Oecleus mackaspringi, Myrie & Helmick & Bartlett & Bertaccini & Bahder, 2019

Myrie, Wayne, Helmick, Ericka E., Bartlett, Charles R., Bertaccini, Assunta & Bahder, Brian W., 2019, A new species of planthopper belonging to the genus Oecleus Stål, 1862 (Hemiptera Fulgoroidea: Cixiidae) from coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L) in Jamaica, Zootaxa 4712 (1), pp. 127-137 : 129-135

Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n.

( Figures 2–8 )

Type locality. Spring Garden , Portland Parrish, Jamaica

Diagnosis. A moderate sized species with five carinae on mesonotum and a projected head with yellow/orange color scheme in males and fuscous-yellow color scheme in females. Male terminalia with a broad, rounded ventral lobe of the pygofer, two processes on the ventral surface of the aedeagus pointed distally and two processes on the right lateral side of aedeagus (four total). Two processes on the flagellum.

Description. Color. Ground color of body uniformly stramineous with a triangular orange patch on the abdominal tergites with dark bands running laterally within the orange patch in dorsal view (males) ( Fig. 2 ) while females are a lighter shade of yellow as the ground color with the dorsum of the abdomen slightly darkened and three longitudinal darkened bands running from the terminus of the abdomen to the metathorax with the lateral two bands lighter than the band running along the midline ( Fig.2 ). Structure. Body length males: 7.96–7.99 mm (n =15) with wings; 5.42–5.45 mm without wings; females (n= 16): 8.33–8.36 mm with wings; 7.01–7.04 mm without wings. Head. Anterior margin of head in lateral view pointed and slightly curved upward ( Fig.3 ). Vertex extremely narrowed in dorsal view so that posterior margin is hidden by eyes, eyes meeting at posterior margin, then expanding slightly at the midline of eyes with the widest point beginning at anterior margin of eyes ( Fig. 3 ).Vertex length males: 1.10–1.15 mm; females: 1.30–1.34 mm. Vertex width at hind margin males: 0.044 –0.046 mm; females: 0.044 –0.045 mm. Vertex width at distal margin males: 0.125 –0.128 mm; females: 0.183 –0.186 mm. Frons with lateral carinae strongly keeled and infuscate, median ocellus present above frontoclypeal suture, conspicuous in frontal view ( Fig. 3 ). Lateral margins of frons sinuate and widest at the postclypeal suture, constricting at the midline then expanding briefly before slightly constricting again at the dorsal margin ( Fig. 3 ). Transverse carina at juncture with vertex evident in frontal view ( Fig. 3 ). Frons length males: 1.03–1.05 mm; females: 1.08–1.10 mm. Frons dorsal width males: 0.123 –0.126 mm; females: 0.126 –0.127 mm. Frons frontoclypeal margin width males: 0.418 –0.420 mm; females: 0.421 –0.422 mm. Clypeus length males: 0.387 –0.390 mm; females: 0.412 –0.415 mm.

Thorax. Anterior margin of pronotum following posterior margin of head and posterior margin strongly concave in dorsal view ( Fig. 3 ). In lateral view, posterior margin of pronotum sinuate. Pronotum length at midline males: 0.157 –0.160 mm; females: 0.205 –0.207 mm. Mesonotum with five carinae – lateral carinae closer to each other that to the midline carina. Indentations present on the inner lateral carinae near the posterior margin in dorsal view ( Fig. 3 ). Mesonotum length at midline males: 1.50–1.52 mm; females: 1.68–1.70 mm. Mesonotum width males: 1.23–1.26 mm; females: 1.55–1.59 mm.

Wings transparent with conspicuous pustules along veins ( Fig. 4 ). The radial vein is 3-branched and median vein 4-branched. The CuA is 2-branched and PCu joining with A1 at basal third of clavus. Forewing length males: 5.98–5.99 mm; females: 6.51–6.52 mm.

Terminalia. Pygofer in later view wide, widest on dorsum and narrowing dorsally ( Fig. 5 ), distal margin convex and basal margin concave ( Fig. 5 ). In ventral view, opening of pygofer bearing a subtriangular lobe, widest at the base an attenuating distally to a rounded apex ( Fig. 5 ). Parameres in lateral view with three lobes. Dorsal lobe appearing tooth-like and sclerotized while distal lobe and ventral lobe more rounded ( Fig. 6 ). In ventral view, parameres with subparallel margins basally and distally rounded with a lateral tooth on the inner margin ( Fig. 6 ). Anal segment in lateral view with parallel dorsal and ventral margins. Apex angled downwards with constriction prior to expanding into a truncate terminus ( Fig. 5 ). Aedeagus with two large lateral, anterior pointed spines on the right side with the larger spine arching ventrally then angled dorsally at the terminus ( Fig. 7 , 8 ) and the shorter spine arching dorsally then angled ventrally at the terminus ( Fig. 6 , 7 ). Pair of spines on the ventral side of aedeagus pointing posterior ( Fig. 7 , 8 ). Flagellum scaly in appearance with two large spines pointed towards the anterior and angled upward ( Fig. 7 , 8 ). Spines on flagellum slightly curved away from each other ( Fig. 7 , 8 ).

Plant associations. Coconut palm, Cocos nucifera , Arecaceae

Distribution. Jamaica (Portland Parrish, Spring Garden)

Etymology. The specific name given is an amalgamation of the Jamaican slang “macka” which denotes something spiny and references the unique pair of spines on the ventral surface of the aedeagus as well as the locality where the species was discovered, Spring Garden.

Material examined. Holotype male “ Jamaica, Portland Parrish / Spring Garden / 24-V-2019 / Host: Cocos nucifera / Coll.: W. Myrie / Holotype / /” ( FLREC) . Paratype males (n=14) and females (n=16) “ Jamaica, Portland Parrish / Spring Garden / 24-V-2019 / Host: Cocos nucifera / Coll.: W. Myrie /” .

Sequence data. For the COI gene, a 698 bp sequence was generated for Oecleus mackspringii sp. n. For the 5’ region of the COI gene that was amplified in this study, no data was available for any other taxa within the Oecleini for the region amplified. The closest taxa available at 100% query coverage was Melanoliarus humilis (Say) (as Oliarus humilis ) (GenBank Accession No. KR 562306.1) and was 83.3% similar (16.7% variance). For the 18S gene, a 1,354 bp product was generated for Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n. (GenBank Accession No. MN 422261 ). Pairwise distances showed 0.9% difference from Oecleus perpictus Van Duzee (GenBank Accession No. JQ 982515.1), about 2.2% different from the genus Haplaxius , 2.5% different from Nymphomyndus and 3.9% different from Myndus taffini Bonfils ( Table 1 ). The Maximum Likelihood tree generated using the same 18S sequences showed both Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n. and Oecleus perpictus grouping together relative to the other Oecleini ( Fig. 9 ).

Remarks. The general form of the aedeagus in Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n. is similar to many of the species illustrated by Kramer (1977), however, the arrangement and positioning of the spines in Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n. appear unique. The closest in terms of aedeagus structure appears to be Oecleus lyra Kramer , but this species is described as darker with some markings on the wing which the new taxon lacks. The parameres and process on the ventral margin of the pygofer of Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n. are very similar to many other species of Oecleus and agree with the assertion by Ball & Klingenberg (1923) that these features are not reliable for species identification in Oecleus . What does appear unique to Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n. and distinguishes it as a new species in the ventral pair of spines present on the aedeagus.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Adult habitus Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n.; A. male and B. female, scale=1mm.

FIGURE 3. Adult male Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n.; A. head frontal view, B. head, pronotum, and mesonotum lateral view, C. head, pronotum, and mesonotum dorsal view, scale=1mm.

FIGURE 4. Forewing venation of Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n.

FIGURE 5. Male terminalia of Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n.; A. lateral view, B. ventral view, and C. dorsal view.

FIGURE 6. Paramere; A. exterior lateral view, B. interior lateral view, C. ventral view, D. caudal view.

FIGURE 7. Aedeagus of adult male Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n.; A. right lateral view, B. left lateral view, C. dorsal view, D. ventral view.

FIGURE 8. Aedeagus of adult male Oecleus mackaspringi sp. n.; A. right lateral view, B. left lateral view, C. dorsal view, D. ventral view.

FIGURE 9. Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic tree based on 18S sequence data. Branch support was assessed using 1,000 bootstrap replicates with Haplaxius, Myndus, and Nymphomyndus representing outgroups within the Oecleini.