Notes on Neotropical Proconiini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae). VII: First detailed description of the female genitalia of a Diestostemma species

Abstract

Diestostemma Amyot & Serville, 1843 is a diverse sharpshooter genus with 32 species. A description and illustrations of Diestostemma nasutum Schmidt, 1910 are provided. The species, previously known from Ecuador, is newly recorded from Colombia. Both the male and female genitalia are described for the first time. This is the first detailed description of the female genitalia of a Diestostemma species. Diestostemma nasutum can be distinguished from the other species of the genus by the following features of the aedeagus: shaft with the distal third distinctly curved dorsally; base of basiventral aedeagal process with a lobe directed anteriorly; and basiventral aedeagal process bifurcated on its basal portion. The style of D. nasutum, whose apical portion is broad, distinctly curved inward, and with the apex subtruncate, is also quite distinctive. We compared the female genitalia of D. nasutum with those of other Proconiini genera. Our results confirm the perception that the female genitalia in this tribe can be a source of useful taxonomic characters. © 2010 Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia. All rights reserved.