Tribe Plesiodelphacini Asche

Description. Gonapophyses IX semicircular-shaped, average length 1404.35 µm, width 89 µm, bearing numerous, small, sharp teeth; lacks carination (Fig. 10B); one subapical tooth, ventrally; apex slightly serrate (Fig. 10B). Small ventral membranous sheath encompassing distal third of gonapophyses (Fig. 10B).

Notes. Plesiodelphacini currently includes two genera in eight species, with seven of these species in Burnilia Muir & Giffard. As noted in Asche et al. (2016), the phylogenetic position of this taxon may be problematic. Early cladistic (but non-quantitative) analyses (Asche 1985a, b) placed Plesiodelphacinae basad to the Stenocraninae and Kelisiinae, whereas the molecular phylogenetic analyses of Urban et al. (2010) placed Plesiodelphacinae in a derived position relative to Stenocraninae and Kelisiinae, sister to the Delphacinae . The latter analysis, if verified, “would have a substantial impact on the interpretation of morphological data” (Asche et al. 2016: 76). The tribe is restricted to the New World, more specifically the Caribbean, Central America, and South America (Asche 1985b), except for Burnilia japonica Asche, Hayashi & Fujinuma from Japan. New World representatives of this tribe are specialists on Heliconia spp. ( Heliconiaceae), where nymphs and adults are found within the rolls of young leaves. Burnilia japonica from Japan is associated with Alpinia intermedia Gagnep (a ginger-lily; Zingiberales, Zingiberaceae) (Asche et al. 2016).