First record of the leafhopper genus Xenovarta Viraktamath (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from India with description of a new species

Meshram, Naresh M., Hashmi, Tahseen Raza (2018): First record of the leafhopper genus Xenovarta Viraktamath (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from India with description of a new species. Zootaxa 4532 (3): 444-446, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4532.3.

Xenovarta viraktamathi Meshram & Hashmi 2018, sp.nov.

<i>Xenovarta viraktamathi</i> sp.nov. (Figs. 1–12) <p>Pale green with red stripes (Figs. 1&2). Vertex lateral margin with a red stripe terminating into two black dot in dorsal view and ventrally with single dot (Fig. 3). Face yellow, anteriorly with boomerang shaped black spot with red margins (Fig. 4). Pronotum anteriorly orange yellow, rest pale green with four red stripes. Scutellum pale with two obscure orange stripes. Front wing pale green with red stripes (Fig. 4).</p> <p>Head including eyes 0.9x width of pronotum, in dorsal view triangularly produced in front; vertex length as long as width across eyes; ocelli near anterior margin of vertex, close to eye; face 1.6x as long as wide; anteclypeus apically exceeding facial margin, slightly wider apically than at base, 0.34 times as long as frontoclypeus (Fig. 4); frontoclypeus parallel sided; clypellus; antennae situated nearly upper margin of eye in facial view (Fig. 3). Pronotum (Fig. 3) 0.73x as wide as long and 0.76x width of scutellum; anterior margin of pronotum roundly produced between eyes.</p> <p>Male genitalia: Pygofer (Fig. 5 & 6) longer than wide, with posterior lobe produced and terminating in dorsally directed acute processes, one on either side. Segment X stout, dorsal half sclerotized, with a caudo-ventral bifid process (Fig. 6). Valve fused to subgenital plates the latter fused to near apex with a poorly developed caudolateral process; with distal macrosetae and many fine ventral setae arranged irregularly (Figs. 9 & 10). Style (Fig. 11) with well-developed preapical lobe, with few short spine-like setae, apophysis digitate 0.23x of the total length. Connective stem as long as arms (Fig. 12), arms closely appressed. Aedeagus (Figs. 7 & 8), with shaft uniform in width throughout length in lateral and ventral view, abruptly tapered distally to acute apex, with pair of lateral subapical lamellate processes; gonopore large, subapical at base of lateral processes; preatrium absent; dorsal apodeme moderately well developed, tapered to narrowly rounded apex.</p> <p> <b>Measurements (mm) -</b> Male: 7.52 long, 1.20 wide across eyes, 0.75 length of pronotum, 1.31 width of pronotum.</p> <p> <b>Type material.</b> Holotype ♂, INDIA: Arunachal Pradesh: Basar (27°59′0″N 94°40′0″E; Altitude- 1896 ft), 30.vi.2018, net sweeping on bamboo plants, coll. Stuti & Tahseen (NPC). Paratypes 2 ♂, same data as holotype (NPC). NCBI GenBank, accession number: MH 986788.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The species is named after Prof. C. A. Viraktamath in recognition of his monumental contributions to leafhopper taxonomy.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> <i>Xenovarta viraktamathi</i> <b>sp.nov.</b> runs to <i>Xenovarta</i> in Viraktamath’s (2004) key to genera, disagreeing in having a small ventral process on segment X. It also appears to differ from other species of <i>Xenovarta</i> in having the forewing apex rounded rather than truncate. It resembles <i>Xenovarta acuta</i> Viraktamath externally but differs from this and other species by the more rounded apex of the forewing and simple symmetrical aedeagus with a pair of subapical lateral processes.</p>Published as part of <i>Meshram, Naresh M. & Hashmi, Tahseen Raza, 2018, First record of the leafhopper genus Xenovarta Viraktamath (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from India with description of a new species, pp. 444-446 in Zootaxa 4532 (3)</i> on page 446, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4532.3.9, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/2615525">http://zenodo.org/record/2615525</a&gt

A new genus Vittaliana belonging to the tribe Opsiini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from India and its molecular phylogeny

The new leafhopper genus Vittalianareticulata gen. nov., sp. nov., is described from India, and placed in the tribe Opsiini based on ocelli close to eyes, without carina on anterior margin of the face and bifurcate aedeagus with two gonopores. Phylogenetic analysis with maximum likelihood (ML) using IQtree v1.4.1 of combined data (Histone H3 and 28S rDNA) reveals that the new genus Vittaliana belongs to a clade consisting of Opsius versicolor (Distant, 1908), Opsiini gen. sp., Libengaia sp., Hishimonus phycitis (Distant, 1908) and Yinfomibus menglaensis Du, Liang & Dai (2019) with good branch support, and that the tribe Opsiini is paraphyletic. This resolves the placement of a new genus in the tribe Opsiini under Deltocephalinae

Assessment of bacterial endosymbionts and the host, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), using rRNA and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene sequences

Endosymbionts are vital factor for arthropod ecology. The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a cryptic species complex composed of more than 34 putative species. Moreover to the primary endosymbiont Portiera aleyrodidarum, six secondary endosymbionts Cardinium, Arsenophonus, Rickettsia, Wolbachia, Hamiltonella and Fritschea are known in B. tabaci. Here, we tested four of the six secondary endosymbiont lineages (excluding Fritschea and Hamiltonella) from 180 whitely individuals collected from six host plants belonging to families Solanaceae (Brinjal, Tomato and Potato) and Fabaceae (Soyabean, Mungbean and Subabool). Phylogenetic studies grounded on the mitochondrial cytochrome I gene revealed the presence of Asia 1, Asia II 1 and Asia II 7 genetic groups for B. tabaci. Specific primers targeting 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA gene were used for estimating the bacterial endosymbionts. As a primary endosymbiont Portiera aleyrodidarum was present in all the studied samples; whereas, an uneven distribution of secondary endosymbionts were recorded. Overall our finding exposes the variation and diversity of endosymbionts within the B. tabaci collected from different host plants and outlines the genetic groups of the insect pest. The study delivers a significant information concerning the circulation of secondary endosymbionts with host preferences of B. tabaci and provides suggestion for progressive studies on targeting the specific endosymbionts with respect to host for the control measures