A new species of planthopper in the genus Eumyndus (Hemiptera: Cixiidae) from palms in eastern Madagascar and molecular evidence for the synonymy of Eumyndus kraussi and Eumyndus metcalfi Author Bahder, Brian W. University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology - Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center; 3205 College Ave., Davie, FL 33314 - 7719, USA. Author Randretsiferana, Safidinirina Armande Author Randretsiferana, Andrianatenaina Author Stroiński, Adam Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland Author Łukasik, Piotr Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University Author Bartlett, Charles R. University of Delaware, Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, 250 Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19716 - 2160, USA. Author Pilet, Fabian CIRAD, UMR PVBMT, F- 97410 Saint-Pierre, La Réunion, France Author Hasinjaka, Rasolondalao Harin’Hala Madagascar Biodiversity Institute, Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar. text Zootaxa 2024 2024-09-30 5514 4 338 352 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5514.4.3 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5514.4.3 1175-5326 13914636 82B33533-A4CC-4626-8B53-FCC636DF70A5 Eumyndus metcalfi Synave, 1956 ( Figs 7–10 ) = Eumyndus kraussi Synave,1956 new synonymy Type material . Paratype : La Mandraka / XII 51 / N. S. Krauss // R . I. Sc. N. B. / I. G. 23.285 // INSITUT / SCIENTIFIQUE / MADAGASCAR // Eumyndus / metcalfi. / Synave. / La Mandraka / XII 51 / N. S. Krauss // R . I. Sc. N. B. / I. G. 23.285 // INSITUT / SCIENTIFIQUE / MADAGASCAR // Eumyndus / kraussi / Synave. / Mt Tsaratanana / 1400 a 1800 m / II.51 RP // R . I. Sc. N. B. / I. G. 20103 // H. Synave det., 1955 / Eumyndus / kraussi nsp. // Eumyndus / kraussi. / Synave. / New material . Madagascar , Reserve de Ressources Naturelles Maromizaha , ( Alaotra Mangoro Region , Moramanga District , Andasibae commune) ( n= 5 males, 21 females ) . Remarks. The species E. kraussi and E. metcalfi were found in high abundance and mating pairs in the field. After careful examination, it was determined that the males collected were E. metcalfi . However, after a review of the descriptions by Synave (1956) and comparison to paratypes ( Figs 9–10 ), the females collected matched E. kraussi . According to Synave (1956) , both E. kraussi and E. metcalfi were collected at the same locality and E. metcalfi was described only from males and E. kraussi was described only from females. This combined with our collection of specimens in mating pairs with the male matching the E. metcalfi paratype and female matching the E. kraussi paratype , indicates that the males and females of the same species were erroneously described as separate species, a premise supported by the molecular analysis (see below). FIGURE 7. Adult male Eumyndus metcalfi .; A) habitus lateral view, B) habitus dorsal view, C) genitalia lateral view, D) genitalia ventral view, E) aedeagus dorsal view, F) aedeagus left lateral view, G) aedeagus right lateral view, H) aedeagus ventral view, I) forewing and J) aedeagus positioned as illustrated by Synave (1956) ; scale bar = 1 mm. FIGURE 8. Adult male Eumyndus metcalfi paratype; A) habitus dorsal view, B) habitus lateral view and C) label(s). Sequence Data and Analysis. For E. jeanjacquei sp. nov. , a 1,382 bp product for the 18S gene was generated, a 760 bp product for the 28S rRNA gene was generated and a 529 bp product was generated for the COI gene. Additionally, sequence data for E. kraussi and E. metcalfi , for the 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and COI genes were generated. Accession numbers for all loci and all taxa included in this analysis are presented in Table 2 . The phylogeny generated for 18S, 28S, and COI showed strong bootstrap support (97, 84 and 100 respectively) for placement of the novel taxon within Eumyndus (with E. metcalfi as an in-group taxon ( Fig. 11 ). Furthermore, the consensus tree generated from concatenated data for the three loci demonstrated strong bootstrap support (100) for E. jeanjacquei sp. nov. ( Fig. 11 ). The specimens identified as E. kraussi and E. metcalfi were found to be 100% identical for all loci analyzed ( Fig. 11 ), supporting the synonymy of these two species.