A New Genus and Species of South American Leafhopper Belonging to a New Tribe of the Jassinae

Abstract

During 1944 while in charge of the planting of the new Cinchona plantation in Peru, Professor J. G. Sanders, formerly of the University of Wisconsin, collected several thousand specimens of interesting Homoptera in the immediate vicinity of the plantation. Among this material is an interesting species bearing characters of the Cicadellidae but superficially resembling a Fulgorid. The narrow head with appressed eyes, the narrow elongate vertex with high lateral carinae, the dorsal keel on the pronotum, and the elytra with little pustulate spots along the veins give the appearance of a member of the Fulgoridae. On the other hand the legs with the rows of spines are a definite Cicadellid characteristic and the wing venation is similar to the genus Jassus. There seems to be little doubt but that it should be associated with the genera Jassus and Tinobregmus in the Subfamily Jassinae and it resembles especially certain of the narrow elongate Mexican Tinobregmus in general appearance. It seems to represent another tribe, however, and I am suggesting the name Sandersellini as a new tribe which is characterized by high lateral carinae on the vertex, a median dorsal carina on the pronotum, and a long narrow face scarcely wider than the clypeus. The genus Sandersellus which is also described at this time is the only known genus belonging to this tribe.