[Entomology • 2019] Undulivena thaiensis • A New Unique Leafhopper Genus of Erythroneurini (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae) from Thailand

Undulivena thaiensis 

Song & Li, 2019

   DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.829.28718

Abstract

A new genus of the leafhopper tribe Erythroneurini (Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae) from Thailand, Undulivena gen. n., and a new species Undulivena thaiensis sp. n., are described and illustrated. The new genus exhibits a unique feature of the forewing venation with CuA vein strongly sinuate.

Keywords: Auchenorrhyncha, Homoptera, morphology, new taxa, taxonomy

Figures 1–11. Undulivena thaiensis sp. n.
(♂): 1 habitus, dorsal view 2 habitus, lateral view 3 head and thorax, dorsal view 4 face.
 (♀): 5 habitus, dorsal view 6 habitus, lateral view 7 head and thorax, dorsal view 8 face 9 abdomen of female 10 forewing 11 hind wing.

Undulivena gen. n.

Type species: Undulivena thaiensis sp. n.

Diagnosis: The new genus is quite different from the other genera of the tribe Erythroneurini in view of the forewing venation, patterns of patches and chaetotaxy of the subgenital plate. The CuA vein of forewing is waved, which is unique among known Erythroneurini.

Remarks: 

The new genus is very similar to Salka (from Oriental and Palearctic regions) in body shape and male genitalia, e.g., pygofer with dorsal appendages, long dorsal macrosetae and a group of basolateral macrosetae, and the presence of a median anterior lobe on the connective. It differs from Salka in having the venation of the forewing with CuA strongly sinuate, which is unique among known Typhlocybinae, and the subgenital plate with a few lateral macrosetae in basal half. The color pattern of the forewing is also very unusual with veins margined with yellowish white, contrasting with the dark wings.

Etymology: The new generic name combines the Latin words undula and vena, referring to the undulate vein for the sinuate CuA vein of the forewing. The gender is feminine.

Undulivena thaiensis sp. n.

Diagnosis: The forewing has yellow-whitish stripes along veins. The style apex expanded, with inner margin tooth-like medially, and the aedeagal shaft spindle-shaped in ventral view, with single small subbasal process.

Etymology: The species is named for the type locality, Thailand. The name is adjectival.

 Yuehua Song and Can Li. 2019. A New Unique Leafhopper Genus of Erythroneurini from Thailand, with The Description of One New Species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae).  ZooKeys. 829: 23-28.  DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.829.28718

[Entomology • 2016] Thaioneura gen. n. • A New Erythroneurine Leafhopper Genus from Thailand (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae), with Description of Three New Species

Thaioneura gen. n. 

 Song, Li & Dietrich, 2016

Figures 31. A–D Thaioneura nigrilinea sp. n. E–H Thaioneura sinuata sp. n. I–L Thaioneura suphanburia sp. n.
A, E, I Habitus, dorsal view; B, F, J Habitus, lateral view C, G, K Head and thorax, dorsal view D, H, L Face.

DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.595.8159

Abstract

A new genus of tribe Erythroneurini from Thailand, Thaioneura gen. n., including three new species: Thaioneura nigrilinea sp. n. (type species), Thaioneura sinuata sp. n. and Thaioneura suphanburia sp. n., is described and illustrated and a key to species is provided. The new genus exhibits a pattern of interspecific variation in the hind wing venation that has not been observed in other genera of the tribe.

Keywords: Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha, morphology, taxonomy, new taxa

Thaioneura gen. n.

Type species: Thaioneura nigrilinea sp. n.

Etymology: The new genus name was formed by combining the name of the country in which all known specimens were collected, “Thailand” with the common suffix for generic names in this tribe, “-neura”. The gender is feminine.

Discussion

Study of 31 leafhopper specimens representing 3 new species revealed that the new genus described here exhibits two different patterns of hind wing venation that are stable within species but variable between species. Hind wing vein CuA of Thaioneura nigrilinea separates from MP distally and is connected to CuP near the wing apex (Fig. 2). This is the usual venational pattern seen in the vast majority of Erythroneurini. However, the other two new species (Thaioneura sinuata; Thaioneura suphanburia) have vein CuA of the hind wing completely confluent with MP distally and vein CuP free distally (Figs 12, 22). This latter pattern also occurs in the Oriental genera Diomma Motschulsky (see Chiang and Knight 1990) and Watara Dworakowska. The two known species of Watara show the pattern consistently but some species of Diomma have CuA completely confluent with MP while others have these two veins divergent near the wing apex. Therefore, variation in hind wing venation is known to occur but is rare in other genera of Erythroneurini. Despite the observed variation in hind wing venation, placement of the three new species described here into a single genus is strongly justified by the unique dorsal color pattern and combination of features of the male genitalia. Nevertheless, the particular pattern of variation exhibited among Thaioneura species is not known to occur in other erythroneurine genera and further collecting and morphological study is needed to determine whether such variation occurs in other genera. The type species of Thaioneura, T. nigrilinea, has the usual venational pattern found in other Erythroneurini and, therefore, presumably represents the plesiomorphic condition for the new genus while the other two species are more apomorphic. This hypothesis should be tested by future phylogenetic analyses of Erythroneurini.

 Yuehua Song, Zizhong Li and Christopher H. Dietrich. 2016. A New Erythroneurine Leafhopper Genus from Thailand (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae), with Description of Three New Species. ZooKeys 595: 7-16. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.595.8159