Roxasella sabahensis, 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) : -

Roxasella sabahensis sp.nov.

( Fig. 16A–Q) (URN:LSID:ZOOBANK.ORG:ACT: 69DE7BF9-901A-4169-AA40-5B0191BE1F80)

Diagnosis: Head and thorax with orange band. Crown with thin black band. Style apex bilobed with lateral projection beaklike. Aedeagal shaf relatively long and slender with one pair of stout apical processes having some strigae and basal spiculate or scale-like microsculpture, gonopore apical.

Description: Length (including tegmen): male 8.0– 8.5 mm, female 9.0 mm.

Coloration: Body yellowish. Head with thin black band either side of anterior margin and crown with broader ochraceous band between anterior margins of eyes. Face stramineous with narrow black band at dorsal margin. Pronotum yellow anteriorly with irregularly arcuate ochraceous medial band, greenish brown posteromedially. Exposed mesonotum without orange markings.

Crown parabolic, anterior and posterior margins subparallel. Fore tibia with dorsal setal arrangement of rows AD and PD 4 + 7. Fore femur IC with about 14 setae, AV with five stout setae.

Male genitalia: Pygofer with caudodorsal margin narrowly rounded. Style apophysis avicephaliform with posteromedial lobe subquadrate and lateral projection beaklike, pre-apical lobe absent. Connective short, stem as long as arms. Aedeagus with dorsal apodeme slightly broadened dorsally in posterior view, dorsal margin truncate; shaf relatively long and slender, in lateral view somewhat irregularly curved dorsad and nearly parallel sided, in posterior view somewhat narrower and slightly narrowed near midlength, with one pair of stout apical processes, extended ventrolateral to near shaf midlength, curved slightly posterad in lateral view, with strigae and basal spiculate or scale-like microsculpture; gonopore apical.

Female genitalia: Sternite VII posterior margin with short medial brown process slightly concave in middle.

Material examined: Holotype: ♂, Malaysia, Sabah, FMU10, Apin apin, Keningau , (05°44.31 ′ 07N, 116°45.15 ′ 72E), 1217 m, 24 April–3 May 2016, coll. Z.S. Song. Paratypes: 1♂, same data as holotype ( NWAFU) ; 1♂, Malaysia, Sarawak, Gunung Mulu National Park , Mulu Camp 2.5, 1000 m, February, RGS Mulu Expedition, Site 14, J.D. Holloway ( NHM) .

Additional (non-type) material: 1♀ (tentatively associated to males, see generic Remarks), same data as holotype ( NWAFU) .

Etymology: Te species takes its name from the type locality (Sabah).

Remarks: Tis species is very similar to R. abrupta in form and coloration but differs in having the style apex with the posteromedial lobe more produced and quadrate, and the aedeagal processes much shorter with strigae and basal spiculate or scale-like microsculpture.