Genus Exitianus Ball, 1929

Museums

Regional Maps

• Exitianus Ball, E.D. 1929. A supplemental revision of the genus Athysanus in North America (Homoptera : Cicadellidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 55: 1-8 [5].

  Type species:

   Cicadula exitiosa Uhler, 1880 by original designation.
• Mimodrylix Zachvatkin, A.A. 1935. Notes on the Homoptera — Cicadina of Jemen. Wissenschaftliche Berichte Moskauer Staatsuniversität 4: 106-115 [108].

  Type species:

   Athysanus capicola Stål, 1855 by original designation.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Oman, P.W. 1936. A generic revision of American Bythoscopinae and South American Jassinae. Kansas University Science Bulletin 24: 343-420 [382]

Introduction

This genus of pale brownish grass-feeding leafhoppers is recorded from all continents except Antarctica (Ross 1968). Typically, the species are uniformly pale brown with transverse dark markings on the head. The Australian fauna currently comprises four species with a fifth species, E. indicus (Distant), tentatively recorded from Christmas Island. Of the four mainland species, two are not true Exitianus and require the creation of new genera with additional undescribed species of both genera known in collections. The two true Exitianus in Australia, E. plebeius (Kirkaldy) and E. nanus (Distant) are two of the most common and widespread grassland species in the country. Neither is known to have economic significance.

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Finke (FIN), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Plains (GUP), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT) ; NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Daly Basin (DAB)

Other Regions

Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater, Lord Howe Island terrestrial & freshwater, Norfolk Island terrestrial & freshwater, Territory of Ashmore & Cartier Islands, Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Diagnosis

Body usually about 4–5 mm long. Colour chiefly tawny with various patterns of brown or black. head only moderately produced, the crown rounding into the face. Wings elongate and having typical leafhopper venation. Male pygofer having from two to six large dark or black spines along apical margin and only one or two other conspicuous spines. Aedeagus having an articulation between shaft and base, the shaft relatively simple in structure. Female ovipositor extendind a considerable distance beyond abdominal tergites (Ross 1968).

Diagnosis References

Ross, H.H. 1968. The evolution and dispersal of the grassland leafhopper Exitianus with keys to the Old World species. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 22(1): 1-30 [4]

General References

Ross, H.H. 1968. The evolution and dispersal of the grassland leafhopper Exitianus with keys to the Old World species. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 22(1): 1-30 [4]

History of changes