Leofa Distant 1918

Type species, Leofa mysorensis Distant 1918, by original designation.

= Oneratulus Vilbaste 1975 syn. nov.

= Prasutagus Distant 1918 Oriental, Palearctic syn. nov. = Tortotettix Theron 1982 syn. nov.

Redescription. (modified from Viraktamath and Viraktamath [1992])

Ochraceous to yellow with dark brown and black markings, or completely black. Head narrower than or as wide as pronotum. Pronotum short, with or without lateral carina. Disc of vertex concave to convex, glabrous to finely striated. Transition from vertex to frons often distinct, the latter slightly inflated. Crown rounded to face. Ocelli small, slightly dorsal, close to eye. Frontoclypeus shagreen to glabrous, longer than width. Clypellus broad, tapering to apex. Forewings brachypterous with reticulated venation or coriaceous, or submacropterous and with milky white veins usually bordered with brown and with distinct yellow to white coloration continuing from pronotum and following claval suture and/or A1 vein, or very rarely macropterous and with appendix extending around apex. Profemur (Fig. 14) row AV setae relatively long; row AM with AM1 plus several extra proximal setae; intercalary row with 4–5 smaller setae distally and with 2–3 very long and thicker setae proximally, longer setae partially encroaching on row AV. Profemur generally with many extra small hairs. Hind femur formula 2+2+1+1 or 2+2+1. Male pygofer setose, sometimes with modified lobes. Subgenital plates long and triangular to short and truncate, with macrosetae near lateral or apical margin and/or scattered, often with other smaller hairs. Connective V-shaped, without stem or with very short stem. Style broadly bilobed basally; apophysis falcate to rounded and expanded with rugose or stippled sculpturing. Aedeagus variable, with 4 types distinguished here: 1) simple, with a basal stalk (subgenus Edmundiana); 2) modified dorsal aedeagal shaft— very broad laterally, often with a pair of basal processes, often with a caudal hood forming a lateral deep groove, and with a long recurved ventral appendage which articulates with aedeagal shaft and with connective (subgenus Leofa); 3) as in type 2, but dorsal aedeagal shaft simple, recurved, and with 2 pairs of lateral flanges (subgenus Prasutagus); 4) asymmetrical, with two apical teeth and one tooth on shaft (subgenus Tortotettix). Male segment X strongly sclerotized dorsally and laterally, sometimes modified. Female genitalia as described for Chiasmini.

Discussion. Oneratulus, Prasutagus, and Tortotettix are synonymized here based on the characters of the profemur, V-shaped connective, and strongly sclerotized male segment X shared with other described members of Leofa. The intercalary row of the profemur of Leofa is distinctive, although similar to that of Exitianus and Nephotettix. In Leofa, the most proximal 2 or 3 setae are much longer and thicker than the distal setae, and in Exitianus and Nephotettix, there is a more gradual transition from smaller distal setae to longer and thicker proximal setae. Also, there are usually 9–15 total intercalary row setae in Exititanus and Nephotettix, while there are typically 6–8 total setae in Leofa. The distinctive ventral appendage of the aedeagus in Leofa and Prasutagus and the similar color pattern and white or cream colored stripe on the clavus of Prasutagus and Tortotettix also suggest a relationship between them. Oman et al. (1990) included Leofa in Cicadellinae: Anoterostemmini. Viraktamath and Viraktamath (1992) discussed its potential relationship to Stenometopiini and to Chiasmini, and Chalam and Ramasubba Rao (2005) placed it in Stenometopiini. However, despite not having the characteristic hinged aedeagus of most other Chiasmini, the characters of the female genitalia described for Chiasmini above suggest that the genus belongs here. Additionally, preliminary DNA sequence data (unpublished) suggest that Leofa is closely related to Exitianus and Nephotettix, thus forming a group of Chiasmini with the anterior arms of the connective not closely appressed anteriorly.

The discovery of species in Africa and Spain greatly expands its known range, which is now somewhat similar to the range of Pratura revealed here. Given the large amount of morphological diversity between the known species, its broad geographical range, and the high incidence of brachyptery potentially predisposing species to high endemicity, the actual diversity of this genus is likely much greater than that which is known. Sub-Saharan Africa contains members of three of the four subgenera recognized here, while other regions contain only one, suggesting that Africa harbors a higher diversity than other regions, and is possibly the area of origin for the genus.

Prasutagus and Tortotettix are considered subgenera of Leofa, along with the nominal subgenus, and Edmundiana subgen. nov.