VIZCAYINAE Asche, 1990

Liang, Ai-Ping, 2002, New taxa of Vizcayinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Delphacidae), including a remarkable new genus from China, Journal of Natural History 36 (5), pp. 601-616 : 602-603

Subfamily VIZCAYINAE Asche

Vizcayinae Asche, 1990: 157 . Type genus: Vizcaya Muir, 1917: 351 .

Included genera. Vizcaya Muir (nine species), Neovizcaya gen. nov. (one species).

Distribution. South India, south-west China and South-East Asia.

Remarks. The taxonomic position of Vizcayinae is problematical. Asche’s (1990) phylogenetic analysis of the Delphacidae indicated that the Vizcayinae formed a link between the Asiracinae and the remaining Delphacids ( Kelisiinae , Stenocraninae , Plesiodelphacinae and Delphacinae ). However, based on characters of the nymph, Emeljanov (1995) downgraded the Vizcayinae to a tribe of Delphacinae . Emeljanov (1995) also questioned the polarity of an autapomorphy proposed by Asche (1990) Ðthe arrangement of teeth on the tip of the basal segment of the metatarsi (see below). In the current work, Asche’ s (1990) subfamily placement of Vizcayinae is followed pending further work on the group.

Vizcayinae can be distinguished from all other delphacid subfamilies by the following combination of characters (from Asche, 1990 with new characters in italics): vertex with an inverted`v’ -shaped carina (®gure 44); antennal scape and pedicel very or moderately elongate, scape compressed (®gures 10, 15, 46, 49) [similar to Asiracinae ]; antennal pedicel with numerous sensory plaque organs, irregularly arranged over the whole surface (®gures 10, 15, 16) [similar to Asiracinae : Ugyopini and some Delphacinae ]; sensory plaque organs on pedicel surface with relatively few (8±12) denticles and relatively few (17±28) digitate processes (®gures 11, 17); denticles relatively large and broad, compressed and curved inwardly, nearly pyramidical with acute apex, outer edge curved and distinctly keel-like, the depressed surface with one to three indistinct longitudinal ridges (®gures 11, 17) [similar to Asiracini (see Shih and Yang, 1996; Liang, 1998)]; basal pit of X agellum traversed by a cuticular spinose process (®gure 14); metatibial spur conical in shape, with 5±12 teeth (including apical tooth) on inner margin (®gures 18, 20) [similar to Kelisiinae , Plesiodelphacinae and some Delphacini ]; apical pecten row of the 1st metatarsomere with the median spine smaller than the remainder and displaced proximally (arrowed in ®gure 53); forewings elongate with veins prominent and thickly covered with granules each bearing a long seta [similar to Asiracinae ]; 2nd abdominal tergite of male drumming organ with a deep central depression (arrowed in ®gure 19).

One of the characters used by Asche (1990) to support the monophyly of the Vizcayinae is absent in Neovizcaya . This is the smoothly rounded fore margin of the head in Vizcaya which is strongly compressed in Neovizcaya .

The two Vizcayinae genera can be distinguishe d by the characters noted in table 1.