Alishania Vilbaste, 1969

Lu, Lin & Zhang, Yalin, 2016, Study of the Oriental genus Alishania Vilbaste (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from China with description of one new species, Zootaxa 4196 (3), pp. 430-434 : 430-431

Alishania Vilbaste, 1969

Alishania Vilbaste, 1969a: 5 ; Xing et al, 2010: 65 , 2011: 113; Li et al., 2011: 27 Type: Thamnotettix formosanus Matsumura, 1914 , originally designated Type locality: China (Taiwan).

Overall color yellowish brown. Vertex and thorax with few symmetrical angulate spots. Face with brown transverse streaks. Pronotum with irregular dark markings. Forewing pale brownish with dark freckles in cells, apical cells and appendix smoky.

Body slender, head subequal to or slightly broader than pronotum. Ocelli on anterior margin, one ocellar diameter distant from eyes. Vertex produced, anterior margin forming nearly right angle, longer medially than next to eyes; head with anterior margin rounded to face, shagreen. Frons longer than wide; anteclypeus more or less parallel-sided; genae wide, with wide emargination below eye. Rostrum short, reaching end of fore coxae. Forewing with three subapical cells. M-Cu2 crossvein lacking; outer subapical cell with oblique vein running to costal margin; clavus with or without transverse veins. Fore femur with anteroventral (AV1) seta long, intercalary (IC) row with about 6~8 setae; AM1 seta large, situated near apex. Apex of hind femur in macrosetal formula: 2+2+1.

Male abdomen:1S, 2S, 2T (tergite and sternite) developed (detailed in species description).

Male genitalia: Pygofer lobe very long, with numerous long macrosetae; anal tube membranous, very small, hidden between pygofer lobes; subgenital plates fused medially near base, each plate with distinct mesal and lateral lobe well separated by cleft, inner lobe without macrosetae and outer lobe with numerous irregular fine setae; style cheliform; connective Y-shaped, lying obliquely in genital capsule; aedeagus with common shaft arising from base, forked medially with two apical gonopores.

Female genitalia: same as the species A. qudrilamina .

Distribution. China ( Taiwan, Guizhou, Xizang); Japan.

Remarks. The genus is similar to Macrosteles (Macrostelini) in having similar yellowish to brownish coloration with symmetrical black spots on the vertex, which is angularly produced. Unlike Macrostelini , however, the forewing has three subapical cells. The outer subapical cell extends nearly to the costal margin of the wing (as in some Paralimnini ). Although Alishania has the aedeagus divided into two branches distally, as in Macrosteles , the former was previously placed in Opsiini because it has each branch of the aedeagus bearing a separate gonopore. Zahniser and Dietrich (2013) recognized three subtribes of Opsiini and retained Alishania in the nominotypical tribe, Opsiina. However, Alishania should be transferred from subtribe Opsiina (which have the aedeagus branched near the base) to subtribe Circuliferina (which have the aedeagus branched at the shaft apex). Molecular evidence may be needed to clarify these relationships and status.