Pintalia, Stal, 1862

Hoch, Júlio César Do Carmo Vaz Santos Hannelore, Bartlett, Charles R. & Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes, 2025, Revision of the type series of the original species placed in the genus Pintalia Stål, 1862 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae), and description of 12 new species from Brazilian caves, Zootaxa 5678 (1), pp. 1-96 : 11-12

Pintalia constellaris- group

Diagnosis. This group can be distinguished mainly by characters of the male terminalia; however, some other characters are also useful for identification. Vertex large, with apical transverse carina smaller than the subapical carina; apical compartment wide; caudal margin concave and slightly triangular medially; basal emargination small, or inconspicuous; in frontal view usually exhibits apical transverse carina straight. Frons approx. 1.5 times wider in the largest width than at the apex; frontoclypeal suture usually semicircular convex or straight bent dorsally, flattened apically. Tegmina (forewings) with pt large and sub rectangular weakly angled distally; with C5’ large and quadratic; fork of ScP+RA and RP ahead of fork CuA1 and CuA2; rm-1 and mcu-1 usually together or very close to the first MP fork, in some species mcu-1 proximally to first MP fork. Hind wing with RP bifid, MP trifid with petiolate anastomosis in MP3+4 + CuA1 distally forked (Y-type), CuA1 and CuA2 bifid. In ventral view, males exhibit segment viii slightly to moderately evanescent medially. Hind tibia usually exhibits 2–3 lateral spines, with spine near the femur very small, 6 apical teeth as provide for the genus. 1 st tarsomere with 7 apical teeth. 2 nd tarsomere with 7–8 apical teeth, usually with 3 platellae, rarely without platellae.

Male terminalia. Pygofer bilaterally symmetrical; in lateral view, dorsocaudal margin with sharp processes medially; dorsal margin concave, caudal margin convex; in caudal view, processes wider than the rest of the distal margins (vs. thin in Pintalia painensis- group); ventromedian process triangular. Anal tube moderately long, not developed distally (bent); in lateral view, almost straight dorsally; in ventral view concave medially with a small longitudinal ridge medially; epiproct and paraproct short, in dorsal view the epiproct triangular, with lateral margin near to the base larger and bent down; paraproct rounded, narrow laterally and slightly larger than the epiproct distally. Genital styles thin at the base and moderately wide or very wide apically; excavated ventrally latero-basally with margins curved towards the ventral region; dorsal margins exhibit a conspicuous triangular process medially; in ventral view, basal opening between the genital styles shaped like a small diamond-shaped, with rounded lateral angles. Aedeagus usually with shaft as wide as or slightly wider at base than apically; exhibit 3–5 spines, usually three spines (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd) occur at the apex of the aedeagal shaft near to flagellum; without ventral ridge. Flagellum without spines, in some species with a spine-like process laterally.

Female terminalia. Anal tube moderately large or well developed, in dorsal view usually swollen medially or apically, slightly rounded, with lateral margin slightly developed or moderately developed; usually flattened ventrally or slightly excavated; epiproct and paraproct thin and short as to the males. Gonocoxae VIII truncated, in lateral view usually with lateral carinae short not reaching the middle of the segment. Ovipositor large, in lateral view, sabre-shaped, curved upwards dorsally, caudally surpassing anal tube.

Species here assigned to this group: P. constellaris ( Walker, 1858) , P. ecuadorensis Muir, 1934 , P. speciosa sp. nov., P. fennahi sp. nov..

Distribution. NIC. BOL. CR. ECU. BRA, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná state ( Fig. 77 ).

Notes. In South America, P. speciosa sp. nov. is the second species ( Pintalia constellaris ( Walker, 1858) = Pintalia quadrimaculata Fennah, 1945 , by Fennah, 1947) reported to share the following character states: tegmina dark yellow with one black spot with four hyaline spots near to the center of the tegmina; C3 and C5 cells elongated and rounded, C4 narrow. This character is widely observed in South American species, currently with most 40 records on iNaturalist, distributed in mainly southeastern Brazil, southern Peru, Costa Rica and Ecuador. In addition, P. constellaris and P. speciosa sp. nov. exhibit the pygofer with robust process laterally, apex of the aedeagal shaft display three spines moderately large, and medially with two spines in opposite sides, as P. fennahi sp. nov. P. constellaris and P. speciosa sp. nov. show minimal differences but can be differentiated by genital styles and the size, shape, and position of the aedeagus spines, as described here in morphology. The type of P. ecuadorensis was evaluated by photographs provided by BPBM. The aedeagus of P. ecuadorensis is more distinct among the species of the group, and this type requires a supplementary description. We believe that with advances in the knowledge of planthoppers in Brazil, Pintalia constellaris -group will be a case like the Australian genus Chidaea Emeljanov, 2000 , where we have several species with small variations of the same aedeagal spines ( Löcker and Holzinger, 2019) (See Remarks P. speciosa sp. nov).

Morphology. Body length: 4.0–4.4 ♂ mm (n=4). 5.0– 6.4 mm ♀ (n=4).

Head. Vertex with apical compartment wide laterally ( P. constellaris , P. ecuadorensis , P. speciosa sp. nov.), or distinct apical compartment, weakly excavated, with distinct apical transverse carina evanescent and elongated medially ( P. fennahi sp. nov.); subapical carina straight or weakly straight ( P. constellaris , P. ecuadorensis ) or bent medially ( P. speciosa sp. nov., P. fennahi sp. nov.). Frons apically swollen and curved ( P. fennahi sp. nov.) or trapezoidal straight ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov., P. ecuadorensis ); approx. 1.5 times wider in the largest width than at the apex; frontoclypeal suture rounded ( P. speciosa sp. nov., P. ecuadorensis ) or bent dorsally ( P. fennahi sp. nov.)

Thorax. Pronotum narrow, inconspicuous media carina and moderately developed but evanescent submedian carina behind the eyes. Mesonotum with distance between lateral carinae and slightly larger distally than near the pronotum ( P. fennahi sp. nov.), or moderately larger ( P. speciosa sp. nov., P. constellaris , P. ecuadorensis ). Tegmina with few hyaline parts, largely dark yellow ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov.) or dark brown ( P. fennahi sp. nov.) spots; C5 cell wide near at fork cua1-cua2 ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov.) short/common ( P. fennahi sp. nov.), C3 cell wide and rounded ( P. speciosa sp. nov.). Posterior legs, hind tibia with 3 lateral spines; 1 st tarsomere 7 apical teeth, being 2 lateral larger and 2 teeth moderately large in the middle; 2 nd tarsomere with 7 apical teeth ( P. speciosa sp. nov.) or 8 apical teeth ( P. fennahi sp. nov., P. ecuadorensis ) usually the two outer ones larger, and the middle ones with approx. the same size, usually with 3 platellae.

Male terminalia. Pygofer bilaterally symmetric, wider apically ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov.), wider medially ( P.fennahi sp. nov.) or wider ventrally ( P. ecuadorensis ), cone-shaped process rounded apically ( P. speciosa sp. nov., P. ecuadorensis , P. constellaris ) or with cone-shaped process sharp apically ( P. fennahi sp. nov.). Anal tube moderately large, in dorsal view slightly elevated medially and in lateral view with lateral margins moderately prominent, and ventrally very slightly prominent ( P. speciosa sp. nov., P. constellaris ), moderately flattened dorsoventrally with lateral margins weakly prominent ( P. fennahi sp. nov.), or tubular dorsally and ventrally with a third basal tubular and two third excavated ( P. ecuadorensis Muir 1934 ). Genital styles thin at the base wide distally, apically in the expanded region approx. 3.0 times more long than wide ( P. speciosa sp. nov.), approx. 2.0 times more long than wide ( P. constellaris ), or very rounded ventrally approx. 1.5 times more long than wide ( P. fennahi sp. nov.). Aedeagus, aedeagal shaft with three apical spines ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov., P. fennahi sp. nov.), ventrally arranged apical spines ( P. fennahi sp. nov.), laterally arranged apical spines ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov.), the middle spine (b) is the longest of the apical spines ( P. constellaris ), or the shortest ( P. speciosa sp. nov.), distinct spines of the aedeagus without three spines from apex of the shaft, and with conspicuous larger spine ventrally ( P. ecuadorensis ).

Female terminalia. Anal tube moderately large, medially elevated dorsally and distally truncated, in lateral view with ovipositor moderately surpassing the anal tube ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov.). Gonocoxae VIII moderately large, in lateral view with lateral carinae not reaching the middle of the segment ( P. constellaris , P. speciosa sp. nov., P. fennahi sp. nov.); in caudal view larger and swollen apically ( P. constellaris or medially ( P. fennahi sp. nov.).

Figures

FIGURE 77. Distribution of Pintalia-groups in South America (A). Distribution of Pintalia painensis-group (B). Distribution of Pintalia pictipennis-group (C). Distribution of Pintalia constellaris-group (D). The extra records (not reported in the type and/or material examined) of Pintalia constellaris-group were obtained through the INaturalist platform (last access 25.x.2023), Pintalia constellaris available in: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/895204-Pintalia-constellaris.