A new species of Chanohirata (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae, Penthimiini) from southern China with its complete genome

The genus Chanohirata Hayashi & Machida, 1996 is the second most speciose genus within the tribe Penthimiini, after Penthimia Germar, 1821 and is nearly endemic to China. This study provides the description of a new species, Chanohirata pala Sun, Xu & Dai, sp. nov., discovered in Yunnan, southern China and a phylogenetic analysis including this and related taxa. The new species is diagnostically distinguished by its broad, shovel-shaped aedeagal base and a body length of 4.0– 4.2 mm, with characteristic yellowish-brown coloration.

A novel identification key is presented for all known Chanohirata species, based primarily on male aedeagal morphology, accompanied by a detailed geographic distribution map. Given the high morphological similarity among species within the genus, we complemented traditional taxonomy with molecular data by sequencing and assembling the complete mitochondrial genome of C. pala Sun, Xu & Dai, sp. nov. The mitogenome is 15,433 bp in length (GenBank accession number: PQ 615145) and was analyzed for genome organization, base composition, relative synonymous codon usage, amino acid frequency, tRNA secondary structures, and phylogenetic relationships.

Currently, Chanohirata comprises 15 species globally. Phylogenetic analyses incorporating mitochondrial protein-coding genes (PCGs), 12 S rRNA and 16 S rRNA, confirm that C. pala Sun, Xu & Dai, sp. nov. clusters firmly within the Deltocephalinae subfamily and is nested in the tribe Penthimiini. Notably, C. pala Sun, Xu & Dai, sp. nov. forms a sister clade with C. theae (Matsumura, 1912) and C. hamata (Wang & Zhang, 2019).

This integrative approach combining detailed morphological examination with complete mitogenome sequencing advances our understanding of species boundaries and evolutionary history within Chanohirata, providing a valuable framework for future taxonomic and phylogenetic studies in Penthimiini.