Concavifer Dlabola 1960

El-Sonbati, Saad, Wilson, Michael & Dhafer, Hathal Al, 2018, Contribution to the knowledge of selected genera of the tribe Opsiini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 58 (1), pp. 257-266 : 258-259

Concavifer Dlabola 1960

Concavifer Dlabola, 1960: 14 . Type species: C. marmoratus Dlabola, 1960 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Concavifer can be recognized by the following combination of characters: crown sharply angled to face; pygofer with well-developed appendages; style bent, small, finger-like, curved preapically, the curve in dorsal view rounded at the apex; aedeagus with two branches, forming a semi-circle in ventral view.

Redescription. Measurements. Body length: male 3.9–4.1 mm; female 4.0– 4.5 mm.

Coloration ( Figs 1–2 , 7–8 ). Generally yellowish, with brownish spots. Pronotum and forewings with a brown streaked pattern. Pronotum yellowish brown with pale midline. Forewings with brown spots, larger spots only at the inner edge. Face yellow. Vertex with two oblique V-shaped brown spots, with or without distinctive oval brown spots. Scutellum orange, brown spotted at lateral angles. Legs yellow and mottled with brown, with brown setal areolae.

Structure. Head ( Figs 1–2 , 7–8 ) as wide as pronotum. Crown twice wider than each compound eye, elongate medially, concave, sharply angled to face. Gena slightly incised with single fine erect seta near lateral frontal suture. Lateral frontal suture reaching ocellus and directed mesad of ocelli. Frontoclypeus longer than wide. Clypeal suture straight and complete. Clypellus narrower than lorum at base, slightly expanding towards apex in basal two thirds, greatly produced beyond gena with apical margin straight. Lorum apex widely distant from gena margin. Antenna inserted near posteroventral corner of eye, mesal margin of eye notched.

Thorax. Pronotum with anterior margin convex and posterior margin slightly concave, wider than long. Combined length of mesoscutum and scutellum equal to their width. Macropterous, forewing veins not carinate, appendix restricted to anal margin, with three anteapical cells, without reflexed costal veins, A1-A2 crossvein absent, r-m1 crossvein present. Hindwing submarginal vein complete.

Legs. Profemur row AM with AM1, one intercalary row with more than five fine setae gradually reduced apically, two dorsoapical setae. Protibia AD row with four duplicate macrosetae, AV row with numerous macrosetae gradually increasing in size apically. Mesofemur AV row with stout and short setae, two apical setae. Mesotibia AD and AV rows each with four macrosetae. Metafemur setal formula 2+2+1, second pair with shorter setae. Metatibia PD row with long and short macrosetae, AD row with macrosetae and three smaller intercalary setae between each pair; AV row with numerous macrosetae extending nearly to base, gradually increasing in size apically. Metatarsomere I as long as tarsomeres II plus III combined.

Male genitalia ( Figs 13–26 ). Pygofer with well-developed appendages arising caudoventrally and extending dorsally but not exceeding pygofer margin, with well-de- veloped macrosetae medially, ventral margin long, curved inside ( Figs 25–26 ). Genital valve free and with pointed articulation to the pygofer ( Fig. 19 ). Subgenital plate with one row of macrosetae near margin and some additional scattered hairs short to as long as macrosetae, apical part finger-like, apical part sinuate at lateral side ( Fig. 18 ). Style bent, small, finger-like, curved preapically, the curve in dorsal view rounded at apex, with well-developed preapical lobe and subapical tooth ( Figs 20–24 ). Connective Y-shaped, branches as long as half of connective total length ( Fig. 17 ). Aedeagal shaft with two branches, each curved anteriad, forming a semi-circle in ventral view, each branch with outer side bearing a small membranous appendage preapically, inner side sinuate medially, and apex pointed ( Figs 13–16 ).

Female genitalia ( Figs 27–29 ). Pygofer with numerous macrosetae. Sternite 7 as broad at base as long medially, posterior margin slightly sinuate, with elongated lobe, posterolateral angles acutely rounded ( Fig. 27 ). First valvula convex medially. Second valvula gradually tapered apically with variable serrations on dorsal surface ( Figs 28–29 ).

Remarks. Concavifer is closely related to Neoaliturus: both genera share the aedeagus with two branches forming a semi-circle which is considered here a putative synapomorphy. When describing Concavifer , DLABOLA (1960) compared his new genus with Platymetopius Burmeister, 1838 (currently placed in the tribe Athysanini : ZAHNISER & DIETRICH 2013) and Distomotettix Ribaut, 1938 (synonymised under Neoaliturus by LINNAVUORI 1962). Concavifer was originally diagnosed by the following characters: postclypeus narrow and long, twice longer than distance between ocelli; antenna long; stylus short; genital plate long; and, particularly from Distomotettix, by the male pygofer without an appendage. However, our examination of the type species of the genus, C. marmoratus , showed that the male pygofer in fact possesses an appendage, which was probably overlooked by DLABOLA (1960). EMELJANOV (1999) separated Concavifer and Neoaliturus based on the structure of the head without mentioning the main characters of the genus as given in the diagnosis above. LINNAVUORI (1962) postulated that Concavifer may be a subgenus of Neoaliturus regardless of the differences in external characters. Our redescription is based on direct examination of C. marmoratus , the type species of the genus. We also made attempts to borrow and examine the type material of C. bolkarensis Kartal, 1982 , but without success. It cannot be confirmed that this species possesses a pygofer appendage. Additional studies are needed to clarify the relationship between Concavifer and the species currently included in Neoaliturus.

Distribution. Palaearctic Region ( OMAN et al. 1990), from Turkey in the west to Mongolia in the east ( Fig. 51 ).

Figures

Figs 1–6. 1–2 – Concavifer marmoratus Dlabola, 1960: 1 – dorsal view of male; 2– dorsal view of female. 3–4 – Phlepsopsius arabicus Dlabola, 1979: 3 – dorsal view; 4 – head and thorax. 5–6 – Hishimonus phycitis (Distant, 1908): 5 – dorsal view; 6 – head and thorax.

Figs 7–12. 7–8 – Concavifer marmoratus Dlabola, 1960: 7 – lateral view; 8 – face. 9–10 – Phlepsopsius arabicus Dlabola, 1979: 9 – lateral view; 10 – face. 11–12 – Hishimonus phycitis (Distant, 1908): 11 – lateral view; 12– face.

Figs 13–29. Concavifer marmoratus Dlabola, 1960. 13 – aedeagus, dorsal view; 14 – aedeagus, detail of apex of lateral branch, dorsal view; 15 – aedeagus, detail of median part of lateral branch, dorsal view; 16 – aedeagus, lateral view; 17 – connective; 18 – subgenital plate; 19 – valve; 20 – style; 21–24 – different views of style; 25 – pygofer; 26 – pygofer appendage; 27 – female 7th sternite; 28 – ovipositor, lateral view; 29 – detail of ovipositor apex.

Figs 51–54. 51–52 – distribution of Concavifer spp., Phlepsopsius arabicus Dlabola, 1979 and Hishimonus phycitis (Distant, 1908) (51 – distribution at global scale; 52 – distribution in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). 53–54 – habitats of Concavifer and Phlepsopsius spp. 53 – locality of Concavifer marmoratus Dlabola, 1960 and Phlepsopsius arabicus in Rhodet Khorim, Ramah governorate, Saudi Arabia; 54 – locality of Phlepsopsius arabicus and Hishimonus phycitis in Raydah Protectorate, Saudi Arabia.