Pseudophera heveli Kramer, 1976

McKamey, Stuart H., 2020, Redescription of Pseudophera heveli Kramer (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) with the first description of the female, ZooKeys 976, pp. 101-107 : 101

Pseudophera heveli Kramer, 1976 Figs 1-5 , 6-13

Diagnosis.

Pronotum with dorsal processes, short and directed dorsally.

Description.

Measurements (mm). Total length (from anterior of head to tip of forewings in repose) female 18.6, male 18.4; crown length female 2.9, male 2.8; transocular distance female 4.3, male 4.2; interocular distance female and male 3.0; distance between compound eye and mesal line female and male 1.5; distance between ocellus and mesal line female 0.7, male 0.6; pronotum maximum width female 4.0, male 3.9; pronotum maximum length female and male 3.2; forewing length female 12.1, male 11.8; length of metathoracic femur female 3.0, male 2.6; length of metathoracic tibia female 5.3, male 5.7.

Head (Figs 1-3 , 5 ). Crown maximum length 0.7 times transocular distance and 2.1 times longer than interocular distance in dorsal view; frontoclypeus with deep muscle impressions laterally and planar medially, dorsal surface planar; lateral frontal suture extending onto crown to ocelli. Ocellus located at level of anterior limit of compound eye, distinctly closer to eye than to each other (ratio of distances between eyes vs. between ocelli 2.1). Clypellus anterior margin in lateral view at level of frontoclypeus. Thorax (Figs 1-3 , 5 ). Pronotum maximum width at posterolateral angles 1.1 times wider than transocular distance; maximum length 1.2 times longer than crown length; lateral margins convergent anteriorly, mostly smooth in anterior half, punctate in posterior half; posterior margin transverse; with a pair of suprahumeral processes that are short and directed vertically. Scutellum dorsally smooth, lacking longitudinal carina. Forewing (Figs 1-2 , 5 ) coriaceous; venation with a few extra crossveins between veins R4+5 and M1+2. Metathoracic leg with femoral setal formula 2:0:0:0 (AD1 and PD1); tibia with anteroventral row (AV) complete with cucullate (sensu Deitz 1975) macrosetae; anterodorsal (AD) and posteroventral (PV) rows complete with uniform non-cucullate macrosetae; posterodorsal (PD) row with smaller, more closely spaced, uniform, noncucullate macrosetae; ratio of length of each individual tarsomere by total tarsus length (excluding pretarsus) equal to 0.5, 0.4 and 0.3, respectively. Coloration. Male unicolorus dark brown throughout. Female unicolorous reddish brown throughout.

Male terminalia.

Pygofer (Fig. 6 ) in lateral view with dorsal margin straight; posterior margin subtruncate. Subgenital plates (Fig. 7 ) 1.4 times longer than wide at base in ventral view, not fused. Connective (Fig. 8 ) in dorsal view short (1.5 times wider than long), roughly Y-shaped with anterior arms widely separated and laterally truncate. Style, in dorsal view, without preapical lobe; apex rounded, directed posteriorly beyond connective; ventral margin without preapical dentiform processes. Aedeagus (Figs 9-11 ) strongly sclerotized, elongate, with 2 pairs of stout spines posteriorly.

Female terminalia.

Sternite VII (Fig. 4 ) transverse, without median emargination of projections; internal sclerotized sternite VIII absent; valvula I (Fig. 14 ) long, apex acute, lacking spines; valvula II (Figs 12-13 ) in lateral view serratiform, with 36 teeth, each tooth microserrate on its own dorsal margin; valvula III (Fig. 15 ) long, broad, apex rounded, basally narrower than distally, lacking spines.

Material examined.

1 male "Costa Rica: | Puntarenas Prov. | Monteverde | 12-21 Apr 1984 | S.McKamey, Coll." (USNM), 1 female: "Monteverde, Costa Rica | Puntarenas Prov. | 1 July 1981 10:00 am | Stuart McKamey Coll. | flying through foliage | 1/2 way up rd. to Reserve" (USNM).

Distribution.

Still known only from Monteverde, Costa Rica, inside and just outside the Reserve. Biology and ecology unknown.

Notes.

Three species described since Young’s (1968) revision reveal that there is more variation in the shape of the posterior margin of the female sternum than indicated in his generic description. Young (1968) described the female sternum VII of Pseudophera as "broadly emarginate medially and with a slight convexity within the emargination," based on that of P. divergens (Schmidt) and presumably also his new species P. truncata , of which he had nine females to examine. Similarly, Emmrich’s (1999) illustrations of the female sternum VII indicate that P. tibialis Schmidt, P. contraria (Walker), P. heterogena Schmidt, and P. paraensis also have the deep, broad emargination. In contrast, the females of P. heveli (Fig. 4 ), P. chelicerata and P. jimenezi have the posterior margin of sternum VII transverse, without an emargination or a medial convexity.

Figures

Figures 1 - 5. Pseudophera heveli. Male (1 - 3) and female (4, 5) 1 - 3 habitus in dorsal, lateral, and anterior views, respectively 4 detail of undissected female sternum, ventral view 5 habitus, lateral view. Scale bar: 8 mm (1).

Figures 6 - 13. Terminalia of Pseudophera heveli 6 pygofer, anal segments, and subgenital plates, lateral view 7 subgenital plates, ventral view 8 male connective, dorsal view 9 - 11 male aedeagus in lateral, dorsal, and posterior views, respectively 12 detail of apex of female valvula II (posterior row of dentae digitally removed) 13 entire valvula II.

Figures 14 - 15. Female valvulae I and III of Pseudophera heveli in lateral views, respectively.