Subfamily Tartessinae Distant, 1908

Brunotartessus fulvus (Walker), a typical tartessine.

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Tartessusaria Distant, W.L. 1908. Rhynchota. — Vol. IV. Homoptera and Appendix. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma 4: 1-501 [301].

  Type genus:

   Tartessus Stål, 1865.

Introduction

The Tartessinae were expanded in 2009 by the transfer of two tribes, the Stenocotini and Thymbrini, from the Ledrinae by Jones and Deitz (2009) who also transferred the genera previously regarded as the Tartessinae to the tribe Tartessini. In general, the tartessines are medium sized to large leafhoppers mainly associated with the tree genus Eucalyptus l'Hér. and some related genera of Myrtaceae. Tartessini are distributed in the Australasian and Indomalayan regions, and were revised by F. Evans (1981) who recognised 130 species in 37 genera. Thymbrini are mainly Australian with 71 Australian species in 14 genera; the major genera were revised in a series of papers by M.M. Stevens. The reasonably species-rich genus Novothymbris is endemic to New Zealand. The Stenocotini are endemic to Australia and comprise 12 species in seven genera which were mainly revised in a number of papers by J.W. Evans. The Stenocotini includes Ledromorpha planirostris (Donovan), which is the world's largest leafhopper.

Diagnosis

Vertex about or more than three times broader between eyes than long; ocelli on or near the anterior margin of vertex and nearer eyes than to each other (Distant 1908).

ID Keys

Fletcher, M.J. (2009 and updates). Key to the leafhoppers and treehoppers of Australia and neighbouring areas (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/leafhop/index.html [accessed: 15.ii.2012]

Diagnosis References

Distant, W.L. 1908. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Rhynchota. London : Taylor & Francis Vol. 4 xv 501 pp. [301]

General References

Jones, J.R. & Deitz, L.L. 2009. Phylogeny and systematics of the leafhopper subfamily Ledrinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). Zootaxa (2186): 1–120 [66]

History of changes