Genus Platyscopus Evans, 1942

Museums

Regional Maps

• Platyscopus Evans, J.W. 1942. New leafhoppers (Homoptera: Jassoidea) from Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 27: 143-163 [145].

  Type species:

   Platyscopus badius Evans, 1942 by original designation.

 

Introduction

In creating the genus Platyscopus, Evans (1942) originally described two species from the R.E. Turner material collected at Dedari, Western Australia, in 1936 as two different species, P. badius (based on a single female) and P. coloratus (based on a single male). He indicated at the time that they may have represented male and female of the same species and subsequently (Evans 1966) he synonymised them without comment. It was a mistake to designate the species based on a female holotype as the type of the genus and give it priority following synonymy when P. coloratus had a male, rather than a female, holotype. In 1972, Evans added P. moorei Evans, from Coolgardie which is about 60km from Dedari, without providing a means to differentiate the species from P. badius. Two additional specimens of Platyscopus have been collected at Dedari and the male matches Evans' description of P. moorei. However, the type of P. badius in BMNH needs to be examined to validate P. moorei as a distinct species. The elongation of the head distinguishes the genus Platyscopus from other genera of Penthimiinae in Australia.

 

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Coolgardie (COO)

Diagnosis

The head is produced and spatulate, the ventral surface concave, the dorsal convex. The antennae are short and posterior to the eyes. There is a median longitudinal carina on the crown and the ocelli, which are on the crown, lie midway between the carina and the sides of the head. The pronotum is parallel-sided and collar-like and the tegmina overlap apically and have wide appendices. The hind tibiae have four rows of spines; a row of alternate long and short spines, a row of short strong spines separated by minute spines, a row of short spines and a row of hair-like spines (Evans 1942).

 

ID Keys

Fletcher, M.J. (2008) Illustrated Key to the Genera of the Tribe Penthimiini occurring in Australia (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/leafhop/penthimiini/penth00.htm

 

Diagnosis References

Evans, J.W. 1942. New leafhoppers (Homoptera: Jassoidea) from Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 27: 143-163 [145]

 

General References

Evans, J.W. 1942. New leafhoppers (Homoptera: Jassoidea) from Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 27: 143-163 [145–146]

Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [220]

Evans, J.W. 1972. Characteristics and relationships of the Penthimiinae and some new genera and new species from New Guinea and Australia; also new species of Drabescinae from New Guinea and Australia. Pacific Insects 14(1): 169-200 [196]

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
05-Dec-2019		13-Aug-2013	MODIFIED
05-Dec-2019		16-May-2012	MODIFIED
05-Dec-2019		01-Jun-2011	MOVED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)