Flatfronta uttara, M.Meshram & Nikoshe, 2020

M. Meshram, Naresh & Nikoshe, Akash P., 2020, Two new species of bamboo-feeding leafhopper genus Flatfronta (Hemiptera Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from India, Zootaxa 4758 (1), pp. 176-180 : 178-179

Flatfronta uttara , sp. nov.

Figs 13-22.

Yellowish white, crown with orange longitudinal stripes one on either side of median line, pronotum with four longitudinal orange stripes. Mesonotum with basal triangles yellow, transverse suture and median narrow stripe on mesoscutellum fuscous (Fig. 13). Eyes grey, ocelli medium sized and transparent. Face with dorsal half of laterofrontal sutures and antennal ledges narrowly black. Forewing with two black spots one near claval vein, another on third apical cell.

Medium sized, dorsoventrally depressed leafhoppers (Figs. 13–14). Head including eyes wider than pronotum; crown convexly produced anteriorly; median length slightly shorter than width between eyes, ocelli on anterior margin of crown, closer to eyes than to each other, coronal suture extending to 2/3 length of crown, frontoclypeus depressed, medially concave (Fig. 15); clypellus narrowed apically; antennal ledges prominent; antennal pedicel visible dorsally. Pronotum wider than long; anterior margin slightly wider than posterior; convexly rounded anteriorly, concave posteriorly. Mesonotum wider than long.

Male genitalia: Pygofer depressed; longer than wide, membranous; macrosetae on caudoventral half with tuft of hair-like setae on postero-ventral region (Fig. 16), ventral pygofer process reaching half length of pygofer (Fig. 18), leaf like at apex, with lateral crenulate margin (Fig. 19). Subgenital plate triangular, about 3X as long as broad at base, separate from valve, uniseriate macrosetae on lateral margin (Fig. 20). Style short with prominent preapical lobe, with hair-like setae, apophysis digitate, with rounded apex (Fig. 17). Connective inverted V-shaped, fused with aedeagus (Fig. 21). Aedeagus 3X as long as connective, narrowed distally, strongly curved anteriorly in distal 1/3 (Fig. 22), without dorsal apodeme, gonopore apical (Fig. 22).

Measurements: Male 4.01mm long and 1.01mm wide across eyes.

Material examined: HOLOTYPE ♂, India: Uttarakhand: Pantnagar , 238m, 29º01’26”N 79º29’15”E, 10.iii.2018, at light, Rajgopal N.N. ( NPC).

Etymology: The species name “ uttara ” (Sanskrit, meaning North) refers to the Northern region of India where it was collected.

Remarks: Flatfronta uttara sp. nov. closely resembles F. bella (the characters for F. bella in parenthesis) but differs as follows: 1. ventral pygofer process apex leaf like with lateral crenulate margin and reaching half length of the pygofer (pygofer process exceeding to anterior margin), 2. aedeagus sickle shaped, broad basally and narrowed apically (slender throughout with one pair of finger-like apical processes).

FIG. (13–22) Flatfronta uttara sp. nov. 13–14. Habitus dorsal, lateral; 15. Face; 16. Style 17–19. Pygofer lateral, ventral, magnified pygofer process; 20. Subgenital plate with valve; 21–22. Aedeagus dorsal, lateral with Connective.