Aequcephalus gramineus DeLong & Thambimuttu

Zahniser, James N., 2021, Revision of the New World leafhopper tribe Faltalini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) and the evolution of brachyptery, Zootaxa 4954 (1), pp. 1-160 : 28

Aequcephalus gramineus DeLong & Thambimuttu

( Figs. 11 , 15 )

Aequcephalus gramineus DeLong & Thambimuttu, 1973: 172 [original description, morphology, illustration]; Linnavuori & DeLong, 1977: 199, 200 265, 266 [key, distribution, morphology, male described and illustrated]; Zanol, 2008: 3 [catalogue]; Zahniser, 2007 [online catalogue]; Freytag & Gaiani, 2017 [online catalogue]

Diagnosis. A. gramineus can be distinguished from A. laplata by the characters in the key above.

Material examined. Holotype ♀ [ OSUC]: Chile, Santiago Prov., 19 km W. Padre Hurtado, 14.X.1967, L. & C. O’Brien.

Distribution. Known from Chile (Santiago Prov. and provisionally from Quillota Prov.)

Remarks. Linnavuori & DeLong (1977) described and illustrated a male and ascribed it to this species. It is listed from “Cerro Robles, P. Santiago ”; this appears to refer to Cerro El Roble, in what is now Marga Marga Prov. in the Valparaíso Region, bordering on the Santiago Metropolitan Region. The OSUC collection was searched for this specimen, but it was not found. This locality is approximately 75km north of the type locality of the species. It is uncertain if the association of this male with the female holotype is correct, but is accepted provisionally at this time. More collecting is needed to confidently associate males with the female type.

Figures

FIGUIRE 11. Aequcephalus gramineus. (A–B) standard views; A & B, female holotype.

FIGUIRE 15. Distribution of Aequcephalus and two species of Virganana.