Allodrilus nitidipennis (Funkhouser, 1922) Funkhouser, 1922

Evangelista, Olivia, Flórez-V, Camilo & Sakakibara, Albino M., 2014, The identity of the treehopper genus Dysyncritus Fowler, with descriptions of new related taxa (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Heteronotinae), Zootaxa 3847 (4), pp. 495-532 : 513-515

Allodrilus nitidipennis (Funkhouser, 1922) comb. nov.

Figures 4, 7–9, 25, 37, 47, 56–58, 59–61 (tending ants), 70–78.

Cymbomorpha nitidipennis Funkhouser, 1922a: 14 , Pl.2 Fig.1 [new species, illustrated]; Funkhouser, 1927f: 120 [catalogued]; Goding, 1929e: 220 [key], 221 [catalogued]; Metcalf & Wade, 1965a: 629 [catalogued]; Funkhouser, 1951a: 79 [catalogued].

Dysyncritus nitidipennis ; Deitz, 1983b: 857, Fig. 3–4 [to Heteronotini, illustrated]; McKamey, 1998a: 162 [catalogued].

Diagnosis. Pronotum golden castaneous mottled yellow, two pre-apical yellow spots on median carina. Metopidium keeled anteriorly in frontal view, dorsum moderately elevated, arched, laterally compressed from above humeral angles; vertex weakly concave medially, lower margins straight in frontal view, apex of frontoclypeus acute; lateral plate of pygofer of males not strongly excavated medially, bearing finger-like dorsal projection, slightly curved inwards; aedeagus apophysis lacking spines.

Description. Holotype female. Color: pronotum golden castaneous, mottled yellow from basal metopidium to apex of posterior process, longitudinal band on dorsum, slightly darker, widened towards the apex, with two preapical yellow spots on median carina. Head, ventral side of thorax, legs and abdomen yellow. Forewings hyaline, veins and coriaceous areas ferruginous, mottled yellow on basal third.

Head: vertex pentagonal, wider than long; ocelli closer to eyes than to each other; area below ocelli weakly concave, lower margins of supra antennal ledges and frontoclypeus straight in frontal view, slightly curved forwards in fronto-lateral view; frontoclypeus exceeding approximately half its length below lower margins of supra antennal ledges, tapering to acute apex.

Pronotum: median carina prominent, keeled anteriorly at metopidium; humeral angles triangular, slender; in lateral view, dorsum moderately elevated, regularly arched from metopidium to apex of posterior process, highest just before middle; posterior process laterally compressed past humeral angles, gradually tapering to triangular apex, narrow and acute, not reaching apex of fifth apical cell; postocular lobes elongate, scoop-shaped.

Wings: forewings with coriaceous areas occupying approximately one-third of clavus, one-fifth of R cell, and one-third of first basal cell; discoidal cell pentagonal.

Male: smaller than female. Laterotergites IV–VII distinctly lamellar, directed downwards and sideways; VIII sternite slightly wider than long, heart-shaped (upper margin with V-shaped excavation). Lateral plate swollen, not strongly excavated medially in lateral view, bearing dorsal finger-like projection, discreetly curved upwards in lateral view, and slightly curved inwards in caudal view. Subgenital plate pear-shaped: sinuate, constricted at basal third, where lobes separate; lobes elongate, slender, dorsally folded to accommodate branches of aedeagal apophysis, internal margins strongly sinuous in ventral view, tapering to rounded apex. Aedeagus U-shaped, lacking tubercles or spines; aedeagal apophysis slender, arms of apophysis curved upwards, not bifurcated, apex hairy, slightly deflected sideways. Styles comma-shaped, curved upwards to truncate apex.

Late instar nymph. Light brown. Head diamond-shaped in frontal view, superior margin widely arched, vertex strongly convex. Pronotum low, metopidium curvilinear, posterior process short, not reaching abdomen in lateral view, lateral margins sinuate and strongly excavate in lateral profile, C-shaped. Surface of body densely covered with minute spines, more robust spines arranged in two parallel longitudinal rows on thorax and abdomen, most notably at each side of median carina, and along median portion of meso- and metathoracic nota and abdominal terga. Abdominal terga IV–VIII laterally expanded into spine-like projection, bearing two pre-apical small teeth.

Distribution. PERU (Loreto: Iquitos), ECUADOR (Sucumbios: Shushufindi; Napo: Tena, Coca), BRAZIL (Amazonas: Itacoatiara; Pará [unknown municipality]; Acre: Mâncio Lima).

Measurements. Male/ holotype female (mm): body length: 6.17/6.25; pronotal length: 5.00/4.33; maximum height of pronotum: 1.83/1.75; length of tegmina: 5.33/5.25; pronotal width: 2.42/2.17; head width: 2.25/2.08; vertex width: 1.33/1.25; vertex length: 1.25/1.17.

Examined material. Holotype female from PERU: Loreto: Iquitos, ‘Iquitos, Peru \ March 16, 1920 ’, ‘WD Funkhouser \ Collection \ 1962’, ‘[red label] Cymbomorpha nitidipennis \ W.D. Funkhouser \ HOLOTYPE’. One paratype female from BRAZIL: Pará [unknown municipality], ‘Para, Brazil \ July 7, 1919 ’, ‘[blue label] Cymbomorpha \ W.D. Funkhouser \ PARATYPE \ nitidipennis \ W.D. Funkhouser’ (all specimens in USNM). Additional material from ECUADOR: Sucumbios: Shushufindi, ‘ ÉQUATEUR / VERSANT AMAZONIEN’, ‘SHUSHUFINDI \ 8.X.1985 \ B. PERTHUIS REC [col.]’ (01 female) ( MNHN); ‘ Equateur \ Versant Amazonien Shushufindi \ 1.iii.1985 \ B. Perthuis réc.’, ‘MUSÉUM PARIS’ (01 male) ( MNHN); Garza-cocha, ‘ ECUADOR: Napo \ Garzacocha, 68 air km E Coca. 13–17 \ Mar 1986 ca. 210’, ‘S.H. McKamey lot \ #86-0314-1’ (03 nymphs with tending ant Camponotus femoratus (Fabricius) ( USNM). Napo: Tena, ‘ Ecuador \ Rio Napo, [Cabañas] Aliñahui \ (01°04’S /77°36’) 450m \ 7.ii ..1992’, ‘ ZMH \ Eing.-Nr 3/1993 \ leg. R. H. Strumpel’ (01 female and 0 2 males) ( ZMUH). Orellana: Puerto Francisco de Orellana, ‘ ECUADOR: Napo \ Coca. 249m. \ 0 6 March 1986 \ McKamey, Coll.’, ‘S.H. McKamey lot / #86-0306-4’ (01 female and 0 1 male, 0 1 nymph with tending ant Ectatomma tuberculatum (Olivier)) ( USNM); ‘ ECUADOR: Napo \ Coca. 249m. \ 0 6 March 1986 \ McKamey, Coll.’, ‘S.H. McKamey lot \ #86-214-17’ (03 females and 0 2 males) ( USNM); ‘ ECUADOR: Napo \ Coca. 249m. \ 0 6 March 1986 \ McKamey, Coll.’, ‘S.H. McKamey lot \ #86-0218-23’ (01 female and 0 4 males) ( USNM); ‘ ECUADOR: Napo \ Coca. 249m. \ 0 6 March 1986 \ McKamey, Coll.’, ‘S.H. McKamey lot \ #86-0219-1’ (01 female) ( USNM); ‘ Ecuador: Napo \ Coca 9–19 Feb \ 1986 249m \ McKamey, Coll.’, ‘S. H. McKamey \ lot #86- 029-1’ (01 female, 16 nymphs with tending ant Crematogaster sp.) ( USNM). BRAZIL: Amazonas: Itacoatiara, ‘ITACOATIARA \ Amazonas [State] BRASIL \ 25.vi.1952 \ O. REGO [col.]’ (2 females and 1 male) ( DZUP); ‘ BRASIL \ Itacoatiara \ Amazonas [State] \ Dirings \ [reverse] MAI [May] 1963’ (1 male) ( DZUP). Acre: Mâncio Lima, ‘ BRASIL: Acre: Mâncio Lima \ P[arque]. N[acional]. S[err]a. [do] Divisor Rio Azul \ 12.v.2006 \ R. Kawada col.’, ‘MEM 136: DNA Voucher \ Allodrilus nitidipennis (Funkhouser) \ Evangelista det.’ ( MZSP).

Notes on type specimens. Female holotype ( USNM) pinned through left side of pronotum between thorax and abdomen, in good state of preservation.

Remarks. A. nitidipennis comb. nov., previously classified in Dysyncritus , is mostly recognized by the color and shape of the pronotum, moderately tectiform, dorsally arched, golden brown with two pre-apical spots on the median carina. This species is nearly identical to A. similis sp. nov., from which it can be distinguished by the shape of the lateral plate and the aedeagal apophysis in the males. In A. nitidipennis comb. nov., the tooth-like dorsal projection in the lateral plate is weakly deflected inwards (as seen in caudal view), and the branches of the aedeagal apophysis lack spines. Other specimens identified as A. nitidipennis show some variation in general pronotal coloration (from light to dark or greyish castaneous) and pronotal contour line, which can be more or less arched and elevated ( Figs. 7–9 ). Males exhibiting such external differences show identical genitalia, except for a slight variation on the shape of the dorsal process in the lateral plate, which can be less elongate, and more triangular in shape. This process is, however, not curved inwards as in A. similis sp. nov., and the aedeagal apophysis has no ventral spines.

This is the only species in Alodrillus for which data on nymphs and tending ants are available. Three species of associated ants were identified as Camponotus femoratus (Fabricius, 1804) , Crematogaster sp., and Ectatomma tuberculatum (Oliver, 1792) ( Figs. 59–61 ). Examined series including adults, nymphs and ants from the same collecting event suggest that this species may display some degree of aggregating behavior as nymphs, adults or both.

In addition to the female holotype, the type-series of A. nitidipennis includes two paratypes, of which one (severely damaged, only part of the thorax and wings are conserved) was identified as a representative of A. alboferrugineus sp. nov., and therefore is listed in the description of the latter species.

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 12. Species of Dysyncritus and Allodrilus gen. nov., lateral view: 5 – 6. D. intectus Fowler, lectotype female and paralectotype male, respectively (BMNH); 7 – 9. A. nitidipennis (Funkhouser) comb. nov., (7) holotype female (USNM), (8 – 9) color and pronotal variation: female (DZUP) and male (DNA voucher MEM 136, NCSU), respectively; 10 – 12. A. alboferrugineus Evangelista sp. nov., (10) holotype female (DZUP), color variation: (11) paratype male (USNM), (12) paratype female (MZSP). Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 56 – 61. Immatures and tending ants of A. nitidipennis (Funkhouser) comb. nov.: 56 – 58. 4 – 5 th instar nymph, frontal, lateral and dorsal view, respectively; 59. Camponotus femoratus (Fabricius, 1804), lateral view; 60. Crematogaster sp., lateral view; 61. Ectatomma tuberculatum (Oliver, 1792), lateral view. Scale bar = 1 mm.