Betsileonas Kirkaldy, 1903

Dietrich, Christopher H., Magalhães, Raysa Brito de & Takiya, Daniela M., 2020, Revision of the endemic Malagasy leafhopper tribe Platyjassini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Iassinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 695, pp. 1-89 : 10

Betsileonas Kirkaldy, 1903

Thaumastus Stål, 1864 b: 67 (type species: Ledra marmorata Blanchard, 1840 ; nec Thaumastus Martens, 1860 ).

Betsileonas Kirkaldy, 1903: 13 , nom. nov. (type species: Ledra marmorata Blanchard, 1840 ).

Remarks

This monotypic genus was placed in Penthimiini by Evans (1947) but later returned to Ledrini by Evans (1953). Jones & Deitz (2009) treated it as a genus incertae sedis because their morphology-based phylogenetic analysis failed to support its inclusion in Ledrinae . The genus is known only from a few very old museum specimens and was not encountered in the recent extensive terrrestrial arthropod inventory of Madagascar, suggesting that Betsileonas is now either extremely rare or extinct. Males remain unknown, but several characters mentioned or illustrated for the genus by Jones & Deitz (2009) support its placement in Platyjassini , including the spatulate head with dorsal ocelli well separated from the crown apex, the rugose texture on the crown, the anterolateral extensions of the vertex overlapping the eyes, and the distally fused RP and MA in the hindwing. The ovipositor structure also resembles that of some other Platyjassini . Known from a single species, the genus is easily distinguished from other Platyjassini by its very large size (length 15–19 mm), the head being distinctly wider than the pronotum and its marmorate dorsal color pattern (see Jones & Deitz 2009: pl. 5c).