Melanastera eremanthi, Serbina & Malenovský & Queiroz & Burckhardt, 2025

Serbina, Liliya Š., Malenovský, Igor, Queiroz, Dalva L. & Burckhardt, Daniel, 2025, Jumping plant-lice of the tribe Paurocephalini (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Liviidae) in Brazil, Zootaxa 5585 (1), pp. 1-164 : 40-41

5 Melanastera eremanthi sp. nov.

( Figs 5A, B, 8E, 14E, 22A–F, 36K, 37D, 39A, B)

Type material. Holotype ♂: Brazil: MINAS GERAIS: Ouro Preto, Parque Estadual do Itacolomi , S20.4326, W43.5119, 1300 m, 16.xi.2018, Eremanthus erythropappus (D.L. Queiroz) #912(3) ( UFPR; dry).

Paratypes. Brazil: MINAS GERAIS: 23 ♂, 15 ♀, 62 immatures, 13 skins, Diamantina, Clube Campestre , S18.1451, W43.3889, 1290 m, 12.ix.2021, Eremanthus cf. erythropappus (D.L. Queiroz) #1008(2) ( NHMB; 70% ethanol; NMB-PSYLL0008533) ; 7 ♂, 9 ♀, 24 immatures, 2 skins, same as holotype but ( MMBC, NHMB, UFPR; dry, slide, 70% ethanol; NMB-PSYLL0007860, NMB-PSYLL0007993, NMB-PSYLL0007868 [LSMelere- 103], NMB-PSYLL0007869 [LSMelere-103], NMB-PSYLL0007870 [LSMelere-103], NMB-PSYLL0007871 [LSMelere-103], NMB-PSYLL0007872, NMB-PSYLL0007873) ; 1 ♀, same but S20.4326, W43.5119, 1300 m, 9.i.2019, Eremanthus erythropappus (R. Caffaro & N. Jorge) PF 1 ( NHMB; 70% ethanol; NMB-PSYLL0007859) ; 2 immatures, same but S20.4326, W43.5119, 1300 m, 27.iii.2019, Eremanthus erythropappus (R. Caffaro & N. Jorge) PF 1 ( NHMB; 70% ethanol; NMB-PSYLL0007858) ; 2 ♀, same but Trevo da Chapada, Cachoeira do Moinho , S20.4530, W43.5523, 1240 m, 16.xi.2018, Eremanthus erythropappus (D.L. Queiroz) #914 ( NHMB; 70% ethanol; NMB-PSYLL0007829) .

Description. Adult. Coloration. Body pale yellow. Head ( Fig. 8E) brown. Antennal segments 4–8 with dark brown apices; segments 9–10 entirely dark brown. Thorax pale yellow to orange. Forewing ( Fig. 14E) with whitish to pale yellow veins and pale yellow, almost colourless membrane lacking dark dots. Legs pale yellow, metacoxa dark brown with pale yellow meracanthus. Abdominal sclerites brown; female proctiger with brown apex. Younger specimens with less expanded dark colour.

Structure. Setae on thorax moderately long. Forewing ( Fig. 14E) narrowly and evenly rounded apically; C+Sc evenly curved; pterostigma short to long and narrow, distinctly narrower in the middle than r 1 cell; Rs almost straight, hardly curved to costal margin apically; M longer than M 1+2 and M 3+4; Cu 1a weakly evenly curved, ending slightly distad of M fork; cell cu 1 narrow; surface spinules present in all cells, faint, leaving narrow spinule-free stripes along the veins, forming indistinct hexagons of a single row of spinules, spinules absent from basal half of cell c+sc. Costal setae of hindwing grouped (5–6 + 4). Metatibia bearing 5–6 grouped apical spurs, arranged as 2–3 and 2–3, anteriorly separated by 5–7 bristles.

Terminalia ( Fig. 22A–F). Male. Proctiger broad, with posterior margin widely curved; densely covered with moderately long setae in apical two thirds. Subgenital plate, in lateral view, subtrapezoidal, dorsal margin strongly angular in proximal third, irregularly curved in distal two thirds; posterior margin relatively straight; with long setae, mostly posteriorly. Paramere shorter than proctiger; in lateral view, irregularly lanceolate, anterior margin sinuate, concave submedially, convex in apical half, posterior margin convex in apical three quarters; paramere apex, in lateral view, blunt, directed upwards and slightly anteriad, in dorsal view, apex subacute, directed inwards, slightly anteriad, lacking sclerotised tooth; outer face with dense, moderately long setae, mostly in apical half; inner face with dense, short setae; posterior margin with long setae. Proximal segment of aedeagus with apical part moderately subdivided. Distal segment of aedeagus almost straight in basal half, with dorsal margin sinuate; apical dilation, in lateral view, narrow, elongate, with subparallel margins and broadly rounded apically, with a small membranous extension at base dorsally; in dorsal view, apical dilation relatively broad, broadest subapically, rounded apically, sclerotised end tube short and curved.—Female terminalia cuneate; with dense, mostly short setae. Dorsal margin of proctiger, in lateral view, with a large hump distal to circumanal ring, strongly concave subapically, apex distinctly upturned, pointed; in dorsal view, apex subacute; circumanal ring, in dorsal view, vaguely cruciform. Subgenital plate shorter than proctiger, covered with numerous short setae in apical half; in lateral view, abruptly narrowing towards apex in apical third, with pointed apex; in ventral view, apex truncate.

Fifth instar immature. Coloration. Pale yellow, sometimes with pale to dark brown pattern; antenna pale yellow, gradually becoming darker towards apex.

Structure. Eye with one long, simple ocular seta dorsally. Antennal segments with following numbers of pointed sectasetae: 1(0), 2(1), 3(2), 4(0), 5(2), 6(1), 7(1), 8(0), 9(0). Forewing pad with 5–8 marginal pointed sectasetae; hindwing pad with two marginal pointed sectasetae; fore- and hindwing pads lacking dorsal sectasetae. Metatibiotarsus long, with 2–3 pointed sectasetae on outer side; tarsal arolium broadly triangular apically, about as long as claws ( Fig. 5B, 37D). Abdomen lacking dorsal pointed sectasetae proximal to caudal plate, with one pointed sectaseta on either side laterally. Caudal plate ( Fig. 5A) with anterior margin close to anterior margin of extra pore fields; with 1 + 2 pointed sectasetae on either side laterally, and three pointed sectasetae on either side of circumanal ring dorsally. Extra pore fields forming continuous outer and inner bands, consisting of several large oval and rounded patches; outer band long medially, end pointing outwards. Circumanal ring broad, with anterior margin distinctly produced cephalad.

Host plant and biology. Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) MacLeish ( Asteraceae ). Immatures induce leaf roll galls in which they develop ( Fig. 39A, B).

Distribution. Brazil (MG).

Derivation of name. Named after its host, Eremanthus .