Rovnoxestus, DIETRICH & DMITRIEV & PERKOVSKY, 2021

DIETRICH, CHRISTOPHER H., DMITRIEV, DMITRY A. & PERKOVSKY, EVGENY E., 2021, A new leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from late Eocene Rovno amber described based on an adult and associated last-instar nymph from Perebrody (Ukraine), Palaeoentomology 4 (5), pp. 445-452 : 446

Rovnoxestus gen. nov.

( Figs 1–4 )

Type species. Rovnoxestus rasnitsyni sp. nov. here designated.

Etymology. The genus name, a masculine noun, was formed by combining the name of the fossil amber, Rovno, with an abbreviation of the name of a possibly related modern genus, Xestocephalus ; from Greek: ξεστός, smooth, polished.

Diagnosis. The new genus differs from other fossil and modern cicadellid genera in having the following combination of traits: head slightly broader than pronotum with anterior margin slightly produced and rounded to face, ocelli on anterior margin well separated from eyes, lateral frontal sutures extended to ocelli; forewing fully developed, venation somewhat elevated and complete, appendix very narrow; hind wing well developed with submarginal vein narrowly separated from apical margin; front tibia with stout anteroventral seta near midlength; hind femur macrosetal formula 2+2+1, tarsomere I with elongate ventromesal seta at apex.

Rovnoxestus resembles Xestocephalites Dietrich & Gonçalves, 2014 from Eocene Baltic amber in overall habitus and in having a stout anteroventral seta near the midlength of the front femur, but differs in having the head wider than the pronotum, the pronotum relatively long, the hind femur macrosetal formula 2+2+1, and hind tarsomere I with an elongate ventroapical seta.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Rovnoxestus rasnitsyni sp. nov. A, Dorsal habitus. B, Ventrolateral habitus. C, Details of head and thorax, dorsal view. D, Face, ventrolateral view.

FIGURE 2. Rovnoxestus rasnitsyni sp. nov. A, Head and thorax, lateral view. B, Hind tarsus and apex of tibia, ventrolateral view. C, Posterior part of body showing legs, hind wing apex, and pygofer.

FIGURE 3. Rovnoxestus rasnitsyni sp. nov. A, Head, pronotum, mesonotum and scutellum, dorsal view. B, Head and pronotum (in part), dorsolateral view. C, Face, anteroventral view (partially reconstructed. D, Hind tarsus and apex of tibia, ventrolateral view. E, Hind femur, tibia and tarsus, dorsolateral view. F, Forewing. Abbreviations: cs, claval sulcus; iac, inner apical cell.

FIGURE 4. Rovnoxestus rasnitsyni, fifth instar nymph. A, Dorsal habitus. B, Dorsal part of abdomen, lateral view. C, Head and anterior part of thorax, ventral view. D, Left hind tarsomere, ventral view. E, Right hind tibia, ventrolateral view.