Roxasella acontata, 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 acontata sp.nov.

( Fig. 7A–P) (URN:LSID:ZOOBANK.ORG:ACT: 654AD5A2-6D36-4489-8BB7-DC5F225A9BA8)

Diagnosis: Head and thorax with orange markings. Crown with narrow black band at anterior margin. Male pygofer with caudoventral margin smooth. Style apex not bilobed, lateroapical margin truncate. Aedeagus with one pair of apical processes and extended ventrolateral beyond midlength of shaf in lateral view, shaf apex emarginate in ventral view. Small sclerite present between connective and aedeagus. Fore tibia with dorsal setal arrangement of rows AD and PD 4 + 7; fore femur with IC with about 14 setae, AV with four stout setae.

Description: Length (including tegmen): male 8.0 mm.

Coloration: Body yellowish. Crown with narrow black band at anterior margin and broader orange band between anterior eye corners. Face stramineous dorsally, white ventrally, dorsal margin with narrow black band. Pronotum with anterior margin white, irregularly arcuate orange band in middle, area behind orange band greenish brown.

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

Male genitalia: Style ( Fig. 7O) without short apical extension beyond lateral beak-like lateral lobe. Connective ( Fig. 7K) with stem approximately as long as arms. Aedeagus with shaft relatively long and slender cylindrical, in lateral view ( Fig. 7J) sinuate in basal half and thereafter slightly bent dorsad; with one pair of long apical processes extended ventrolateral to midlength of shaft in posterior view. Small rectangular sclerite (paraphysis) articulated between connective and aedeagus.

Material examined: Holotype: ♂, Malaysia: Sarawak (Borneo), Lambir Hills Nat’l Park , S of Miri (04º11.53.9 ′ N, 114º02.31.4 ′ E), 12–23 October 2006, coll. Cryan and Urban ( INHS).

Etymology: Te specific epithet is a Latinized adjective derived from the Greek word acontos (spear) referring to the spear-like aedeagal shaf.

Remarks: Tis species is similar to R. abrupta in form and coloration but differs in the shape of the style apex and aedeagal shaf and in having a small rectangular sclerite (paraphysis) articulated between connective and aedeagus. Both species were collected together.