushima sp.nov. is quite similar to C. xingua ( DeLong 1980) , except for the longer pygofer spine, the apically branched basal aedeagal processes, and the presence of distal aedeagal processes. In relation to C. basala ( DeLong & Triplehorn 1978) , C. ushima sp.nov. is distinguished by the longer dorsally directed spine of the pygofer, the more rounded apex of the subgenital plate, the blunt apex of the style, and the apically branched basal aedeagal processes.

The type-locality of C. ushima sp.nov. is situated in a hot equatorial and tropical climatic area, with slight seasonal temperature variation ( IBGE 1989), alternating between a wet season (from October /November to April) and a dry season (from May to September/October). The average annual temperature is 21ºC to 26 ºC, and corresponds to a Köppen classification of tropical savanna (Aw) ( Neto et al. 1993; Andrade et al. 2008). In this region, savanna zones predominate, with large areas in which pasture and annual crops prevail ( Andrade et al. 2008). Geographically, the typelocality of C. ushima sp.nov. is approximately halfway between C. xingua (Xingu, Mato Grosso State, Brazil) and C. basala (Chaco, Paraguay) localities ( Fig. 9 ), which have similar climatic and vegetation characteristics.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Curtara ushima sp. nov., holotype male (dorsolateral view).

FIGURES 2 – 8. Curtara ushima sp. nov. 2. subgenital plate (ventrolateral view); 3. pygofer (lateral view); 4. stylus (lateral view); 5. style (ventral view); 6. aedeagus (ventral view); 7. aedeagus (lateral view); 8. connective (ventral view).

FIGURE 9. Distribution map of the species of the subgenus Labata DeLong & Triplehorn: (1) Curtara basala DeLong & Triplehorn (Chaco, Paraguay); (2) C. xingua DeLong (Xingu, Mato Grosso State, Brazil); (3) C. ushima sp. nov. (Manso, Mato Grosso State, Brazil).