Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) of the Shaanxi Hanzhong Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve, China, with descriptions of a new typhlocybine genus and a new species
TL;DR
This study provides the first systematic taxonomic inventory of Cicadellidae in the reserve and provides baseline data for future taxonomic and diversity studies of leafhoppers in the Qinling Mountains region of China.
Abstract
A systematic survey of the leafhoppers of Shaanxi Hanzhong Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve was conducted from March to September 2021 across three sampling sites: Longting, Huayuan, and Yaoping, yielding 3,033 specimens representing 76 species, 47 genera, 14 tribes, and 10 subfamilies. The assemblage was numerically dominated by Kolla paulula (Walker, 1858) and Kolla nigrifascia Yang & Li, 2000. Diversity and evenness reached their highest values in June, whereas specimen abundance peaked in July. Community similarity analyses indicated clear differences among sampling sites and months, with particularly low similarity between the Longting agro-ecosystem and the two forest sites. This study provides the first systematic taxonomic inventory of Cicadellidae in the reserve and provides baseline data for future taxonomic and diversity studies of leafhoppers in the Qinling Mountains region of China. The survey revealed one new genus and a new species of Empoascini described and illustrated here: Neoempoasca Dai, Yu & Li gen. nov. with type species Neoempoasca lizizhongi Dai, Yu & Li sp. nov.