Drabescini Ishihara, 1953

Zahniser, James N. & Dietrich, Chris H., 2013, A review of the tribes of Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 45, pp. 1-211 : 68-69

Drabescini Ishihara, 1953

Figs 19 , 20

Type genus: Drabescus Stål, 1870 .

= Paraboloponini Ishihara, 1953 .

= Bhatiini Linnavuori & Al-Ne’Amy, 1983.

Diagnosis

Drabescini are medium sized to large leafhoppers, variable in color and shape. They can be identified by the antennae situated near the upper part of the face, antennal pits large and often encroaching onto the frontoclypeus, anterior margin of the head glabrous, irregularly textured, or with one to many carinae or striae, long antennae, nymph often with apical process on the head and male pygofer with a pair of long apical appendages widely separated at the base.

Description

HEAD. Head subequal to or wider than pronotum. Discal portion of crown glabrous with radial or longitudinal striae, or shagreen. Anterior margin of head glabrous, irregularly textured, or with one to many transverse carinae. Frontoclypeus not tumid; texture shagreen, glabrous, or striate (Drabescina). Clypellus widening apically; apex following or slightly surpassing normal curve of gena. Lorum subequal to or wider than clypellus near base. Antennal bases near upper or anterodorsal corners of eyes; antennal pits usually large, encroaching on frontoclypeus. Antennae long, as long as width of head or longer. Gena obtusely incised laterally; with fine erect seta beside laterofrontal suture. Antennal ledge weakly developed (carinate or weakly carinate) or strongly developed, with a definite ledge (Drabescina). Ocelli present; close to or distant from eyes; on anterior margin of head.

THORAX. Pronotum exceeding or not exceeding eyes anteriorly; lateral margin carinate or not; lateral margin shorter than basal width of eye.

WINGS. Forewing macropterous; appendix restricted to anal margin or large, extending around wing apex (Drabescina); with 3 anteapical cells; veins not raised; with or without reflexed costal veins; A1-A2 crossvein absent or present.

LEGS. Profemur with AM1 seta only; intercalary row with one row of five or more fine setae, or not in one row, scattered; row AV with thin hair-like setae, without setae, or rarely with short or long macrosetae. Protibia dorsal surface rounded, convex (Paraboloponina) or dorsal surface flat, sharply carinate along AD and PD margins (Drabescina). Metafemur apex macrosetae 2+1, 2+1+1, or 2+2+1. Metatarsomere I not expanded apically; plantar setae simple, tapered.

MALE GENITALIA. Valve articulated with pygofer; lateral margin short, articulating with pygofer at a point. Pygofer basolateral membranous cleft present; macrosetae absent or reduced (≤ two rows) or present, well differentiated into several rows. Subgenital plates free from each other; articulated with valve; usually without macrosetae. Style broadly bilobed basally, median anterior lobe pronounced. Basal processes of the aedeagus/connective absent or reduced or present, connected or articulated to connective or near base of aedeagus. Aedeagus with single shaft and gonopore. Connective anterior arms somewhat divergent, Y - or U -shaped; articulated with aedeagus.

FEMALE GENITALIA. Pygofer with numerous macrosetae. Ovipositor not protruding far beyond pygofer apex. First valvula convex or not strongly convex; dorsal sculpturing pattern strigate; sculpturing reaching dorsal margin; without distinctly delimited ventroapical sculpturing. Second valvula broad, gradually tapered; with or without dorsal median tooth; dorsal teeth on apical 1/3 or more or restricted to apical 1/4 or less; teeth large, regularly shaped or small, regularly or irregularly shaped.

Geography and ecology

Distribution: Palearctic, Afrotropical, Oriental and Australian regions. Drabescini are often found on woody hosts in Old World tropical or deciduous forests, and are often collected at lights.

Remarks

Drabescini contains 38 genera and 187 valid species. Dmitriev (2004a) synonymized Drabescini and Paraboloponini based on shared characters of the nymph, and its monophyly was supported in phylogenetic analyses. Here, we accept the synonymy by Dmitriev (2004a) but continue to recognize separate subtribes following the circumscription of the two groups by Zhang & Webb (1996) due to the morphological differences of the adults that distinguish them. The phylogenetic analyses here suggest that the tribe is closely related to Scaphoideini, with which it shares long antennae and profemur row AV with thin hair-like setae or without setae. Our analyses provided no evidence of a close relationship between Drabescini and Selenocephalini , which some previous authors (e.g., Linnavuori & Al-Ne’amy 1983; Zhang & Webb 1996) placed together in a separate subfamily, Selenocephalinae .

Selected references

Linnavuori (1978a, b), Webb (1981), Zhang & Webb (1996), Viraktamath (1998), Dmitriev (2002, 2004a).

Included subtribes:

Figures

Fig. 19. Drabescini (Drabescina). Drabescus zhangi sp. nov. A–I. Standard views (see Material & Methods). J. Ventral view of ♂ pygofer.

Fig. 20. Drabescini (Paraboloponina). Parabolopona webbi sp. nov. A–I. Standard views (see Material & Methods). G. Connective shown with fused process.