Nannicerus gracilis Maldonado-Capriles, 1977

Guimarães, Daniel Lucas Praciano & Rafael, José Albertino, 2022, Redescription of Nannicerus Maldonado-Capriles, 1997 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Eurymelinae: Chiasmdolini) and description of two new species from North Brazil, Zootaxa 5169 (3), pp. 286-296 : 288-290

Nannicerus gracilis Maldonado-Capriles, 1977

( Figs. 1–14 )

Nannicerus gracilis Maldonado-Capriles, 1977: 605 ( Figs. 1–14 ).

Type locality. Demerara, Guyana .

Diagnosis. Based on material collected in Manaus. Yellow macula of forewing reaching costal margin ( Fig. 5 ); UFS apex not reaching correspondent ocellus ( Fig. 2 ); femora entirely yellow ( Fig. 4 ); apodeme of sternite II longer than sternite II ( Fig. 6 ); pygofer with a ventral basal projection directed posterodorsally ( Fig. 7 ); connective without apical longitudinal keel ( Figs. 11 ); dorsal apodeme of aedeagus with globular apex ( Figs. 13 ); aedeagus shaft with small posterior spines ( Figs. 13–14 ); laterobasal process of anal tube well developed, with apex bifurcate, dorsally curved ( Fig. 7 ).

Material examined. “ BRASIL, Amazonas , Manaus, ZF-2, \ km-14, 2º35’21’’S – 60º06’55’’W, \ 1–15.v.2018, Malaise gde [grande], 16 m alt [altura], \ lado poente, J.A.Rafael —Rede BIA”, 1♂ INPA , 1♂ MNRJ ; idem, “ 8 m alt [altura], \ lado poente, J.A.Rafael —Rede BIA”, 1♂ MZSP ; idem, “ 8 m alt [altura], \ lado nascente, JARafael—Rede BIA”, 1♂ MNRJ ; idem, “ 24 m alt [altura], \ lado poente, J.A.Rafael —Rede BIA”, 1♂ INPA ; idem, “ 24.xii.2017 – 08.i.2018, Malaise gde [grande], 8\ m alt [altura], lado poente, J.A.Rafael ”, 1♂ MZSP ; idem, “ 16 m alt [altura], lado poente, J.A.Rafael ”, 1♂ INPA ; idem, “ 25.ii–13.iii.2018, Malaise gde [grande], 8m \ alt [altura], lado poente, J.A.Rafael ”, 1♂ INPA ; idem, “ 16m \ alt [altura], lado poente, J.A.Rafael ”, 1♂: MNRJ .

Measurements (mm). Males (n=9), total length (to apex of forewing): 3.81–4.35; median length of crown: 0.23–0.35; length of crown close to eyes: 0.25–0.31; width of head: 1.58–1.65; width of crown between eyes: 0.79–0.83; length of pronotum: 0.48–0.56; length of scutellum: 0.75–0.83; width of pronotum: 1.32–1.35; width of scutellum: 1.01–1.14; length of frons: 0.97–1.56; width of frons between eyes: 0.80–1.24; distance between ocelli: 0.44–0.65; ocellocular distance: 0.14–0.22; length of clypeus: 0.31–0.50; apical width of clypeus: 0.25–0.35; basal width of clypeus: 0.22–0.32.

Remarks. Illustrations of the head in dorsal and frontal views, pronotum, scutellum, forewing, genital capsule of female and male terminalia of type-material were provided by Maldonado-Capriles (1977 a). Specimens collected in Amazonas, Brazil have the anterior region of head somewhat triangular in dorsal view ( Figs. 1, 3 ) (rounded in Guyanan specimens); veins of apical cells are brown and well defined in all specimens ( Fig. 5 ) (red tinged or poorly defined in Guyanan specimens); connective apex distinctly truncated ( Fig. 12 ) (rounded in Guyana specimens); sternite II with a pair of subtriangular apodemes with rounded apex, slightly curved dorsally, apodemes longer than sternite II ( Fig. 6 ).

Nannicerus gracilis is the smallest species, with males reaching 3.81–4.35 mm (males are longer than 5.21 mm in N. curica sp. nov. and longer than 6.76 mm in N. grandis sp. nov.). It can be further distinguished from the other two species by: color pattern of crown and frons orange ( Figs. 1–4 ) (black in N. curica and N. grandis ); anal tube with a laterobasal hook shaped process longer than in other two new species ( Fig. 7 ); pygofer with a basal ventral projection ( Fig. 7 ); connective with apophysis apex truncated ( Figs. 12 ) (rounded in the other two new species); and aedeagus shaft with spines in posterior apical region ( Figs. 13–14 ).

Bionomy. Specimens of the N. gracilis in Brazil were collected at heights of 8, 16, and 24 m at ZF-2 tower in December/January, February/March, and May.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Nannicerus gracilis Maldonado-Capriles, 1977, male.Yellow lines in Figs.1 and 3 used to indicate the triangular shape of head in dorsal view. 1, body, dorsal view. 2, head and thorax anteroventral view. 3, head and thorax, dorsal view. 4, body, lateral view. Scale bar: 2–3= 0.5 mm, 1, 4= 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 5–14. Nannicerus gracilis Maldonado-Capriles, 1977, male. 5, forewing. 6, apodemes of sternite II, dorsal view. Male genitalia: 7, pygofer, lateral view. 8, subgenital plate, lateral view. 9, subgenital plate, ventral view. 10, connective and style, dorsal view. 11, connective, lateral view. 12, style, lateral view. 13, aedeagus, lateral view. 14, aedeagus, posterior view. Anl.: anal tube; Ap: apodeme of style; Aph: apophysis; Apo: apodeme of sternite II; Atr: atrium; Bp: basal projection; Dap: dorsal apodeme; Gnd: gonoduct; Gnp: gonopore; Lbp: laterobasal process; Pat: preatrium; Sg X: segment X; Sg XI: segment XI; Shf: aedeagal shaft; St II: sternite II. Scale bar: 5= 1 mm; 6–14= 0.2 mm.