High Species Diversity of the Leafhopper Genus Hishimonus Ishihara (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from China, with Description of Ten New Species

Abstract

Hishimonus Ishihara is a large genus of leafhoppers widely distributed in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Its greatest diversity appears to be in the Oriental region where recent investigations on Hishimonus suggest much of the diversity remains undocumented. In the present study, twenty-eight species of the leafhopper genus Hishimonus Ishihara from China are reviewed based on comparative morphological study, including ten new species: H. fletcheri sp. nov., H. lii sp. nov., H. dietrichi sp. nov., H. kuohi sp. nov., H. tenuis sp. nov., H. hamuleus sp. nov., H. triangulus sp. nov., H. virakatmathiellus sp. nov., H. paraphycitis sp. nov., and H. yuanmouensis sp. nov. Two additional species (Hishimonus knightiellus Virktamath & Murthy and Hishimonus subtilis Knight) are recorded from China for the first time. Furthermore, three new synonymies are proposed: Hishimonus reflexus Kuoh, 1976 syn. nov. and Hishimonus biuncinatus Li, 1988 syn. nov. are reduced to synonymy with Hishimonus bucephalus Emeljanov, 1969; Hishimonus lamellatus Cai & Kuoh, 1995 syn. nov. is a junior synonym of Hishimonus expansivus Li, 1988. All the taxa are described and illustrated based on observations of specimens from China. The first study of the female genitalia of Chinese Hishimonus reveals considerable similarity among the Hishimonus species studied. A key and list of all Chinese Hishimonus species are also provided.

Discovery of Hishimonus diffractus Dai, Fletcher & Zhang, 2013 (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) in Europe, with remarks on previously recorded species of the genus

“…The specimens were identified based on the morphology of adults and confirmed by the examination of the genital structures following Dai et al (2003) and Du & Dai (2019). The materials examined are stored in the author's collections and in their institutions.…”

“…Scutellum with lateral and apical areas ivory white, marked with two brown spots near base and another before apex. Forewings silvery white with brown mottling between veins, becoming darker and denser apically; brown median diamond patch distinct, well defined by dark brown at anterior margin and posterior corner, with median section anterior to posterior patch translucent whitish (Du & Dai 2019).…”

“…The genus Hishimonus Ishihara, 1953 (Deltocephalinae, Opsiini) up to now has about seventy species widely distributed in Asia, Africa, and Australia (Dai et al 2013;Viraktamath & Murthy 2014;Du & Dai, 2019), with its greatest diversity in the Oriental region with minor extensions into the Ethiopian, Australian, and Palaearctic regions (Knight 2010). A great number of species have recently been described (Kamitani et al 2011;Dai et al 2013;Viraktamath & Murthy 2014;Meshram & Chaubey 2016;Du & Dai 2019), and several species were recently first recorded from Russia (Gnezdilov 2008), Slovenia (Seljak 2013), Thailand (Dai et al 2013), and Pakistan (Hassan et al 2018). Currently, Hishimonus is reported for Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Borneo, China, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia El-Sonbati et al 2018;Du & Dai 2019).…”

“…A great number of species have recently been described (Kamitani et al 2011;Dai et al 2013;Viraktamath & Murthy 2014;Meshram & Chaubey 2016;Du & Dai 2019), and several species were recently first recorded from Russia (Gnezdilov 2008), Slovenia (Seljak 2013), Thailand (Dai et al 2013), and Pakistan (Hassan et al 2018). Currently, Hishimonus is reported for Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Borneo, China, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia El-Sonbati et al 2018;Du & Dai 2019). In Europe only two species of this genus are reported: H. hamatus recorded in Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, Corsica, and Austria, and H. sellatus (Uhler, 1896) found in Russia (Gnezdilov 2008;Seljak 2013;Trivellone et al 2015;Albre & Gibernau 2019;Holzinger et al 2020;Winterhagen 2020).…”

“…The species of Hishimonus distributed exclusively in the temperate and subtropical regions, are usually collected on herbs and trees (Du and Dai 2019).…”