Patara cooki, Bahder & Gore-Francis & Bartlett, 2021

Bahder, Brian W., Gore-Francis, Janil & Bartlett, Charles R., 2021, A new species of planthopper in the genus Patara (Hemiptera: Derbidae) on coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) from the island of Barbuda, Zootaxa 4941 (3), pp. 369-380 : 372-378

Patara cooki sp. n.

( Figures 1–6 )

Type locality. Island of Barbuda, southwestern side .

Diagnosis. Body pale yellow (abdomen orangish) with fuscous bands on lateral margins of mesonotum and pronotum and frons. Forewings extensively marked with irregular fuscous patches along distal and posterior region, forming a rough ovoid ring; margin bearing a series of red marks in open cells between apex of Sc to cubital cell. Distal tips of RA diffuse into a cluster of tubercles near wing margin. Gonostyli broadly spatulate with large, apically bifurcate dorsal process. Aedeagus stort and asymmetrical, bearing an elongate dorsal process and a compact flagellum appearing wrappted around the aedeagal apex, bearing 4 varied processes, of which F1 is short and bifurcate and F3 is more elongate and simple.

Description. Color. General body color pale yellow interspersed with fuscous and white, abdominal tergites orange, and sternites fuscous ( Fig. 2 ). Head mostly white except carinae of frons diffuse fuscous, fading to yellow on vertex (small fuscous patch in front of eye); antennal pedicle dark with indistinct subapical reddish patch. Lateral fuscous bands on prothorax continued on mesothorax (fuscous in male, more yellowish in female), converging posteriorly on mesothorax, creating a median whitish vitta ( Fig. 2B ); thorax in lateral view with fuscous mark across coxa and adjacent pleuron. Forewings transparent with mostly pearlescent veins, diffuse fuscous patches in apical cells, anal cells, clavus ( Fig. 4 ); well defined fuscous patches present in ovoid distribution midwing; red marks on wing margin in open cells between apex of Sc to cubital cell. Abdomen orangish dorsally, darker ventrally with terminalia paler.

Structure. Body length (incl. wings), males 1.98–2.00 mm; females 2.23–2.25 mm ( Table 2). Head. In lateral view, smoothly rounded to ventral margin of frons, upturned posterior margin of vertex; head weakly projected in front of eyes (less than half eye width) ( Fig. 3A ). Vertex in dorsal view triangular (more broadly in females), widest at posterior margin, narrowing anteriorly to highly compressed frons, carina present at midline; vertex posteriorly angular (males) or convex (females) ( Fig. 3B ). Frons in in frontal view greatly compressed, lateral margins in nearcontact from top of eyes to clypeus, then diverging and (in frontal view) crossing genae to beneath the antennae, lateral carinae bearing weakly developed sensory pits; ( Fig. 3C ). In lateral view, clypeus markedly depressed relative to frons, in frontal view clypeus ovate to rounded ventral apex, lateral carinae weakly developed.

Thorax. Pronotum short, longest at midline, with anterior margin convex, appearing angular, laterally following contour of eyes; posterior margin sinuately concave in dorsal view (in lateral view, posterior margin concave at tegula, paradiscal region quadrate), carinae obscure ( Fig. 3B ). Mesonotum tricarinate (carinae obscure posteriorly), lateral carinae sinuate, diverging basad ( Fig. 3B ), tegulae evident. Posterior tibiae without lateral teeth, apex with 6 uniform teeth, 1 st and 2 nd tarsomeres 5–6 teeth each. Forewing with a row of pits along Sc+R and Pcu veins ( Fig. 4 ). Claval apex exceeding wing midlength, veins Pcu and A1 fused just beyond claval midlength, combined veins reaching wing margin well shy of claval apex. Fork of Sc+RA from RP near wing midlength, proximad of fork of MP (MP 1+2 from MP 3+4). Branching pattern, RA 2-branched, RP 2-branched, MP 5-branched and CuA 2-branched. Branch MP 3+4 appears to fuse with CuA prior to fork of CuA 1.and remain fused with CuA 2, and MP 2 touches the fused MP 3+4 +CuA 2 and dog-legs (intercepting an im crossvein) to reach trailing margin of wing.

Terminalia. Pygofer in lateral view narrow, caudal margin rounded, convex; anteriorly concave, forming straplike arc; widest ventrally, narrowed dorsad with slight expansion at midpoint, broader at dorsum ( Fig. 5A ); in ventral view, medioventral process absent ( Fig. 5B ). Gonostyli in lateral view broadly spatulate, ventral margin sinuate, apex truncate, dorsal margin with large, bifurcate, medially arched process arising at midpoint (apices diverging, slightly sclerotized ( Fig. 5A ); in ventral view, ventrolateral margins smoothly curved, ventral medial margins sinuate (left and right gonostyli asymmetrical), forming two concavities (basal longer than apical) ( Fig. 5B ). Aedeagus asymmetrical, shaft relatively short, dorsal and ventral margins sinuate, single elongate, sinuate process on shaft arising near base of flagellum, directed dorso-cephalad (A1, Fig. 6 A–6D). Aedeagal flagellum compact, with the appearance of being wrapped around aedeagal apex, bearing a short bifid process arising on right lateral side of flagellum (F1), angled distad, posterior spine (F1a) angled slightly dorsad, anterior spine (F1b) angled slightly cephalad ( Fig. 6 ); dorsal margin of flagellum produced dorsad with acute apex (F2) and bifid process (F3) extending cephalad from F2, with dorsal fork (F3a) angled slightly ventrad and about half length of ventral fork (F3b), F3b strongly angled ventrad ( Fig. 6B ); long, slender hooked sclerotized process (F4) arising on left lateral side of flagellum, apex pointing ventrad. Anal tube short (length of anal tube and paraproct combined not reaching paramere apex), in lateral view ventral margin straight, dorsal margin arching dorsad at base, forming small lobe; ventro-lateral margins projecting further than dorsal, creating pointed apices ( Fig. 5a ); in dorsal view anal tube broad and quadrate; paraproct stout at base, distally converging to rounded apex.

Plant associations. Coconut palm ( Cocos nucifera L.), Arecaceae .

Distribution. Island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda

Etymology. The specific name is given in honor of Mr. Kenneth Cook who arranged for the lead authors expedition to Antigua and Barbuda.

Material examined. Holotype male “ Barbuda, SW part of island/ Coll.: B.W.Bahder / 30.I.2020 /Host: Cocos nucifera // Holotype / Patara cooki /” ( FSCA) ; Paratypes, 10 males, 17 females, Barbuda coconut plantation [30 January 2020] ( FLREC) .

Sequence Data. For the COI locus, 619 bp product was generated for P. cooki sp. n. (GenBank Accession No. MW 332651 ) and P. guttata (GenBank Accession No. MW 332650 ). The phylogenetic analysis showed strong bootstrap support (96) for P. cooki sp. n. resolving close to P. guttata and strong support (93) for the genus Patara using the COI locus ( Fig. 7 ). The pairwise comparison demonstrated that P. cooki sp. n. differed by 7.8% to P. guttata and 15.8% to P. vanduzei (Table 3).

For the 18S locus, a 1,405 bp product was generated for P. cooki sp. n. (GenBank Accession No. MW 333024 ) and a 1,365 bp product for P. guttata (GenBank Accession No. MW 333025 ). No phylogeny was constructed for the 18S locus due to lack of 18S data for Otiocerinae ; however, the difference between the 18S locus between P. cooki sp. n. and P. guttata is 1.8%. Anotia firebugia differs by 14.2% and 14.5% from P. cooki sp. n. and P. guttata , respectively.

Remarks. The species of Patara appear most readily diagnosed by features of the aedeagus, dorsal process of the gonostyli and coloration. Also, wing venation appears to differ among the species. Unfortunately, these features are not readily available for all the described taxa of Patara .

Based on the descriptions of Patara species (and available specimens of P. guttata and P. vanduzei ), P. cooki sp. n. seems most similar to the taxa described by Fennah (1952) from the Caribbean, and in particular Patara mimula (viz. Fennah 1952, fig. 23C–F), especially the form from Montserrat. Patara cooki sp. n. differs structurally from P. mimula by the dorsal process on the gonostyli, which in P. mimula is distally anvil-shaped (prolonged caudally instead of anteriorly) and that the processes associated with the aedeagal apex, while comparable take on different forms, viz., in P. mimula the process F1 is divided into 2 processes (in the Dominican form of P. mimula F1b is greatly prolonged and distally bifurcated), F3 is either absent ( Dominica) or prolonged and bifid (Monserrat), and both forms of P. mimula appear to bear a short process on the lateral margin of the right side, absent in P. cooki sp. n. The forewing of P. mimula ( Fennah 1952, fig. 24D) is similar to P. cooki sp. n. except that the red markings on the

tegmina of P. cooki sp. n. appear to be absent in P. mimula , and (if Fennah’s drawing is accurate), many of the veins

are at different angles such that the cells take differing shapes, e.g., cells C2’, C3aa, and C3a are all more elongate

in P. mimula and the apex of vein MP 3+4 more strongly curved in P. mimula .

A remarkable feature of P. cooki sp. n. is that the RA vein apices appear to dissolve and expand into a cone-

shaped patch of tubercles that reach the wing margin.

Figures

FIGURE 1. In vivo Patara cooki sp. n. on coconut palm frond (A–B) and surrounding habitat (C).

FIGURE 2. Adult male habitus Patara cooki sp. n.; A) body lateral view and B) body dorsal view, scale = 1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Adult Patara cooki sp. n.; A–C, male; D–F, female: A) head, pronotum and mesonotum lateral view, B) head, pronotum and mesonotum dorsal view, C) head frontal view, D) head, pronotum and mesonotum lateral view, E) head, pronotum and mesonotum dorsal view, and F) head frontal view.

FIGURE 4. Forewing of Patara cooki sp. n.; black = vein, green = cell.

FIGURE 5. Male terminalia of Patara cooki sp. n.; A) lateral view, B) ventral view, and C) dorsal view anal tube.

FIGURE 6. Aedeagus of adult male Patara cooki sp. n.; A) right lateral view, B) left lateral view, C) dorsal view, and D) ventral view.

FIGURE 7. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree (1,000 replicates) exhibiting the relationship of Patara cooki sp. n. to other members of the Otiocerinae based on COI sequence data.