Laticorona Cai, 1994

Jones, Joshua R. & Deitz, Lewis L., 2009, Phylogeny and systematics of the leafhopper subfamily Ledrinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) 2186, Zootaxa 2186 (1), pp. 1-120 : 44

Genus Laticorona Cai

Laticorona Cai, 1994b: 205 , 208.

Type species. L. aequata Cai, 1994b: 205 , 208, fig. 1, A–L, by original designation.

Synonymy. None.

Description. Cai (1994b): “The new genus…closely resembles to [sic] Petalocephala Stål , but differs in every element of the male genitalia, especially in the pygofer with apex bifurcated, the aedeagus with a pair [of] long processes, and the style with a long spin on apex, also by the pattern of the crown.”

Species. [2]: aequata Cai ; longa Cai.

Range. China (Fujian: Sangang; Sichuan: Emei Mts; Zhejiang: Longquan: Fengyang Mt. ) .

Host plants. Unknown.

Material examined. None.

Remarks. Cai stated that the type specimen of L. aequata is located at the Anhui Agricultural College (now Anhui Agricultural University). It was unavailable for this study.

The aedeagal processes shown in Cai’s (1994b) illustrations are very unusual in that they arise from near the base of the shaft, close to the connective. They are flat, slender, and acuminate, and twist on their axis at midlength. It is not yet clear how much variation in aedeagal structure occurs within Petalocephala ; among the specimens directly examined in this analysis, the subapical processes were short and flat (Pl. 16H_2), but illustrations of other described Petalocephala species shows a range of variation in subapical process expression. Those of the closely related genus Neotituria are situated medially and only somewhat flattened. Auxiliary processes were also observed rising from the base of the aedeagus in J. grisea and Platyledra caldida Evans , but those were interpreted to be different structures, the paraphyses; they are thick and medially articulated.

The phylogenetic independence of Laticorona from Petalocephala is uncertain. The shape of its head (narrowing in front of eyes), pronotum (shallowly curving between the eyes), and especially its face (unproduced inner margins of antennal pit, long and narrow frontoclypeus without distinct lateral muscle ridges, unproduced lora/genae) are like those of the genera in the Petalocephala genus group. At present, differentiation of Laticorona from Petalocephala appears to only be possible by dissection and examination of male genitalia.