Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5875 No. 1: 2 Sept. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-09-02
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5875.1.3
Page range: 47-62
Abstract views: 234
PDF downloaded: 17

A new leafhopper genus, Hooku and two new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) from the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

ARC PHP; Biosystematics; Private Bag X134; Queenswood; 0121; South Africa
ARC PHP; Biosystematics; Private Bag X134; Queenswood; 0121; South Africa
Hemiptera afrotropical region auchenorrhyncha biodiversity endemic ethiopian region flightlessness Membracoidea phytophagous

Abstract

A new short-winged leafhopper from the Eastern Cape province of South Africa with two new species is described by morphology and COI molecular markers. It is named Hooku gen. nov. with H. nona sp. nov. as the type species from Heuningkloof and Groendal Nature Reserve and H. koro sp. nov. from Mansfield Nature Reserve, Nature View farm and Zuurberg. The new genus is placed in Bonaspeiina (Deltocephalinae: Selenocephalini).

References

  1. Cao, Y., Dietrich, C.H., Zahniser, J.N. & Dmitriev, D.A. (2022) Dense sampling of taxa and characters improves phylogenetic resolution among deltocephaline leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae). Systematic Entomology, 47, 430–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12540
  2. Dai, W. & Dietrich, C.H. (2012) A remarkable new genus of leafhoppers (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Iassinae) from Southeast Asia. ZooKeys, 239, 95–101. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.239.3960
  3. Du Plessis, M. (2018) Kora: A Lost Khoisan Language of the Early Cape and the Gariep. Unisa Press, South Africa, 396 pp.
  4. Du Plessis, M. (2019) Kora: A lost Khoisan language of the early Cape and the Gariep. Available from: https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/kora-lost-khoisan-language-early-cape-and-gariep-menan-du-plessis (accessed 1 August 2024)
  5. Linnavuori, R. (1961) Hemiptera (Homoptera): Cicadellidae. In: Hanström, B., Brinck, P. & Rudebeck, G. (Eds.), South African Animal Life. 8, pp. 452–486.
  6. Linnavuori, R. & Al-Ne’amy, K.T. (1983) Revision of the African Cicadellidae (subfamily Selenocephalinae) (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha). Acta Zoologica Fennica, 168, 1–105.
  7. McKamey, S.H. (2003) Some new generic names in the Cicadellidae (Hemiptera: Deltocephalinae, Selenocephalinae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 105 (2), 447–451.
  8. Packer, L. (2025) Two simple ways to make taxonomic diagnoses more useful. Taxonomy, 4, 43, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy5030043.a
  9. Paterson, I.D., Mangan, R., Downie, D.A., Coetzee, J.A., Hill, M.P., Burke, A.M., Downey, P.O., Henry, T.J. & Compton, S.G. (2016) Two in one: cryptic species discovered in biological control agent populations using molecular data and crossbreeding experiments. Ecology and Evolution, 6, 6139–6150. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2297
  10. Shorthouse, D.P. (2010) SimpleMappr, an online tool to produce publication-quality point maps. Available from: https://www.simplemappr.net (accessed 16 January 2025)
  11. Stiller, M. (2009) A revision of the South African leafhopper genus Drakensbergena Linnavuori (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Drakensbergeninae). Zootaxa, 2132, 1–39. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2132.1.1
  12. Stiller, M. & Webb, M.D. (2022) Leafhoppers of the Fynbos Biome of South Africa: Colistra, Proekes, Proekoides and a new genus (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae, Bonaspeiini). Zootaxa, 5199 (1), 1–79. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5199.1.1
  13. Stiller, M. (2016) Bretega, a new leafhopper genus from South Africa with 15 new species (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Bonaspeiini). Entomologica Americana, 122 (3), 333–392. https://doi.org/10.1664/1947-5144-122.3.333
  14. Stiller, M. (2020) A new leafhopper genus Geelus and 12 new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) from southern Africa. Zootaxa, 4786 (3), 301–344. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4786.3.1
  15. Stiller, M. (2023) Revision of the South African leafhopper genus Hadroca Theron (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Cicadellidae, Bonaspeiini). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 70 (1), 13–59. https://doi.org/10.3897/dez.70.90851
  16. Tamura, K., Stecher, G. & Kumar, S. (2021) MEGA 11: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 11. Molecular Biology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab120
  17. Taylor, S.J., Downie, D.A. & Paterson, I.D. (2011) Genetic diversity of introduced populations of the water hyacinth biological control agent Eccritotarsus catarinensis (Hemiptera: Miridae). Biological Control, 58, 330–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2011.05.008
  18. Theron, J.G. (1974) The Naudé species of South African Cicadellidae (Hemiptera) III. Species assigned to the genera Chlorotettix Van Duzee, Thamnotettix Zetterstedt, Euscelis Brulle, Scaphoideus Uhler and Selenocephalus Germar. Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa, 37, 147–166.
  19. Zahniser, J.N. & Dietrich, C.H. (2013) A review of the tribes of Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, 45, 1–211. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2013.45
  20. Zahniser, J.N. (2021) Revision of the New World leafhopper tribe Faltalini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) and the evolution of brachyptery. Zootaxa, 4954 (1), 1–160. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4954.1.1
  21. Zahniser, J.N., Dietrich, C.H., Cao, Y., Dmitriev, D.A. & Pinedo-Escatel, J.A. (2026) New tribal placements, reinstatements and synonymies in the leafhopper subfamily Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 1035: 1–51. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1035.3171

How to Cite

Stiller, M. & Maseko, Z. (2026) A new leafhopper genus, Hooku and two new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) from the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Zootaxa, 5875 (1), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5875.1.3