Search for: All records

Abstract Recently discovered amber-preserved fossil Cicadellidae exhibit combinations of morphological traits not observed in the modern fauna and have the potential to shed new light on the evolution of this highly diverse family. To place the fossils explicitly within a phylogenetic context, representatives of five extinct genera from Cretaceous Myanmar amber, and one from Eocene Baltic amber were incorporated into a matrix comprising 229 discrete morphological characters and representatives of all modern subfamilies. Phylogenetic analyses yielded well resolved and largely congruent estimates that support the monophyly of most previously recognized cicadellid subfamilies and indicate that the treehoppers are derived from a lineage of Cicadellidae. Instability in the morphology-based phylogenies is mainly confined to deep internal splits that received low branch support in one or more analyses and also were not consistently resolved by recent phylogenomic analyses. Placement of fossil taxa is mostly stable across analyses. Three new Cretaceous leafhopper genera, Burmotettix gen. nov., Kachinella gen nov., and Viraktamathus gen. nov., consistently form a monophyletic group distinct from extant leafhopper subfamilies and are placed in Burmotettiginae subfam. nov. Extinct Cretaceous fossils previously placed in Ledrinae and Signoretiinae are recovered as sister to modern representatives of these groups. Eomegophthalmus Dietrich and Gonçalves from Baltic amber consistently groups with a lineage comprising treehoppers, Megophthalminae, Ulopinae, and Eurymelinae but its position is unstable. Overall, the morphology-based phylogenetic estimates agree with recent phylogenies based on molecular data alone suggesting that morphological traits recently used to diagnose subfamilies are generally informative of phylogenetic relationships within this group. 

The leafhopper genus Thaia Ghauri, 1962 and two related genera, Parathaia Kuoh, 1982 and Pseudothaia Kuoh, 1982, are revised. Nlunga Dworakowska, 1974, previously treated as a subgenus of Thaia, is elevated to the genus level, and Parathaia Kuoh, 1982, previously treated as a synonym of Thaia, is reinstated to valid status. The Oriental species lacking foveae on the pronotum are excluded from Nlunga and transferred to a new genus, Etmaria gen. n. Two species, Pseudothaia caudata Song & Li, 2013 and Thaia (Nlunga) leishanensis (Song & Li, 2007), are treated as Incertae sedis within Erythroneurini. Moreover, nine additional new species are described and illustrated: Nlunga parareeneni, Etmaria brevis, E. chaiyaphumica, E. dentata, E. indonesica, E. magna, E. triquetra, E. ulterior and Pseudothaia forcipis spp. nov. 

Six Afrotropical genera of the leafhopper tribe Erythroneurini are redescribed and two new genera, Laminaris gen. nov. and Projecta gen. nov. are established. Sixteen new species are described and illustrated: Laminaris angusta sp. nov., Laminaris cuspidatima sp. nov., Laminaris serrata sp. nov., Laminaris tenuis sp. nov., Projecta auriculata sp. nov., Projecta brevis sp. nov., Projecta depressa sp. nov., Projecta draciformis sp. nov., Accacidia obunca sp. nov., Imbecilla bifurca sp. nov., Imbecilla spinalis sp. nov., Lublinia anchoroides sp. nov., Molopopterus hastata sp. nov., Molopopterus ugandica sp. nov., Lamtoana exigua sp. nov. and Nsesa cameroonica sp. nov. Nsesa Dworakowska, 1974 is newly recorded from Cameroon; Nsimbala Dworakowska, 1974 and Szymczakowskia Dworakowska, 1974 from the Central African Republic; Lublinia Dworakowska, 1970, Lamtoana Dworakowska, 1972 and Ivorycoasta Dworakowska, 1972 from the Republic of Congo. Keys to species of the genera Accacidia Dworakowska, Imbecilla Dworakowska, Lublinia Dworakowska, Molopopterus Jacobi, Lamtoana Dworakowska and Nsesa Dworakowska are also given. 

Generic characteristics of three Australian erythroneurine genera are revised based on three new species: Baya lata, Zinga longa and Pettya tenuis spp. nov. Male genitalia characteristics of genus Pettya Kirkaldy are described for the first time. 

Two new genera of the leafhopper tribe Erythroneurini, Hamata gen. nov. and Levigata gen. nov., are established based on type species from Yunnan, China: Hamata coralliformis sp. nov. and Levigata arborea sp. nov., respectively. Two additional new species, Gladkara bifi da sp. nov. from Yunnan and Thapaia tibetensis sp. nov. from Tibet, are described and illustrated and amended descriptions of their respective genera are provided. A new synonymy is suggested: Elbelus tripunctatus Mahmood, 1967 = Elbelus melianus Kuoh, 1992, syn. nov. Eleven species of nine erythroneurine genera are newly recorded from China: Arboridia (Arboridia) kakogawana (Matsumura, 1932), A. (A.) suputinkaensis (Vilbaste, 1968), Balanda kara Dworakowska, 1979, Dorycnia vietnamica Dworakowska, 1979, Gambialoa (Gambialoa) borealis Dworakowska, 1981, Gladkara albida Dworakowska, 1995, Seriana dentata Sohi & Mann, 1992, S. malaica Dworakowska, 1978, Tautoneura mukla Dworakowska, 1981, Yakuza sumatrana Dworakowska, 2002, and Ziczacella lyrifora (Dlabola, 1968). Additional faunistic data and illustrations are provided for the following species from China: Arboridia (Arboridia) agrillacea (Anufriev, 1969), A. (A.) lunula Song & Li, 2013, A. (A.) maculifrons (Vilbaste, 1968), A. (A.) suzukii (Matsumura, 1916), Arboridia (Arborifera) surstyli Cai & Xu, 2006, Gambialoa (Gambialoa) asiatica Dworakowska, 1979, Kaukania anser Dworakowska, 1972, Seriana indefi nita Dworakowska, 1971, S. ochrata Dworakowska, 1971, Ziczacella dworakowskae (Anufriev, 1970), Z. heptapotamica (Kusnezov, 1928), and Z. steggerdai (Ross, 1965). 

Two new genera, Malaysiapona gen. nov. and Chandrapona gen. nov. of Paraboloponina leafhoppers (Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Drabescini) with their unusally developed aedeagal base are described from the Pacific (Malaysia). The following new species are also described with the new genera: Malaysiapona brevipenis sp. nov. from Sabah, M. filamenta sp. nov., from Sarawak and Chandrapona vespertilis sp. nov. from Sabah. 

Generic characteristics of the leafhopper genus Kusala Dworakowska are revised, and a new subgenus Scodela is established. A species checklist of the Kusala is provided and three new species are added: Kusala (Kusala) viraktamathi, K. (Scodela) directa and K. (S.) sinuata spp. nov.. The related genus Diomma Motschulsky is also redescribed and a new species is described: Diomma (Diomma) sangzhiensis sp. nov..