Four species of the new Amazonian sharpshooter Daedaloscarta gen. nov. (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

Abstract

Four new species, Daedaloscarta erwini sp. nov. (Peru: Loreto), D. maculata sp. nov. (Brazil: Amazonas), D. mene sp. nov. (Ecuador: Orellana), and D. redacta sp. nov. (Brazil: Amazonas) are described and placed in the new genus Daedaloscarta gen. nov. Species of the new genus can be readily distinguished from other Cicadellini genera by their: (1) dark brown to black dorsal coloration with contrasting large ivory spots; (2) crown produced and round anteriorly (Figs 1-8); (3) pronotum narrower than transocular width of head, with lateral margins parallel; (4) male pygofer with pair of acute finger-like processes arising at dorsal margin directed inwardly and ventrally; (5) subgenital plates with apical two-thirds very slender; (6) aedeagus very large with shaft elongate, with an unpaired basidorsal, elongate bifurcate basiventral, and paired retrorse lateral processes at midlength of shaft; and (7) paraphyses bifurcate and slender. All known specimens are associated with terra firme or flooded Amazonian forests and were collected by light trapping or insecticidal fogging. © 2012 Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia. All rights reserved.