Jukaruka Distant, 1907

Jones, Joshua R. & Deitz, Lewis L., 2009, Phylogeny and systematics of the leafhopper subfamily Ledrinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) 2186, Zootaxa 2186 (1), pp. 1-120 : 42

Genus Jukaruka Distant

(Pl. 2B, 7A, D, 8B, 9D, 13G–H, J, 14K)

Jukaruka Distant, 1907: 190 .

Type species. J. typica Distant, 1907: 190 , by monotypy.

Synonymy. None.

Description. Distant (1907): “Vertex of head about as long as space between eyes, centrally carinate; ocelli situate at about middle of vertex; head beneath foliaceous, face elongate, narrowed anteriorly, its disk centrally sulcate; pronotum longer than broad, centrally longitudinally laminately ridged; legs slender, posterior tibiae not foliaceously dilated, posterior coxae with a short spine; tegmina obliquely vertical, the veins on apical area coarse and reticulate. Allied to Ledra from which it differs by the single laminate ridge to the pronotum, the position of the ocelli, the non-dilated posterior tibiae, and the more slender and elongate form; by the last character it is allied to Confucius Dist. ”

Species. [2]: grisea Evans ; typica Distant.

Range. Australia (Queensland: Blumberg [Birdwood]).

Host plants. Unknown.

Material examined. J. grisea : 3 males, Australia, ASCU, JRJ _Led1_066–068 .

Remarks. Males of Jukaruka and Ledropsella are very similar. Specimens of Jukaruka can be distinguished by their lower median longitudinal pronotal crests (Pl. 8B_3) and larger, more open faces, with the crown margin further from the frontoclypeus anterolaterally (Pl. 9D) and the frontoclypeus less convex. Jukaruka may be slightly larger also—the J. grisea specimens were all 9.5- 10 mm in length, while a new undescribed male of Ledropsella (see remarks for Ledropsella below) was at most 9 mm in length (its wing apices were torn off). The only known female of Ledropsella is even smaller, 6 mm in length

Females of Jukaruka are unknown. No females of Jukaruka were described by Evans (1966, 1969), and all the specimens provided by the ASCU for this study were males of the species J. grisea . It will be very interesting to see if females of Jukaruka resemble those of Ledropsella in having shorter subovoid wings (Pl. 2E) when female specimens are finally collected and described.