Chlorita antoniana Dlabola, 1959

Poggi, Francesco, 2025, A new species of Chlorita (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae) from southern Italy, with redescription of C. antoniana Dlabola, 1959, Zootaxa 5666 (3), pp. 428-436 : 429-431

Chlorita antoniana Dlabola, 1959

MATERIAL EXAMINED

Holotype: • ♂, Italy, Lucania (= Basilicata), prov. Matera, Nova Siri , 27.VII.1957, A. Servadei leg. ( MSNV-SER).

Other specimens:

• 30 ♀♀, Italy, Lucania (= Basilicata), prov. Matera, Nova Siri , 27.VII.1957 and 28.VII.1957, A. Servadei leg. ( MSNV-SER) .

• 2 ♂♂, 19 ♀♀, Italy, Calabria, prov. Catanzaro, com. Sellia Marina, Uria , 4.VI.1959, A. Servadei leg. ( MSNV-SER) .

• 3 ♀♀, Italy, Calabria, prov. Catanzaro, com. Simeri Crichi, Simeri river mouth, 4.VI.1959, A. Servadei leg. ( MSNV-SER) .

• 1 ♀, Italy, Calabria, prov. Reggio Calabria, Santa Cristina d'Aspromonte , 6.IX.1959, A. Servadei leg. ( MSNV-SER) .

• 1 ♂, Italy, Basilicata (= Lucania), prov. Matera, Nova Siri , 27.VII.1957, A. Servadei leg. ( MSNB-SER) .

• 1 ♂, Italy, Calabria, prov. Reggio Calabria, Santa Cristina d'Aspromonte, Torrente Lago bank, 350 m amsl, 38.2487045, 15.9577579, from Artemisia campestris L. subsp. variabilis (Ten.) Greuter, 18.X.2019, F. Poggi leg. ( CFP).

• 10 ♂♂, 24 ♀♀, Italy, Calabria, prov. Reggio Calabria, com. San Luca, Fiumara Bonamico , 22 m amsl, 38.1237937, 16.1334567, from Artemisia campestris L. subsp. variabilis (Ten.) Greuter, 27.V.2023, F. Poggi leg. ( CFP) .

REDESCRIPTION

Body length. 2.31–2.58 mm in males and 2.48–2.75 mm in females. It is worth noting that Dlabola (1959), who studied only two male specimens, namely the holotype in the Servadei collection and the paratype in his collection, reports the length of the males as 2.3–3.1 mm ( Dlabola, 1959); it has been verified that the length of the holotype (kept in the Servadei collection) is 2.33 mm, so the measure of 3.1 mm reported by Dlabola should be that of the paratype in his collection, but no male longer than 2.58 mm has been found among all the specimens studied (15 males); on the other hand, it has been observed that it is frequent to find specimens of C. antoniana parasitized by Diptera Pipunculidae , whose larva causes abnormal swelling and prolongation of the abdomen; since Dlabola used to measure the length of the specimens from the apex of vertex to the tip of abdomen, it could be that the abnormal size of the paratype resulted from parasitization.

Coloration. Overall color light green with symmetrical cream colored markings on head, forepart of pronotum, and scutellum; mesonotal triangles slightly lighter; forewings uniformly light green, with apical cells slightly infuscated, without markings or spots; abdomen pale green, with fore margin of tergites dark; legs light green ( Figs 1A–B ).

Structure. Habitus as in Figs 1A–B . Head produced, more in female, as wide as pronotum; vertex 1.7 times as wide between the eyes as long medially. Pronotum 2 times in male and 1.7 in female as long as vertex medially. Forewings longer than abdomen, apically rounded; hindwings normally developed. Female sternite VII without distinctive characters. Apodemes of male 2 nd abdominal sternite sac-shaped, convergent, not touching each other, extended just beyond posterior margin of sternite II ( Fig. 1C ).

Male genitalia. Pygofer lobe rounded. Subgenital plates, connective and styles with typical shape within the genus, without distinctive characters. Anal hooks ( Fig. 1H ) smooth, curved upward, with proximal portion (the one before the curvature) approximately 0.7 times as long as distal one, not widened in its middle; distal portion thin, slightly widened and sinuous in its apical third, normally sclerified. Aedeagus ( Figs 1D–E ) with preatrium slightly curved dorsad and shaft ventrally gibbous in lateral view, about as long as preatrium, with dorsal raised edge in its middle; in lateral view, dorsal margin of distal half of shaft finely and irregularly serrated; narrow sclerified semicircular laminar expansion extended around gonopore ( Fig. 1F ), inclined ventrad and forming approximately 45° angle with shaft, its ventral edge with paired spiniform processes slightly curved medially and directed ventrad ( Figs 1F–G ).

BIOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL DATA

Neither Dlabola (1959) nor Servadei (1960) reported information on the host plant, but the author’s research has identified it as Artemisia campestris L. subsp. variabilis (Ten.) Greuter, on which both adults and nymphs were found.

The available data is not sufficient to define the number of generations per year; the adults were collected in May, June, July, September, and October; some 5 th instar nymphs were found in May, together with the adults.

DISTRIBUTION

C. antoniana was described by Dlabola (1959) based on specimens collected by A.Servadei in Basilicata region (southern Italy), in a locality near the border with Calabria region (Nova Siri).

Thereafter, Servadei (1960; 1969) published five other collection sites of this species, all in Calabria region; added to these is the locality “Fiumara Bonamico”, reported here, which is the southernmost of those known so far.

The species has a distribution that extends from the southern border of the Basilicata region to the southern edge of the Calabria region, except for the western and southern slopes of the Aspromonte Massif, where it seems to be replaced by the new taxon described below, living on the same host plant ( Fig. 3A ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Chlorita antoniana Dlabola, 1959: A. habitus male; B. habitus female; C. apodemes of 2nd abdominal sternite, dorsal view; D. aedeagus, lateral view; E. aedeagus, ventral view; F. gonopore, from above; G. apex of the aedeagal shaft, caudal view; H. left anal hook, lateral view.

FIGURE 3. Distribution and habitat: A. collection sites of C. antoniana and C. elvirae; B. type locality of C. elvirae (Santa Domenica di Terreti, Reggio Calabria, Italy); C. Artemisia campestris subsp. variabilis, photographed in the type locality of C. elvirae. (Photos B,C by Elvira Castiglione).