Smilidarnis Andrade 1989: 695

McKamey, Stuart H., 2023, Three new species of the Neotropical genus Smilidarnis Andrade (Hemiptera, Membracidae), ZooKeys 1174, pp. 85-95 : 85

Smilidarnis Andrade 1989: 695

Type species.

S. fasciatus Andrade 1989: 696.

Diagnosis.

Pronotum with 3 posterior spines; forewing (Fig. 1 ) with veins R, M, and Cu fused basally, R and M strongly divergent at about 1/3 distance of wing length, with crossvein s (between radial veins), 1 r-m and 2 m-cu crossveins; hind wing (Fig. 1 ) with 1 r-m and 1 m-cu crossvein; metathoracic trochanters without apposed processes; metathoracic tibia chaetotaxy variable.

Distribution.

South America.

Notes.

The only discrepancy between the generic description by Andrade (1989) and the newly described species is that he reported metathoracic tibial cucullate rows II and III double and, by implication, row I single. This pattern is also found in Ceresini ( Deitz 1975). In contrast, S. duocornus has row I absent and S. robustus has rows I and III double and row II absent. Among Darninae , some Darnini and some Hemikypthini lack tibial cucullate setae row I, but only some Hemikypthini lack row II ( Deitz 1975). Consequently, leg chaetotaxy does not provide evidence resolving the relationship of Smilidarnis to other treehoppers.

The forewing venation of the three new species described here matches that of S. fasciatus , in that the veins R4+5 and M1+2 are distally separate; in S. concolor Andrade, those veins are confluent for short distance before the apex. Among all five species of Smilidarnis , only S. concolor has the forewing veins R and M fused then separated preapically (as in Smiliinae ). Smilidarnis duocornus and S. Smilidarnis robustus resemble each other in the shape of the frontoclypeus and pronotum, as do the other three species resemble each other in these respects.

In some membracids, the presence of abdominal fossae or digitate processes in adults (e.g., see Deitz 1975: fig. 3a) are indicators of scoli in nymphs; the absence of these suggests that the nymphs of Smilidarnis probably lack scoli. Further collecting of these exceedingly rare treehoppers and happenstance rearing is needed to elucidate their biology and immatures.

Figures

Figure 1. Smilidarnis robustus sp. nov., forewing and hind wing.