PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 101(4), 1999, pp. 722-728 DUAL-MIMICRY OF WASPS BY THE NEOTROPICAL LEAFHOPPER PROPETES SCHMIDTI MELICHAR WITH A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FEMALE (HEMIPTERA: CICADELLIDAE: CICADELLINAE) Daniela M. Takiya, Gabriel Mejdalani, and Marcio Felix (DMT, MF) Departamento de Zoologia, Institute de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Caixa Postal 68044, 21944-970, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil (e-mail:
[email protected]); (GM) Departamento de Entomologia, Museu Nacional, UFRJ, Quinta da Boa Vista, Sao Cristovao, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Abstract. — Diagnostic features of the female of the Neotropical proconiine Propetes schmidti Melichar are described and illustrated for the first time. The genus Propetes Walker is newly recorded from the State of Sao Paulo, SB Brazil. The presence of an internal sclerotized plate from abdominal stemite VIII is reported in females of this genus for the first time. The following characteristics of P. schmidti suggest that it mimics epiponine wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae): color mostly black in the male and with large yellow areas in the female, pronotum convex, mesoscutellum swollen, forewings hyaline and elongate, and abdomen constricted basally. The different color patterns of males and females suggest a dual, sex-limited Batesian mimicry. This is the first record of mimicry in the tribe Proconiini and of dual-mimicry in an auchenorrhynchan group. Key Words: Cicadellidae, Propetes schmidti, Batesian mimicry, dual-mimicry, Vespidae Two valid species of the proconiine ge-nus Propetes Walker were recorded by Young (1968). Propetes compressa Walker, the type species, occurs in northern and central-western Brazil (Para, Amazonas, and Mato Grosso states) (Walker 1851, Sig-noret 1855, Melichar 1925, Schmidt 1928, Young 1968). Propetes schmidti Melichar is known from central-western Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul State) (Melichar 1925) and is herein newly recorded from southeastern Brazil (Sao Paulo State). This genus is closely related to Homalodisca Stal (Young 1968), from which it can be distinguished by the following features: (1) head with a median carina on the transition crown-frons; (2) anterior portion of pronotum with a transverse sulcus; (3) scutellum swollen; (4) forewings hyaline; and (5) abdomen constricted basally. The first of these fea-tures is apparently a synapomorphy of P. compressa and P. schmidti (Mejdalani, Ta-kiya and Felix, in preparation). According to Young (1968), Propetes is very poorly represented in collections. In this paper we describe and illustrate the diagnostic features of the female of P. schmidti for the first time. Morphological comparisons indicate that P. schmidti mim-ics wasps of the tribe Epiponini (Vespidae: Polistinae). Moreover, the occurrence of a remarkable sexual color dimorphism in this species suggests that males and females mimic different epiponine species. This kind of mimicry, in which each sex has its own model, is called dual-mimicry (Vane-Wright 1976). Morphological terminology follows mainly Young (1968, 1977), except that of the head, which follows Hamilton (1981).
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