Genus Plexitartessus F. Evans, 1981

Plexitartessus pulchellus (Spångberg), type species of Plexitartessus F. Evans.

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Plexitartessus Evans, F. 1981. The Tartessinae of Australia, New Guinea and some adjacent Islands (Homoptera: Cicadellidae). Pacific Insects 23(1-2): 112-188 [151].

  Type species:

   Tartessus pulchellus Spångberg, 1878 by original designation.

Introduction

This is a genus of seven known species, all similar in size and colouring, six of which are mainly restricted to coastal areas of Queensland. One species extends slightly into New South Wales and another species is shared with Papua New Guinea. The seventh species, P. brandti F. Evans, is only known from Papua New Guinea.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Diagnosis

Pale insects, ranging in length from 8–14 mm with the head and thorax largely yellow. Crown roundly or narrowly produced. Tegmen pale hyaline brown or vitreous, sometimes with ill-defined pale fasciae; veins pale or dark brown or black. Male genitalia: pygophore narrowing posteriorly, sometimes apically acute or hook-shaped, or deeply divided into two parts; aedeagus simple, sometimes curved; parameres strongly elbowed basally. Xth segment lacking processes. Female: VIIth abdominal sternite sloping laterally towards centre, medially notched (Evans 1981).

ID Keys

Evans 1981: 115–118

Diagnosis References

Evans, F. 1981. The Tartessinae of Australia, New Guinea and some adjacent Islands (Homoptera: Cicadellidae). Pacific Insects 23(1-2): 112-188 [151]

History of changes