Smerdalea Fowler, 1896

Dietrich, C. H., 2008, Some remarkable new Neotropical treehoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Membracidae), Zootaxa 1727, pp. 29-38 : 30

Smerdalea Fowler

( Figs 1, 2, 6, 9, 12, 17–22)

Diagnosis. Species of Smerdalea will run to Stegaspidini in the tribal key of Dietrich et al. (2001) but differ from other Stegaspidini in having the pronotum with a pair of suprahumeral horns and a distally enlarged posterior pronotal process bearing three or more spines; the forewing with crossvein m-cu 2 joining M distad of its fork, and the first anal vein contacting the claval suture for a short distance preapically; and the hind tibia with cucullate setal row I well developed.

Notes. Deitz (1975) placed Smerdalea in Stegaspidinae (as Stegaspinae) based on the acuminate forewing clavus, exposed scutellum, and lack of abdominal punctation. He included it in his tribe Microcentrini based on the presence of dorsal preapical setae on the hind femur and three cucullate setal rows on the hind tibia. Cryan et al. (2003) transferred the genus to Stegaspidini , citing the presence of a single r-m crossvein in the forewing, the absence of an articulated dorsally hooked lateral plate on the male genital capsule, and the results of a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis, which grouped Smerdalea with other members of Stegaspidini . However, placement of the genus within Stegaspidinae depends, at least in part, on interpretation of the position of the distal m-cu crossvein in Smerdalea (i.e., connected to vein M distad of its fork) as a reversal (character 29 state 2 of Cryan et al. 2003) rather than a plesiomorphy shared with non-stegaspidines (character 29 state 0). Also, because the forewing venation and hind tibial chaetotaxy of Smerdalea differ from those of all other Stegaspidini (other genera of the tribe lack cucullate setal row I on the hind tibia and have crossvein m-cu 2 joining M basad of its fork), placement of Smerdalea in this tribe should be considered tenuous at best. Indeed, the most extensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of Membracidae to date ( Lin et al. 2004) placed Smerdalea as sister to a clade comprising Stegaspidinae and Centrotinae , suggesting that the genus represents a lineage distinct from Stegaspidinae sensu Cryan et al. (2003) . Discovery of the bizarre but apparently related genus, Smergotomia , n. gen., described below, seems to reinforce this interpretation (see notes under Smergotomia ).

Smerdalea was revised by Cryan and Deitz (1995, 1999) who recognized four species. The following key will separate the known species, including a new species described below.