Taxonomic review describes new Scaphomonoides leafhopper species from Yunnan

A morphological review of Chinese species in the leafhopper genus Scaphomonoides redescribed the genus and its type species, Scaphomonoides redstripeus, and described a new species, Scaphomonoides robustus, from Yunnan Province. The new species is represented in the study by a single male holotype collected in Ruili in 2013 and deposited at the Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, in Guiyang, China.

The authors examined dry male and female specimens under a stereoscopic microscope and measured morphological characters with an ocular micrometer. They macerated genital segments in 10% sodium hydroxide and used a KEYENCE VHX-6000 imaging system to obtain color photographs of adult habitus and genitalia. Illustrations were imported into Adobe Photoshop CS8 for labeling and plate composition. Morphological terminology largely followed the 2011 description of the genus, while terminology for leg setal rows followed Rakitov’s 1997 system.

Scaphomonoides robustus closely resembles S. redstripeus in general appearance. Both have an ochraceous body, a yellowish head with a thin dark-brown transverse band on each side of the ocelli, an orange arcuate band between the eyes, and paired orange arcuate bands on the pronotum. The new species has a yellowish-brown face, while the second orange pronotal band is complete in S. robustus but disconnected in the middle in S. redstripeus.

The clearest differences occur in the male genitalia. In S. robustus, the aedeagus bears a pair of long, stout processes arising from the ventral margin near its base and extending beyond the shaft, while the shaft apex bears two pairs of spiniform processes. In S. redstripeus, the paired processes are moderately long and slender, the shaft tapers to an acute apex without processes, and the elongate dorsal apodeme is bifurcate distally. The new species also has a rectangular subgenital plate with 11 stout lateral setae and a valve nearly 1.9 times as broad as its median length; S. redstripeus has eight macrosetae along the subgenital plate margin and a valve nearly 1.5 times as broad as its median length.

A key to the two Chinese species separates males by the continuity of the transverse orange bands and by aedeagal structure. S. redstripeus has incomplete or interrupted bands and a slender, distally tapered aedeagal shaft with a bifurcate dorsal apodeme. S. robustus has complete bands, a shaft with spiniform apical processes and stout basal processes, and a dorsal apodeme that is not bifurcate.

The review also expands the generic redescription of Scaphomonoides. Diagnostic male genital features include an aedeagus with paired processes from the ventral margin, an elongate basal apodeme, a short subgenital plate, and a Y-shaped connective with a very short stem. Externally, the head is slightly narrower than the pronotum’s greatest width; the ocelli lie on the anterior margin, and the vertex is longer medially than beside the eye, with a distinctly angulate anterior margin. The fore femur has two dorsoapical setae, one stout anteromedial seta, 14 intercalary setae and several short basal anteroventral setae. The hind femur has an apical setal formula of 2+2+1.

The authors redescribed S. redstripeus because the original 2005 figures lacked a ventral view of the aedeagus and described the dorsal apodeme as the aedeagal shaft. New illustrations and descriptions document the male genitalia and female structures. Among the female characters, the seventh sternite has a sharply cleft, medially concave posterior margin, the first ovipositor valvulae have strigate dorsal sculpture, and the second valvulae have prominent denticles in the distal half that become smaller toward the rounded apex.

Examined specimens of S. redstripeus came from Hainan, Jiangxi and Yunnan provinces in China, with collection dates spanning 1997 to 2021. Sites included Jianfengling, Jiulianshan, Limushan and Diaoluoshan in Hainan, Jiuliansha in Jiangxi and Mengla County in Yunnan. The species is also recorded from Vietnam. Adult body length including the tegmen measured 5.07–5.44 mm in males and 5.18–5.42 mm in females. The sole known specimen of S. robustus, the male holotype from Mengxiu in Ruili, measured 5.04 mm.

The study is a specimen-based taxonomic review rather than an ecological or population-level investigation. Its assessment of S. robustus is limited to the external and male genital characters of one specimen, so the authors report the new species as known only from Yunnan and do not establish its broader distribution or natural history. The holotype is the only specimen listed for S. robustus, whereas the redescription and distribution of S. redstripeus are supported by additional male and female material from China and the previously recorded occurrence in Vietnam.

Subject of Research: Morphological taxonomy and redescription of Chinese Scaphomonoides leafhoppers

Article Title: Review of Chinese species of the leafhopper genus Scaphomonoides Li, 2011 ( Hemiptera , Cicadellidae , Deltocephalinae , Scaphoideini ), with description of a new species

Article References: Duan, K.-T., Webb, M. D., & Xing, J.-C. (2025). Review of Chinese species of the leafhopper genus Scaphomonoides Li, 2011 (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae, Scaphoideini), with description of a new species. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 72(2), 459-463. https://doi.org/10.3897/dez.72.157167

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/dez.72.157167

Keywords: Scaphomonoides robustus, Scaphomonoides redstripeus, leafhopper taxonomy, new species, morphological review, male genitalia, Yunnan Province, China, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Review, Chinese