A new genus Vittaliana belonging to the tribe Opsiini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from India and its molecular phylogeny

Abstract

The new leafhopper genus Vittalianareticulata gen. nov., sp. nov., is described from India, and placed in the tribe Opsiini based on ocelli close to eyes, without carina on anterior margin of the face and bifurcate aedeagus with two gonopores. Phylogenetic analysis with maximum likelihood (ML) using IQtree v1.4.1 of combined data (Histone H3 and 28S rDNA) reveals that the new genus Vittaliana belongs to a clade consisting of Opsius versicolor (Distant, 1908), Opsiini gen. sp., Libengaia sp., Hishimonus phycitis (Distant, 1908) and Yinfomibus menglaensis Du, Liang & Dai (2019) with good branch support, and that the tribe Opsiini is paraphyletic. This resolves the placement of a new genus in the tribe Opsiini under Deltocephalinae.