Amazobenna Penny, 1980

Viegas, Eduarda Fernanda Gomes & Ale-Rocha, Rosaly, 2019, A review of the Neotropical genus Amazobenna Penny, 1980 with description of a new species and description of the male of Amazobenna reticulata Penny, 1980 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae), Zootaxa 4577 (3), pp. 561-570 : 562-563

Amazobenna Penny, 1980

Amazobenna Penny, 1980: 210 , Figs. 1 , 8 . Type species: Amazobenna reticulata Penny, 1980 (original designation); Holzinger et Kunz 2006: 57, Figs. 7, 8 (head); Holzinger et al. 2013: 152 (key).

Diagnostic characters. Medium sized cixiid: body length 4.5–7.2 mm in males, 4.0– 7.5 mm in females. Body laterally compressed. Frons long, wider than vertex in middle, evenly rounded in lateral view, lacking transverse carina on dorsal border; median carina weakly marked; lateral carinae strongly produced and directed obliquely laterally ( Figs. 3,4 , 20, 22 ). Clypeus with median carina low, little evident, much lower than lateral carinae; lateral carinae strongly produced. Ocelli distinct. Scapus short, pedicellus cylindrical, as long as wide to slightly longer than wide ( Figs. 5 , 21 ). Pronotum with dorsal longitudinal carina distinct. Mesonotum with median and lateral longitudinal carinae present, but sometimes lateral carinae weakly marked ( Figs. 4 , 22 ). Fore wings long, widening distally, exceeding apex of abdomen for about half of the total length, apical margin round (Figs. 28,29). Cubital veins strongly curved toward anal margin of wing, reaching edge of wing at an almost straight angle. First cell of cubitus about ten times longer than wide. Metatibia with 6–7 apical spines; tarsus with 7+7–8 apical spines. Abdominal pleura of four and five segments with a process bearing 3 + 2 sensory pits, with one furcate seta each ( Figs. 6 , 23 ). Male terminalia: pygofer symmetrical, elongate and somewhat triangular in lateral view; anal segment rectangular in dorsal view; medioventral process conical in lateral view; genital styles elongate, symmetrical, curved upward; aedeagus robust with shaft and flagellum well developed, bearing long thorn-shaped processes. Female genitalia like in other Bennarellini: ovipositor elongate, orthopteroid, and curved upwards, 9th tergite without wax plate, gonapophysis IX medially fused and bearing spinules.

Remarks. This genus may be easily distinguished from the other genera of Bennarellini by the following features: abdominal appendages as labiate expansions with five large sockets bearing one furcate seta; transversal carina, separating the frons from the vertex, absent; frons with median carina weakly marked and lateral carinae strongly produced; forewing with cubital veins strongly curved to the anal margin of the wing, reaching the edge of the wing at an almost straight angle, and first cell of cubitus about ten times longer than wide.

The distribution of the Bennarellini remains poorly known, and the tribe occurs so far only in the Neotropical region, with the four included genera recorded in some countries: Bennarella in Guyana and Brazil, Amazobenna in Brazil, Noabennarella in Costa Rica and Ecuador, and Loisirella in Ecuador ( Holzinger et al. 2013). Taxa not formally described were also mentioned for Peru ( Holzinger et al. 2013). Amazobenna has been recorded exclusively for the Brazilian part of Amazonian Biome ( Penny, 1980). The lack of more collecting efforts and specialists studying this group in the region certainly contribute to this scarce knowledge.

Nothing so far is known about the phylogenetic relationship between genera of Bennarellini, thus making difficult to recognize sister groups relationships. The included genera share the presence of unique abdominal appendages, considered an autapomorphy of this clade ( Emeljanov 1989, Holzinger et Kunz 2006), as well as similarities in the venation of the wing, as the presence of pterostigma and the same number of branches of the vein R, and aspects of the aedeagus, as the presence of spines and genital style spoon-like ( Penny, 1980; Holzinger et al. 2013). However, Amazobenna and Bennarella share some morphological characters, such as the weak median carina of frons, lateral carina of frons less produced and directed obliquely laterad, and lateral abdominal processes with five sensorial pits ( Holzinger et al. 2013), indicating a possible close relationship between these genera.

There is no information on the biology of Amazobenna species to date, but specimens label data indicate that they can be found in shrubby plants of the lower strata of moist dryland primary forest in the Amazon. Approximately 75% of the Amazobenna specimens analyzed in this study were collected in November, January and May, during the rainy season in the region, while the other 25% were collected in June and July, less rainy season ( Marques-Filho et al. 1981). Representatives of Amazobenna are somewhat rare in collections and the methods employed to collect them have been Malaise, CDC and Mixed Light – BLB traps, additionally to sweeping.

Distribution. Neotropical: Brazil ( Penny, 1980).

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Amazobenna reticulata Penny: 1. Male habitus, lateral view; 2. Female, habitus, lateral view; 3. Male head, anterior view; 4. Male head and thorax, dorsal view; 5. Male antenna, lateral view; 6. Male abdominal process, lateral view. Scale bars: 1= 1mm; 2,4 = 0.5mm; 3 = 0.3 mm; 5 = 0.4 mm. Specimen from Amazonas, Manaus, highway AM 010, Km 54.

FIGURES 7–12. Amazobenna reticulata Penny, male: 7. Anal segment, dorsal view; 8. Apex of the anal segment, posterior view; 9. Terminalia, lateral view; 10. Genitalia, ventral view; 11. Anal segment, pygofer, medioventral process, genital style and aedeagus, lateral view; 12. Aedeagus, lateral view. Abbreviations: anal seg, anal segment; pyg, pygofer; medven proc, medioventral process; genital sty, genital style; aed, aedeagus, shaf, shaft; flag, flagellum. Scale bars: 16, 19 = 0.3 mm; 17 = 0.2 mm; 18, 20 = 0.3 mm; 21 = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 19–23. Amazobenna pennyi sp. nov., holotype: 19. Habitus, lateral view; 20. Head, anterior view; 21. Antenna, lateral view; 22. Head and thorax, dorsal view; 23. Abdominal process, lateral view. Scale bars: 1= 1mm; 2,4 = 0.5mm; 3 = 0.3 mm; 5 = 0.4 mm.