Telamona projecta Butler

Wallace, Matthew S., 2015, Taxonomic changes in the treehopper genera Helonica Ball, Te la mo na Fitch, and Palonica Ball (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Smiliinae: Telamonini), Zootaxa 4007 (2), pp. 251-258 : 254-256

Telamona projecta Butler , reinstated from synonymy

( Figs. 1 A, B, E, F)

Synonymy.

Telamona projecta Butler 1877: 221 ; pl. 3, fig. 12 (erroneously listed as fig. 11 in text); reinstated as a valid species. Holotype: BMNH ( Broomfield 1971).

Telamona magniloba Goding 1893: 422 ; new synonymy. Holotype: USNM.

Telamona cucullata Van Duzee 1908: 70 ; synonymy reinstated. Syntype: location unknown.

Diagnosis. Pronotal color dark brown; pronotal projection quadrate and highly elevated from lateral view, smoothly textured, dorsal margin convex, anterior overhanging lobe present; pronotal humeral angles enlarged in female; pronotal dorsal carina white stripe narrow and not obvious, visible at anterior end of posterior process.

Distribution. Central and Eastern United States ( Deitz and Wallace 2012; as Helonica excelsa ).

Notes. Telamona projecta , previously considered a junior synonym of Telamona excelsa (Fairmaire) by Ball (1931; as Helonica excelsa ), is here reinstated from synonymy based on a comparison of the holotypes of both taxa and the disparity in their geographical distributions. As a result of this reinstatement, the genus Telamona now contains 29 valid species ( Table 1).

Palonica Ball Telamona Fitch

Palonica albidorsata (Fowler) * Telamona agrandata Ball P. de s e r t a Plummer T. ampelopsidis (Harris) P. nogolana Ball T. archiboldi Froeschner P. pyramidata (Uhler) T. balli Plummer

P. satyrus (Fowler) T. barbata Van Duzee P. tremulata (Ball) T. calva Ball

P. viridia (Ball) T. collina (Walker) T. compacta Ball

T. concava Fitch

T. coronata Ball

T. decorata Ball

T. dorana Ball

T. dubiosa Van Duzee T. excelsa (Fairmaire) * T. extrema Ball

T. gibbera Ball

T. lugubris Ball

T. maculata Van Duzee T. monticola (Fabricius) T. projecta Butler * T. reclivata Fitch T. salvini Distant

T. spreta Goding

T. tarda Ball

T. tiliae Ball

T. tristis Fitch

T. vestita Ball

T. westcotti Goding T. woodruffi Ball

The holotype of Telamona projecta (BMNH) ( Broomfield 1971) ( Fig. 1 E) is brown in color and has an anterior protruding, overhanging pronotal lobe. The holotype of Telamona excelsa ( Fig. 1 C), however, is yellow-green in color and lacks the anterior overhanging lobe on the pronotal projection. Further, the basal width of the pronotal projection in T. excelsa is much wider than the projection of T. projecta . These differences in pronotal structure between the two species are clearly evident in comparing a recently collected specimen of T. projecta from the Eastern United States ( Figs. 1 A, B) to Fig. 1 C.

The distribution of T. excelsa extends from Canada to Mexico (see taxonomic treatment above), but specimens historically identified as Helonica excelsa (before the re-discovery of the holotype from Mexico) and two of its junior synonyms ( T. magniloba and T. cucullata ) were only known from the central and eastern United States ( Deitz and Wallace 2012, as Helonica excelsa : Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Tennessee), further suggesting T. excelsa and T. projecta are different species.

Although Ball (1931) erected the genus Helonica to accommodate treehoppers with an anteriorly protruding pronotal lobe and enlarged humeral angles, it is the view of the author that Telamona projecta Butler should remain in the genus Telamona . The distinctive pronotal projection of T. projecta is the most anterior-protruding of any telamonine (other than Thelia ), but the shape is not extreme when considering the great variation in numerous features of the pronotal projection among other Telamona spp. (e.g. T. concava , T. extrema , T. westcotti ) (see line drawings in plates 3-4 of Ball (1931)). The humeral angles of T. projecta are greatly enlarged in comparison to most Telamona spp., but there is also much variation in this feature within the genus; T. ampelopsididis , T. collina , T. salvini , and T. excelsa , all known from the eastern U.S., also have greatly enlarged humeral angles in at least one sex ( Wallace 2011). Indeed, in a phylogenetic analysis of the Smiliini and Telamonini ( Wallace 2011), Telamona projecta (as Helonica excelsa ) was embedded in a monophyletic group with T. ampelopsidis and T. collina . Moreover, based on that analysis, several currently recognized genera may be paraphyletic, warranting a reevaluation of their definitions ( Wallace 2011). Finally, the 5th instar nymph of T. projecta is very similar in form to the nymphs of T. decorata , T. extrema , and T. monticola ( Wallace 2014) .

Two previously described taxa are considered junior synonyms of Telamona projecta . Goding (1893) described T. magniloba from one male and one female, declaring, “ type in author’s collection.” Goding’s specimen ( Figs. 1 E, F) in the USNM type collection is badly damaged with only the pronotum remaining; thus it is impossible to determine the sex with certainty. The handwritten label on the specimen in the USNM states: " Telamona magniloba God. Type,” thus, this specimen is considered the holotype based on Article 73.1.1 ( ICZN 1999). The photograph of the type of T. magniloba Goding (1893) (USNM) illustrates that T. projecta and T. magniloba are conspecific, as both specimens possess the anterior overhanging lobe with a convex dorsal pronotal margin. Van Duzee (1908) described Telamona cucullata from one male and three female specimens (syntypes), but later in the same work included a correction that T. cucullata = Telamona projecta . His illustration (pl. 2, fig. 10) strongly resembles Telamona projecta . Ball (1931) was the first worker to treat T. projecta , T. cucullata and T. magniloba as conspecific, however, placing all three as synonyms, along with P. albidorsata , of T. excelsa .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Selected Telamonini adults in lateral and anterior aspects. A, Telamona projecta Butler, lateral aspect (ESUC). B, T. projecta, anterior aspect (ESUC). C, Telamona excelsa (Fairmaire), holotype, lateral aspect, © 2015 Vienna Natural History Museum (NHMW), Hemiptera Image Collection. D, Telamona unicolor Fitch, lectotype, lateral aspect (NYSM). E, T. projecta Butler, holotype (Broomfield 1971), lateral aspect, © 2015 BMNH. F, Telamona magniloba Goding, holotype, lateral aspect (USNM). G, Palonica albidorsata (Fowler), holotype, lateral aspect, © 2015 BMNH. H, P. satyrus (Fowler), lectotype (Broomfield 1971), lateral aspect, © 2015 BMNH.