Curtara (Curtara) umbra, Laranjeira & Gonçalves & Takiya, 2024

Laranjeira, Vanessa Cristina, Gonçalves, Clayton Corrêa & Takiya, Daniela Maeda, 2024, Curtara DeLong & Freytag, 1972 (Cicadellidae: Iassinae: Gyponini) from Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Southeastern Brazil: description of six new species and new species records, Zootaxa 5458 (4), pp. 547-571 : 565-566

Curtara (Curtara) umbra sp. nov.

( Figures 77–89, 102, 103)

Type locality. Parque Nacional do Itatiaia , Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil .

Diagnosis. Head and thorax ( Figs 102, 103) dull yellow with dark punctures. Face ( Fig. 78) dark brown; clypeus with two yellow spots. Pronotum ( Fig. 77) with dark punctures. Forewing ( Fig. 80) mottled with brown maculae, mainly on clavus and apical portion. Male sternite VIII ( Fig. 81) subtrapezoidal; lateral margins slightly converging towards apex; posterior margin rounded. Male pygofer ( Fig. 83), in lateral view, subtriangular; in dorsal view ( Fig. 84), posterodorsal margin with a lightly sclerotized subtriangular projection directed inwardly. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 85), in ventral view, elongated; inner lateral margin expanded medially; apex narrowly rounded. Connective ( Fig. 86) transverse; without stem. Style ( Fig. 87), in lateral view, with ventral margin serrated; apex rounded with dorsal preapical spiniform process. Aedeagus ( Figs 88, 89) atrium with a pair of elongated acute processes, each with a long dorsal digitiform lobe at middle portion; shaft thin and mostly straight with a pair of short lateral apical processes, directed ventrally.

Measurements (mm). Total length. Holotype male: 9.6. Paratypes males (n = 7): 8.9–9.5.

Coloration. Head and thorax ( Figs 102, 103) dull yellow. Crown ( Fig. 77) with a dark median elongate macula at anterior margin; few dark punctures distributed between ocelli. Face ( Fig. 78) dark brown, except for frons, lora, clypeus, and ventral half of gena, dark brown; frons with dark brown transverse bands over muscle impressions; antennae dull yellow; clypeus with two yellow spots: one smaller, rounded, adjacent to the epistomal suture and one larger, median and elongated. Pronotum ( Fig. 77) with a pair of small black maculae, one behind each eye; disk and apical half with several dark punctures. Proepimeron ( Fig. 79) with two dark brown stripes, one narrow below pronotal carina and a second wider on dorsal half. Mesonotum ( Fig. 77) pale yellow, with lateral angles dark brown; some dark punctures distributed at middle region; a pair of elongated central maculae anterior to scutoscutellar suture; scutellum with few dark punctures. Forewing ( Fig. 80) dull yellow; membrane mottled with brown maculae, mainly on clavus; apical portion with yellow venation, except apices of anal veins and crossveins, dark brown; appendix with a small brown basal band and large brown preapical macula. Legs dull yellow with dark brown areas; metatibia with macrosetae bases dark brown.

Description. Head ( Fig. 77), in dorsal view, crown with median length one-third of interocular width; transocular width eight-tenths of pronotal humeral width; texture with irregular transverse striae, except few oblique between ocelli; anterior margin rounded, ocelli closer to posterior than anterior margin and closer to midline than to compound eyes. Head ( Fig. 78), in ventral view, with frons 1.5 times longer than wide, dorsal region with irregular striae; frontogenal suture distant from eye margin 2 times the diameter of the antennal scape; antennal ledge carinated and oblique, slightly extended over frons; clypeus 1.5 times longer than maximum width, lateral margins straight and parallel, slightly divergent apically, apex emarginated medially. Head ( Fig. 79), in lateral view, with transition crown-face defined, thin and with transverse striae defined, slightly upturned. Pronotum ( Fig. 77), in dorsal view, lateral margins longer than length of eye. Forewing ( Fig. 80) outer discal cell with inner apical accessory vein or veins (holotype with apical accessory veins, but distinct in position in each wing); m-cu1 closer to the m-cu2 crossvein than to the R+M fork, m-cu2 slightly anterad to r-m1. Metatasomere I with pecten with 6 platellae. Metatarsomere II with pecten with 4 apical platellae.

Male terminalia. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 81), in ventral view, subtrapezoidal, 1.3 times wider than long; lateral margins straight, slightly converging towards apex; posterolateral angles rounded; posterior margin rounded with median portion slightly excavated. Valve ( Fig. 82), in ventral view, 2.6 times wider than long; posterior margin deeply excavated medially. Pygofer ( Fig. 83), in lateral view, subtriangular; high at base and narrowing towards apex; as long as high; posterodorsal margin slightly excavated preapically; posteroventral margin strongly rounded; few macrosetae dispersed at apical half; apex acutely rounded; in dorsal view ( Fig. 84), posterodorsal margin with a slightly sclerotized subtriangular projection directed inwardly. Anal tube ( Fig. 83) lightly sclerotized. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 83), in lateral view, long, reaching apex of pygofer; in ventral view, ( Fig. 85), elongated and ligulate, 3.8 times longer than maximum width; outer lateral margin almost straight, with few small setae along margin; inner lateral margin strongly rounded and expanded medially; apex narrowly rounded. Connective ( Fig. 86), in dorsal view, transverse; stem absent; dorsal keel absent. Style ( Fig. 86), in dorsal view, with outer lobe rounded; blade abruptly curved laterally posterior to outer lobe; in lateral view, ( Fig. 87), blade with ventral margin serrated; apex strongly rounded with dorsal preapical spiniform process. Aedeagus ( Figs 88, 89), with preatrium underdeveloped; dorsal apodeme developed, dorsal margin slightly rounded, lateral margins not projected laterally; atrium with a pair of elongated processes, each with a long dorsal digitiform lobe at middle portion, almost reaching apex of shaft, and with apex acute, slightly curved anteriorly; shaft elongated, thin, subtubular, mostly straight, and symmetrical, basal portion, in lateral view, curved and rounded, forming an U, apical portion membranous and with a pair long and thin lateral processes about one-third of the length of the shaft, directed ventrally, and with apices acute.

Female terminalia. Female unknown.

Etymology. The species epithet means “shadow” in Latin, referring to the dark color of the face of type specimens. It is a noun in apposition.

Material examined. Holotype male: “ Brazil, RJ, Itatiaia , PNI\ 12.II.2015, S 22°25’20.2’’ W\ 44°38’10.0’’, 1642m, Ponto\ 04, Monteiro et al.” ( DZRJ) . Paratypes: Itatiaia : 4 ♂, “same data as holotype, except: “ 27. II.2014 ” ( DZRJ); “ 25.IV.2014 ” ( DZRJ); “ 05.XII.2014 ” ( DZRJ); “ 07.I.2015 ” ( MNRJ). 1 ♂, “ Brazil, RJ, Itatiaia, PNI,\ 05.XII.2014, S22º25’01.0’’ \ W44º38’32.9’’, 1846m,\ ponto 05, Monteiro et al.” ( MNRJ); 1 ♂, “ same data as preceeding” ( DZUP). 1 ♂, “ Brazil, RJ, Itatiaia , PNI,\ 07.I.2015, S22º24’10.6’’ W\44º38’28.3’’, 2061m, ponto\ 06, Monteiro et al.” ( DZUP) .

Taxonomic notes. Curtara (Curtara) umbra sp. nov. resembles C. (Curtara) andresi sp. nov. by their pronotum with dark punctures ( Figs 1, 77); male sternite VIII subtrapezoidal ( Figs 5, 81); pygofer with posterodorsal margin with slightly sclerotized subtriangular projection directed internally ( Figs 8, 84); subgenital plates with apex narrowly rounded ( Figs 9, 85); connective transverse ( Figs 10, 86); style with blade abruptly curved outerad ( Figs 10, 86), ventral margin serrated and apex rounded with dorsal preapical spiniform process ( Figs 11, 87); and aedeagus with shaft with a pair of short lateral preapical processes, directed ventrally ( Figs 13, 88). However, Curtara (Curtara) umbra sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from C. (Curtara) andresi sp. nov. by its aedeagus ( Fig. 88) with atrial processes with dorsal margin expanded forming a digitiform process, while in C. (Curtara) andresi sp. nov. has the atrial processes with dorsal margin expanded, but not forming process ( Fig. 12).

Curtara (Curtara) umbra sp. nov. was collected at PNI at altitudes from 1,642 to 2,061 m a.s.l.