First mid-Cretaceous nogodinid planthopper (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Fulgoroidea) from Kachin amber with an extant relative from the Neotropics

Abstract

The earliest fossil record of nogodinid planthopper is reported from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. A new subfamily, Hesticinae subfam. nov., with two new tribes, Hesticini trib. nov. and Nolectrini trib. nov., are erected in the family Nogodinidae to accommodate the Neotropical genus Hesticus and mid-Cretaceous genus Nolectra gen. nov., with a type species, Nolectragengshuyuanae sp. nov., described from Kachin amber. Hesticus rufimanus, an extant relative, is redescribed and illustrated including male and female terminalia and recorded for the first time from Suriname and French Guiana. The systematic position of Hesticinae subfam. nov. is discussed and it is suggested as the most primitive group of the Nogodinidae. More fossils are needed to understand the early evolution and distribution of the Nogodinidae during the Cretaceous.