Megamelus timehri Muir, 1919

Salinas, Nicolas A., Mariani, Roxana, Marino de Remes Lenicov, Ana M., Rodriguero, Marcela S. & Sosa, Alejandro J., 2025, Phylogeny of the planthopper genus Megamelus (Hemiptera, Delphacidae), with the description of two new species from South America, ZooKeys 1224, pp. 29-54 : 29-54

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1224.135596
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F133C995-E635-43AC-A5F0-1F778FD1F852
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14712923
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/15A12A37-53CA-5BD8-9876-235915B05678
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Megamelus timehri Muir, 1919
status

Treatment

Megamelus timehri Muir, 1919 View in CoL

Fig. 8 View Figure 8

Material examined.

Argentina • 2 male brachypters, 2 female brachypters, Corrientes, Esteros del Iberá , 30 - XI- 2021, on N. indica, Salinas-Sosa cols; Paraguay • 2 male macropter, 5 male brachypter, 2 females brachypter, Cordillera, Arroyos y Esteros, 7 - IV- 2022, on N. indica, Salinas-Sosa cols. ( MLP) .

Description.

Brachypterous male. Color (Fig. 8 A, B View Figure 8 ) pattern dark brown lighter on dorsal pygofer and ventrally, similar to macropterous male; tegmina, amber-colored infuscation along claval margin and longitudinal veins, with a white spot on external apical corner.

Structure. Tegmen slightly longer than wide, rounded on external lateral and posterior margins, covering tergite II (Fig. 8 A View Figure 8 ).

Measurements (n = 3). L., 2.12; b. w., 0.72; M. b. w. at abdominal segment V, 0.90; t. l., 0.74; v. l., 0.32; v. w., 0.18; f. l., 0.44; M. f. w., 0.25; m. f. w., 0.15; a. l. I, 0.13; a. l. II, 0.17; p. l., 0.19; m. l., 0.28; mti. l., 0.73; mta. l., 0.75; mta. Il., 0.46; s. l., 0.48; t. n., 20.

Distribution.

Argentina: Corrientes province ( Sosa et al. 2007 b). Guyana: Demerara River ( Muir 1919). New record: Paraguay, Arroyos y Esteros Department.

Ecology.

Megamelus timehri was recorded during spring 2003 on Limnobium laevigatum (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) Heine ( Hydrocharitaceae ) in northeastern Argentina (La Plata Basin, subregión Iberá System) ( Sosa et al. 2007 b). Nymphoides indica (L.) Kuntze is recorded as a new host plant. During our surveys (2021–2023) M. timehri was found abundantly and exclusively on this plant species across different sites. The previous record could be the result of M. timehri casually hopping and resting on L. laevigatum .