Homa haematoptila (Kirkaldy, 1906)

(Fig. 1L, M)

Eupteryx haematoptilus Kirkaldy, 1906: 362, plate 31, fig. 6. — Evans 1966: 267.

Cicadella haematoptila – Metcalf 1968: 685.

Homa haematoptilus – Dworakowska 1969: 487.

DISTRIBUTION. — Australia.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Australia • 1 ♀; Queensland; Kuranda; F. P. Dodd; VII.1904; Homa haematoptila det. I. Dworakowska; 1969; NHM .

REMARKS

Kirkaldy’s comments preceding his description that the “tegmina are unfortunately a little mutilated” suggests he had one specimen, the holotype, described as female with the following data: “ Queensland, Redlynch (vii)”. This information matches the image of the type (now without abdomen), from BPBM, given here (Fig. 1L, M).

Dworakowska (1969) placed this species as a senior synonym of H. insignis but later (Dworakowska 1994a) treated H. insignis as a valid species but this was apparently overlooked by Xu et al. (2022) who treated it still as a senior synonym of H. insignis, without justification. In fact, as H. haematoptila is known only from the female from Australia its identity remains uncertain, although from the described forewing markings and venation it is correctly placed in Homa and matches the female specimen examined here from Australia, Kuranda and some new species of Homa seen from the Pacific (NHM). The former specimen from Kuranda could represent the record of Dayus euryphaessus from Kuranda, by Evans (1966: 266). According to Murray Fletcher (pers. com.), the Redlynch type was collected as part of the Bishop Museum’s visit to Australia by Koebele and Perkins in 1904, which started Kirkaldy’s study of the Australian fauna.