Paraphysipona, Lu & Dietrich & Webb & Zhang, 2025

Lu, Lin, Dietrich, Christopher H., Webb, M. D. & Zhang, Yalin, 2025, Revision of the Oriental Roxasella leafopper group: phylogeny, morphological evolution, biogeography, and description of 14 new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 204 (3) : -

Paraphysipona gen. nov.

(URN:LSID:ZOOBANK.ORG:ACT: C87698E3-CABB-466F-9A7A-E4DB7DD0535F)

Type species: Paraphysipona furculapona sp. nov.

Diagnosis: Tis genus resembles Roxasella and Malaysiapona in coloration, head structure, wing venation, and leg chaetotaxy but differs in having three prominent black spots along the anterior margin of the crown, an elongate connective with stem longer than arms, a simple aedeagus without processes, and a paraphysis articulated between the aedeagus and connective.

Description: Coloration: Body olive green. Crown with three prominent black spots on apical margin between eyes and two larger bright orange spots between black spots. Face with thin black transverse band just below dorsal margin. Pronotum with paired anteromedial, medial and posterolateral pairs of symmetrical orange markings. Mesonotum each with pair of orange spots, apex of scutellum orange. Forewing smoky hyaline with costal and commissural margins orange and orange spot at base of clavus, first two branches of R and apices of claval veins black. Legs unmarked.

Structure: Body oblong, relatively broad, somewhat depressed. Head slightly broader than pronotum; anterior margin relatively thin in profile, weakly bicarinate with few additional fine transverse striations. Ocelli small, situated in sulcus of foremargin, separated from adjacent eye by distance equal to own diameter. Crown flat, strongly depressed behind anterior margin, anterior margin broadly rounded in dorsal view, approximately as long medially than the length next to eye. Face with lateral frontal sutures strongly divergent dorsad of antennal pits, extended to ocelli; frontoclypeus relatively narrow, lightly swollen dorsally, depressed ventrally; clypeal suture straight; anteclypeus with lateral margins concave, apex expanded; lora broader than basal width of anteclypeus; gena strongly emarginate below eyes; antenna longer than half-body length; antennal pits situated near upper corner of eyes, encroaching on to frontoclypeus; antennal ledges moderately developed and oblique but not carinate. Pronotum well produced between eyes, hind margin concave; lateral margin short, carinate; posterior two-thirds with irregular transverse striations. Mesonotum and scutellum together distinctly broader than long; scutellar suture arcuate. Forewing with four apical cells and three subapical cells, inner subapical cell open; two anterior branches of R reflexed; appendix broad. Fore femur with AM1 near midheight of femur, AV with few stout setae in basal half; IC with series of several fine, close-set setae; fore tibia with dorsal setal arrangement of rows AD and PD: 6 + 4. Hind femur macrosetae 2 + 2 + 1.

Male genitalia: Pygofer dorsal bridge moderately long; lobe attenuate, tapered to narrowly rounded apex, posterior margin with dense row of short, stout setae, macrosetae numerous and scattered over distal half, processes absent. Valve broadly triangular. Xth segment moderately long and well sclerotized dorsally and laterally, anterodorsal margin V-shaped in dorsal view. Subgenital plate with base broad and rounded laterally, apex atenuate and weakly sclerotized, macrosetae absent, scatered long fine setae present. Style apophysis stout with lateroposterior angle acutely produced (avicephaliform), finely denticulate, pre-apical lobe poorly developed. Connective small, Y-shaped with stem broadened and truncate apically, much longer than arms, arms slender and bowed laterad. Single paraphysis present, well sclerotized and articulated between connective apex and base of aedeagus, branched in distal half. Aedeagus with dorsal apodeme short, rounded in lateral and posterior views; preatrium absent; shaf simple, U-shaped in lateral view, without processes. Gonopore pre-apical on posterior surface.

Female unknown.

Etymology: Te genus name combines the prefix ‘ paraphysi -’ referring to the structure articulated between the connective and aedeagus, with ‘- pona ’, the suffix of the type genus ( Parabolopona ) of the subtribe to which this new genus belongs, Paraboloponina . Gender: feminine.

Distribution: Philippines.

Remarks: Phylogenetic analysis of combined morphological and DNA sequence data placed the type species of this monotypic genus on an independent branch within a larger clade comprising Malaysiapona , Halimunella , Tenompoella , Roxasellana , and Nakula . It resembles these other genera in having bright orange coloration on the dorsum of the head and thorax but differs in having three prominent black spots along the anterior margin of the crown (as in Philipona ) and in having a paraphysis articulated between the connective and aedeagus. Some other members of this clade ( Fig. 3, Clade 2) have one or more processes fused to the base of the aedeagus ( Malaysiapona and Roxasellana ) or have the posterior stem of the connective bearing a process ( Tenompoella ); the condition in Paraphysipona seems to be intermediate between these two conditions.