The second treehopper species in Miocene Dominican amber (Hemiptera: Membracidae)

Summary

Stylocentrus pouilloni n. sp., the second species from the mid-Miocene Dominican amber, is described. This new occurrence is important as it enriches the incomplete fossil record of Membracidae, a morphologically highly diversified family among Cicadomorpha, and corroborates the hypothesis of an early divergence of Stegaspidinae within Membracidae.

Résumé

La seconde espèce de membracide de l’ambre de Saint-Domingue (Hemiptera : Membracidae). Nous décrivons Stylocentrus pouilloni n. sp., de l'ambre du Miocène moyen de Saint-Domingue. Il s’agit de la deuxième espèce fossile de ce genre. Cette nouvelle occurrence est importante car elle enrichit le registre fossile incomplet des Membracidae, une famille morphologiquement très diversifiée parmi les Cicadomorpha, et corrobore l'hypothèse d'une divergence précoce des Stegaspidinae au sein des Membracidae.

Keywords:

• Insecta
• Auchenorrhyncha
• Stegaspidinae
• Miocene
• taxonomy

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Jean-Marc Pouillon for his generous donation, patience, and interest in our work. We acknowledge the two anonymous referees for their constructive remarks and corrections helping to improve the quality of the paper. M.B. and A.N. contributed equally to the writing of the manuscript and to the description of the new species. This work contributed to M.B.’s PhD thesis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).