Tribe Cephalelini Amyot & Serville, 1843

Museums

Regional Maps

• Céphalélides Amyot, C.J.B. & Audinet-Serville, J.G. 1843. Histoire Naturelle des Insects. Hémiptères. Paris : Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Rue Hautefeuille 10 B13 676 pp. [554].

  Type genus:

   Cephalelus Percheron, 1932.

Introduction

The Cephalelini are one of two groups of leafhoppers which are elongate, seed mimics, the other being the Paradorydiini. The two groups can be easily separated by the presence of well developed antennal ledges and the hind legs not being adapted for jumping in the Cephalelini while in Paradorydiini the antennal ledges are lacking and the hind legs are elongate, with the tibiae much longer than the fore and mid tibiae and lined with rows of long setae. The Australian fauna of Cephalelini, most of which look like walking grass seeds, are found in the more temperate parts of the country and comprise six genera, the largest of which is Paracephaleus Evans with five species. The Australian fauna is mainly endemic with two species of Paracephaleus Evans found in New Zealand. The tribe appears to be associated with the rush family Restionaceae. Evans (1939) hypothesised that development of the head in groups such as the Cephalelini may be associated with loss of wings. The anterior prolongation of the head has the effect of displacing the legs from the front part of the body to the centre and thus possibly serves to adjust the balance for walking purposes of insects that have lost both powers of flight and jumping.

Diagnosis

Nous faisons un groupe à part du genre Céphalèle qui se distingue de tous les autres, dans cette famille, par le prolongement conico-cylindrique de là tête. Il faut y ajouter le genre Dorydium Burm. dont il sera fait mention ci-après (Amyot & Serville 1843).

Head. The labium is long and the anteclypeus, which narrows anteriorly, is separated from the postclypeus by a deep groove or an ill-defined suture. The lora do not extend as far as the outer margins of the maxillary plates and the maxillary plates are narrow. The sides of the postclypeus are approximately parallel and, although the frons cannot be identified with certainty, it is probably entirely ventral in position. The head, posterior to the antennae, is convex in short-headed, and concave in long-headed species. The antennal ledges are curved, sometimes to such an extent that the antennae become inwardly directed, and the antennal depressions are deep and continue anteriorly as grooves lying on either side of the postclypeus. Ocelli may be present or absent and, when present, occur always on the crown. The eyes, which are prominent in short-headed species, are in line with the sides of the head in those forms which have produced heads. Thorax. The pronotum may be dorsally flat and collar-like or declivous and wider posteriorly than anteriorly and it may be depressed anterolaterally; the proepisterna are partially exposed. The scutellum may have a deep transverse cleft and the katepisterna of the mesothorax are produced posteriorly as finger-like processes. Legs. The tibiae are either quadrilateral in section or considerably flattened and the hind tibiae are short with a few hair-like spines. Tegmina. The tegmina may have complete or reticulate venation and the veins may be raised in relief or the venation obscure. Wings. Wings are usually absent and, when present, they have a reduced venation. Male genitalia. The base of the aedeagus extends between the anal segment and the basal plate, the parameres are long and the ninth sternite has lost its separate identity (Evans 1947).

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: 16.iii.2012]

Diagnosis References

Amyot, C.J.B. & Audinet-Serville, J.G. 1843. Histoire Naturelle des Insects. Hémiptères. Paris : Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Rue Hautefeuille 10 B13 676 pp. [554]

Evans, J.W. 1947. A natural classification of leafhoppers (Jassoidea, Homoptera) Part 3. Jassidae. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 98(6): 105-271 [125]

General References

Evans, J.W. 1939. Some new Australian Leafhoppers (Homoptera: Jassoidea). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 63(1): 44-50 [44–45]

History of changes