Faltalini Zahniser & Dietrich

Zahniser, James N., 2021, Revision of the New World leafhopper tribe Faltalini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) and the evolution of brachyptery, Zootaxa 4954 (1), pp. 1-160 : 14-15

Faltalini Zahniser & Dietrich

Type genus: Faltala Oman , 1938

Faltalini: Linnavuori & DeLong, 1977: 199 [description as the Faltala genus group]; Blocker & Fang, 1992: 341–346 [as the Faltala group, new species, illustration, distribution, discussion]; Zahniser & Webb, 2004: 667–674 [as the Faltala group, classification, discussion, new species, illustration, morphology, key]; Remes Lenicov & Paradell, 2009: 263–269 [as the Faltala group, key, distribution, illustration, discussion]; Zahniser & Dietrich, 2010: 507 [original description, classification, phylogeny, DNA sequences]; Zahniser & Dietrich, 2013: 82–85 [description, classification, illustration, discussion, phylogeny, DNA sequences]; Zahniser & Dietrich, 2015: 479, 482 [phylogeny, DNA sequences]; Dietrich et al., 2017: 61, 65 [phylogeny, DNA sequences]; Zahniser, 2007 [online catalogue]; Freytag & Gaiani, 2017 [online catalogue]

Diagnosis. Faltalini as circumscribed here encompasses a wide range of morphological diversity. Its circumscription is based partly on the strong support from molecular data ( Zahniser & Dietrich, 2013) indicating a well-supported monophyletic clade including the sampled taxa Tenucephalus umbrinus n. sp., Hecullus bracteatus (Ball) , and Kramerana junina Zahniser. The morphological diversity of the tribe makes it difficult to diagnose with characters traditionally used to define tribes of Deltocephalinae , including those of the head, forewings, and male genitalia. Nevertheless, the genera included in Faltalini here share certain morphological characters which allow the tribe to be diagnosed as a whole, and smaller informal genus groups can be identified with additional characters. Diagnoses of the tribe and these groups are given below. A more detailed description of the tribe can be found in Zahniser & Dietrich (2013).

Faltalini . Members of this tribe share the following characters: 1) phragma partly forming sclerotized plates or developed into setose bulbous lobes (exception: Acrolithus ); 2) first valvula shape relatively straight; 3) first valvula dorsal sculpturing separated from dorsal margin by unsculptured band; 4) first valvula dorsal sculpturing pattern maculose, with maculae separate or only slightly overlapping, or granulose; 5) first valvula with distinctly delimited ventral sculptured area (VSA); and 6) second valvula without dorsal teeth.

The partly sclerotized phragma appears sporadically in some genera and species of other tribes of Deltocephalinae , but is not sclerotized universally in any other tribes, with the possible exception of Limotettigini. Deltocephalinae that share all of the female characters listed above are Arrugadini , Eupelicini: Paradorydiina, Hecalini: Hecalina (but with second valvula distinctly humpbacked dorsally and concave ventrally), some Macrostelini (e.g. Balclutha Kirkaldy ), and Stenometopiini. These groups can be distinguished from Faltalini by a number of other morphological characters that define each of them ( Zahniser & Dietrich, 2013). Some deltocephaline taxa share some but not all of the female characters above. For example, Dorycephalus Kouchakewitch (Dorycephalini) shares characters 2–4, but not 5 and 6.

Tenucephalus group. This groups includes Tenucephalus and Bonamus . It can be diagnosed by: 1) head not strongly produced, median length usually much less than 1.8x length next to eye; 2) anterior margin of head with numerous transverse carinae; 3) ocelli close to eye; 4) macropterous; 5) profemur row AV with numerous very short stout setae in a uniform row, or setae reduced or absent; 6) phragma forming setose bulbous lobes articulating dorsally with base of aedeagus; 7) ovipositor protruding very far beyond pygofer; 8) first valvula dorsal sculpturing forming dorsoventrally elongated maculae; and 9) gonoplac with long macrosetae.

Hecullus group. This group includes Hecullus , Hecalocorica , and Acrolithus . The group can be diagnosed by: 1) crown texture completely shagreen; 2) pronotum texture completely shagreen; 3) pronotum lateral margin nearly as long as or longer than width of eye (also present in Dietrichana ). Hecullus and Acrolithus are unique in the tribe in having subbrachypterous females. The males of Hecullus are macropterous and those of Acrolithus are submacropterous. This group is paraphyletic with respect to the Faltala group. Hecullus and Acrolithus share some characters in common with the Faltala group (dorsum with alternating longitudinal or zig-zag whitish and brownish stripes or with indications of such stripes and ventrolateral margin of thorax with dark brown or black below stripe) that Hecalocorica does not.

Faltala group. This group includes Ackbaria , Aequcephalus , Clorindaia , Dietrichana , Faltala , Kramerana , Paraclorindaia , and Virganana . It can be diagnosed by: 1) male brachypterous; 2) female brachypterous; 3) forewing venation reticulated (exception: Ackbaria ); 4) phragma forming sclerotized plates.

Hecullus group + Faltala group. These two genus groups share the following characters: 1) head produced, median length usually 1.8x or more length next to eye; 2) ocelli distant from eye; 3) anterior margin of head flattened, foliaceous, or rugose; 4) profemur row AV with some longer and shorter setae in a relatively less uniform row; 5) gonoplac without long macrosetae.

Included genera: