Leaylia norfolkiana ( Wygodzinsky 1956 )

Tatarnic, Nikolai J. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2011, The thread-legged bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae) of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, Zootaxa 2967, pp. 21-43 : 41

Leaylia norfolkiana ( Wygodzinsky 1956)

Leaylia norfolkiana Wygodzinsky 1966: 517 (new combination); Maldonado, 1990: 134 (catalogue); Cassis & Gross, 1995: 297 (catalogue).

Bargylia norforlkiana Wygodzinsky, 1956: 199 (new species).

Diagnosis. See generic diagnosis.

Specimens examined. AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Norfolk Island: King Fern Gully, 26 November 1979, G. B. Monteith, Q. M. Berlesate No. 171, Holloway Grid 298070, rainforest, 180m, sieved litter, 13 (QM); King Fern Gully, 28 November 1979, G. B. Monteith, Q. M. Berlesate No. 178, Holloway Grid 303068, rainforest, 240m, sieved litter, 2Ƥ (QM); Mt. Pitt Reserve, 1 December 1979, G. B. Monteith, Q. M. Berlesate No. 190, Holloway Grid 295070, rainforest, 220m, sieved litter, 13 (QM); Lindisfarne, Duncombe Bay, 27 November 1979, G. B. Monteith, Q. M. Berlesate No. 175, Holloway Grid 324051, rainforest, 100m, sieved litter, 23, 1 nymph, sex unknown (QM); Filmy Fern walk, Norfolk Island National Park, 14 November – 2 December 1984, T. A. Weir, flight intercept, ANIC 1042, 13 (ANIC); Rocky Point Reserve, 14 November – 2 December 1984, T. A. Weir, flight intercept trap, ANIC 1040, 1Ƥ (ANIC).

Remarks. Leaylia norfolkiana is the sole species in this genus. Formerly described under Bargylia ( Wygodzinsky 1956) , it was subsequently given its own monotypic genus based on the diagnostic characters listed above (labium shape, metanotum length and male genitalia) by Wygodzinsky (1966). While similar in appearance to Bargylia (of which three species are found in mainland Australia) this superficial resemblance is not thought to necessarily reflect any phylogenetic proximity. L. norfolkiana is the only apterous emesine known to occur on Norfolk Island.