Membranacea stenoprocessa Yu & Yang

Yu, Xiaofei & Yang, Maofa, 2013, Two new species of Membranacea Qin & Zhang from China (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae, Empoascini), ZooKeys 260, pp. 77-83 : 80-81

Membranacea stenoprocessa Yu & Yang sp. n. Figs 19-33

Description.

Length male 4.0-4.2mm.

Colour as for previous species but face dorsally and postclypeus yellowish orange, paler on anteclypeus, lorum, maxillary plate and gena, some specimens with a brownish stripe on anteclypeus and ventrally on postclypeus (Figs 19, 20, 21).

Ventral male abdominal apodemes broad, reaching the end of segment IV or V (Fig. 25). Pygofer with dorsal margin strongly concave, apex finger-like with few microsetae (Figs 26, 27). Subgenital plate broad, with ca. 12 macrosetae and ca. 42 irregular microsetae in 3 rows; outer margin slightly expanded at midlength and bearing 6 moderately long and stout setae (Fig. 28). Paramere narrowed from near midlength to apex, curved, laterally with ca. 7 fine setae, apex with teeth and sensory pits (Fig. 31). Aedeagal shaft elongated, curved posteriorly, with a flange on each side at midlength, a broader subapical flange on each side and a central flange on ventral surface extending to near apex, flange margins smooth to slightly dentate; preatrium less half length of shaft (Figs 29, 30). Connective with base broad, apex narrow, apical margin deeply emarginate (Fig. 33)

Type material.

Holotype: male, Houhe Natural Reserve, Wufeng City, Hubei Province, 27 July 2010, coll. Xiaofei Yu. Paratypes: 5 males, Xingdou mountain, Hubei Province, 4 August 2010, coll. Xiaofei Yu light; 1 male, Zhujia mountain, Guizhou Province, 25 July 2005, coll. Zaihua Yang; 1 male, Fanjing mountain, Guizhou Province, 21 September 2011, coll. Jiankun Long; 2 males, Longchang town, Xiuwen County, Guizhou Province, 8 July 2010, coll. Yinlin Mu.

Etymology.

The new species name alludes to the single narrowerventral flange on the aedeagal shaft.

Remarks.

The new species is similar to Membranacea plana Qin & Zhang, 2011, but differs from the latter in the more pointed apex of the pygofer and the slightly different shape of the aedeagal flanges with the lower dorsal pair slightly higher on the shaft (compare Figs 29, 30 with 34, 35). In one species of the genus ( Membranacea unijugata ) there is variability in the aedeagus suggesting that the new species could represent a variation of Membranacea plana . However, the differences seen between the two species are consistent in all the materials examined.