Xerosoma nannospinus, Engelking & Ghirotto & Crispino & Büscher & Heleodoro & Neves & Bispo, 2023

Engelking, Phillip Watzke, Ghirotto, Victor Morais, Crispino, Edgar Blois, Büscher, Thies H., Heleodoro, Raphael Aquino, Neves, Pedro Alvaro Barbosa Aguiar & Bispo, Pitágoras da Conceição, 2023, Fig. 23. Saiva formosana Kato, 1929, male genitalia. A in Lanternflies (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) of Taiwan., Zoological Studies 62 (31), pp. 1-59 : 9-11

Xerosoma michaelis Redtenbacher 1906 ( Figs. 5 , 6 )

Xerosoma michaelis Redtenbacher 1906 (145); Weidner 1966 (232) [catalogue]; Brock 1998 (42) [catalogue]; Zompro 2004a (112) [revision]; Otte and Brock 2005 (343) [catalogue].

A

B

C

Examined material: Lectotype (here designated) ñ ( ZMUH AS-20090805-009 ) “ Jos. Retenbacher determ. 1899, Typus, public. 1906-08, Bestimm. -Verz. Nr. 393. Espirito Santo ( Brasil) J. Michaelis vend. 22 IV 1898 ” (examined by photo).

Paralectotype (here designated) ñ (NMW 241) “ Espírito Santo, Brasil, ex. coll. Fruhstorfer, J. Michaelis vend., 24.486.” (examined).

Type condition: ( Fig. 5 ). Redtenbacher (1906) did not specify how many specimens he examined. There are two females known to be the syntypes of the species ( Brock et al. 2022). The designated lectotype is well preserved and complete.

Remarks: We selected a lectotype to stabilize nomenclature choosing the specimen in the best conditions and with better diagnostic characters. A living female was photographed by a citizen and uploaded to iNaturalist, perfectly matching the characteristics of the species ( Fig. 6 and Supplementary link); we used this record to compose the redescription of color and the updated geographical occurrence for the species.

Diagnosis: Known only from females, Xerosoma michaelis females differ from those of X. canaliculatum and X. nannospinus sp. nov. by the strongly reduced wings (brachypterous) and stronger spines or projections on the lateral margins of the mesothorax and pro- and mesofemora.

Comments on the etymology: The etymology as given by Redtenbacher (1906) is dedicated to the collector of the type material, J. Michaelis ( Fig. 5A ).

Redescription (female only): Body length of 55 mm.

Head slightly longer than wide, dorsoventrally compressed, slightly rounded in dorsal view; vertex flat, surface covered with small granules. Head bearing a poorly marked longitudinal sulcus. Antennae reaching tergum II.

Thorax and abdomen roughly cylindrical. Pronotum slightly longer than wide and slightly smaller than the head; rugose and covered with spines, with a posterior larger pair pointing forward. Mesonotum wider and 2.5× longer than the pronotum, with a pair of dorsolateral carinae. Mesonotum rugose and bearing two pairs of well-marked rounded spines centrally at each carina. Mesepimeron with a longitudinal rugose carina with larger granules near the posterior region. Metanotum and median segment as wide as or slightly wider and 1.2× longer than the posterior region of the mesonotum.

Tegmina reduced, posterior margin truncated, venation strong and with distinctly raised sub-basal elevations, slightly reaching the middle of the median segment. Hindwings reduced, only reaching the middle of the median segment.

Legs with conspicuous spines on femora I–II, femora III unarmed. Tibiae bearing small granules. Profemora slightly longer than the mesothorax and hind legs slightly longer than the abdomen; profemora basally curved and compressed. Basitarsi 2× longer than the following respective tarsomeres.

Abdominal segments longer than wide, slightly less granulated than the rest of the body. Terga with lateral waved projections that become larger and more pronounced in VII. Tergum X with an apical pair of rugose carinae. Tergum X tectiform, slightly longer than IX, with three weak apical carinate projections. Epiproct small. Paraprocta with short incision. Sternum VII with a small preopercular organ, forming a small lump-like median swelling in the posterior margin. Subgenital plate flat, roundly prominent apically, slightly longer than half the length of segment IX. Gonaplacs and gonapophyses VIII reaching half the length of tergum X. Cerci short and small, tapered towards a rounded apex, round in cross section, with a third of the length of tergum X.

Color: ( Fig. 6 ). Body mostly stained with irregular shades of brown, complemented by black, white, and green spots. Head with a small centralized dorsal longitudinal black line; lateral region of the head bearing a dark brown band with a longitudinal creamish hairline just behind the eyes. Antennae with dorsal green spots in the scapus and pedicellus; the rest of the antennomeres alternating with light and dark shades of brown, except the whitish last five ones. Prothorax brown, with all spines light green. Mesothorax similar to the prothorax, whitish at the base dorsally; dorsolateral spines green, and ventro-lateral spines dark brown. Abdomen dorsally lighter in the first four terga and greenish in terga V–VII dorsally, with the latter stained with brown like the rest of the body. Costal area of tegmina irregularly brownish with lighter and darker spots and green spots apically. Legs in different shades of brown, similar to the body, but with black spots mainly on the anterior femora and greenish spots on the joints of the femur and tibia.

Geographic distribution: Xerosoma michaelis is recorded for the first time from a precise location, in the municipality of Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo state, from a photographic record available on iNaturalist (2022), taken on 16/01/2022 ( Fig. 6 ) (Supplementary link).

Figures

Fig. 5. Lectotype ñ of Xerosoma michaelis. A: labels. B: lateral view. C: dorsal view D: end of abdomen in ventral view. E: ventral view. Scale bars: B, C, E: 1 cm; D: 5 mm. Photographs provided by Oskar Conle, Frank Hennemann and Pablo Riquelme, published with permission.

Fig. 6. Live Xerosoma michaelis ñ found in Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Photographs by Felipe Afonso.A: full body in dorsolateral view. B: same as previous, zoomed. C: dorsal view, placed on a palm tree for photography. Image not to scale.