Pravistylus mollidiscus, Stiller, 2010

Stiller, M., 2010, Revision of the Southern African leafhopper genus Pravistylus (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) 2468, Zootaxa 2468 (1), pp. 1-81 : 32

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2468.1.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10537715
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EFD356-FFC4-FFF2-6CFF-75D0893CD24C
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Pravistylus mollidiscus
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Pravistylus mollidiscus View in CoL sp. n.

( Figs 1 u View FIGURE 1 ; 2 z View FIGURE 2 ; 3 g View FIGURE 3 ; 4 g View FIGURE 4 ; 5 g View FIGURE 5 ; 6 f View FIGURE 6 ; 7 View FIGURE 7 aw; 8 aj & ak)

Diagnosis. Plate uniformly triangular, apex wide, membranous ( Fig. 2 z View FIGURE 2 ). Margin of plate apex difficult to distinguish at low magnification. Aedeagal shaft short, slightly depressed, almost straight, gonopore apical ( Figs 3 g View FIGURE 3 , 4 g View FIGURE 4 ). Style with distal part close to base ( Fig. 5 g View FIGURE 5 ).

Etymology. Latin, plate, (discus) with membranous (mollis) apex.

Male and female. Pale ochraceous (all specimens collected in 70% alcohol). Tegmina with costal cells pale yellow; apical cells reduced. Hind wing less than half as long as tegmina ( Figs 8 View FIGURE 8 aj & ak).

Male. Dimensions. (n = 43) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 1.8–2.0 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.6–2.9 mm; vertex medially 0.4 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.7–0.8 mm; pronotum 0.7 mm. Ocellar diameter 20.9–29.6 µm; ocellocular distance 39.0– 48.9 µm.

Genital capsule. Pygofer in lateral view with posterior ventral and dorsal margin uniformly lobate ( Fig. 1 u View FIGURE 1 ). Pygofer lobe short, rounded, about as wide as pygofer ( Fig. 1 u View FIGURE 1 ). Plate triangular, lateral margins slightly concave, apex wide, broadly rounded; apex always membranous; 5–8 macrosetae; plate 1.4–1.5 times as long as wide ( Fig. 2 z View FIGURE 2 ). Aedeagal shaft in lateral view almost straight, robust, slightly depressed, slightly longer than length of dorsal apodeme; shaft arising ventrally from atrium; gonopore ventral, apical ( Figs 3 g View FIGURE 3 , 4 g View FIGURE 4 ). Style distal part close to anterior medial lobe; apex tapering acutely ( Fig. 5 g View FIGURE 5 ). Connective, in lateral view, straight, with stem triangular, base narrower, width across arms almost as wide as stem ( Fig. 6 f View FIGURE 6 ).

Female. Dimensions. (n = 33) Length: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 1.9–2.0 mm; apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 3.0– 3.2 mm; vertex medially 0.4–0.5 mm; vertex next to eye 0.3 mm; pronotum medially 0.3 mm. Width: head 0.8–0.9 mm; pronotum 0.7–0.8 mm. Ocellar diameter 24.4.–29.5 µm; ocellocular distance 42.1–56.3 µm.

Genitalia. Sternite 7 ligula short, triangular (about half a long as medial length at base); notch stepped, deepest part rounded. Ligula sometimes with round, sclerotized area ( Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 aw).

Material examined. Holotype male. South Africa, Eastern Cape. Zwelitcha near Tsolo , 31°10ʹS, 28°34ʹE, 1335 m, 29.iv.2006, M. Stiller, DVac, grazed veld ( SANC) GoogleMaps . Paratypes. 48♂, 33♀. Eastern Cape . 10♂, 4♀, near Grahamstown and Alicedale road junction, 33°24ʹS, 26°22ʹE, 560 m, 23.iv.2006, grazed pasture and road reserve GoogleMaps ; 2♂, Olifantskop Pass, between Patterson and Cookhouse , 33°18ʹS, 25°57ʹE, 713 m, 23.iv.2006, disturbed grassland GoogleMaps ; 7♂, 3♀, Doon Farm, Thomas River, Cathcart , 32°28ʹS, 27°17ʹE, 1115 m, 24.iv.2006, wet grass on rocky ridge with Aloes GoogleMaps ; 20♂, 15♀, same data as holotype GoogleMaps ; 10♂, 11♀, Matatiele , 30°25ʹS, 28°39ʹE, 1435 m, 30.iv.2006, grazed grassland; all M. Stiller; all collected with DVac ( BMNH, INHS, SANC) GoogleMaps .

Remarks. Pravistylus mollidiscus has a unique plate and aedeagus. The plate is basically triangular with a wide and weakly sclerotized apex ( Fig. 2 z View FIGURE 2 ). The aedeagus is very short and thick and only slightly curved ( Figs 3 g View FIGURE 3 , 4 g View FIGURE 4 ). This species is most similar to P. deltoplacus with regard to the shape of the plate ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 aa). In both species the plate is triangular. The relative width of the plate in P. mollidiscus is difficult to distinguish in situ because the apical margins are membranous. Pravistylus deltoplacus has the plate apex at least half as wide as that of P. mollidiscus , and that is distinctly sclerotized, and both have a similar length to width ratio. In P. mollidiscus the plate is 1.4–1.5 times as long as wide, and in P. deltoplacus it is 1.4–1.6 times as long as wide. Other species with triangular plates always have the lateral margin sinuous and often with tufts of fine setae, such as P. caenophallus ( Fig. 2 y View FIGURE 2 ), P. odontopygeus sp. n. ( Fig. 2 x View FIGURE 2 ) and P. pelorophallus sp. n. ( Fig. 2 u View FIGURE 2 ). The aedeagus of P. deltoplacus ( Fig. 3 c View FIGURE 3 ) in lateral view has a U-shaped shaft with a wide base and short up-turned apex. In the dorsal view the shaft is depressed, about half as thick and much longer ( Fig. 4 c View FIGURE 4 ) than that of P. mollidiscus ( Fig. 4 g View FIGURE 4 ). No other species has a similarly simplified aedeagus.