Tribe Xestocephalini Evans, 1938

Museums

Regional Maps

• Xestocephalini Evans, J.W. 1938. Australian Leafhoppers (Homoptera: Jassoidea): Part VIII. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1938: 1-18 [12].

  Type genus:

   Xestocephalus Van Duzee, 1892.

Introduction

This is the only xestocephaline tribe found in Australia and includes six species in two genera. Five species are placed in the world wide genus Xestocephalus Van Duzee while the other species is placed in the monotypic endemic genus Myrmecophryne Kirkaldy.



The tribe was previously considered a subfamily, the Xestocephalinae, but Dietrich (2005) demoted it to a tribe of Aphrodinae; the change in status has been supported in subsequent phylogenetic analyses (see Dietrich et al. 2022).

Diagnosis

Body small, robust and relatively broad. Face short and broad; frontoclypeus nearly circular in outline; lora rather small, not extending to lower margin of genae; antennal normal. Crown evenly rounded anteriorly; coronal suture absent. Flying wings with submarginal vein evanescent apically. Male styles with apophysis long, enlarge apically (Linnavuori 1959).

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: 22.iii.2012]

Diagnosis References

Linnavuori, R.E. 1959. Revision of the Neotropical Deltocephalinae and some related subfamilies (Homoptera). Annales Zoologici Fennici 20(1): 1-370 [36]

General References

Dietrich, C.H. 2005. Keys to the families of Cicadomorpha and subfamilies and tribes of Cicadellidae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). Florida Entomologist 88(4): 502–517

Dietrich, C.H., Dmitriev, D.A., Takiya, D.M., Thomas, M.J., Webb, M.D., Zahniser, J.N. & Zhang, Y, 2022. Morphology-based phylogenetic analysis of Membracoidea (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha) with placement of fossil taxa and description of a new subfamily. Insect Systematics and Diversity 6(5): 1–30

History of changes