High Species Diversity of the Leafhopper Genus Hishimonus Ishihara (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from China, with Description of Ten New Species

Hishimonus Ishihara is a large genus of leafhoppers widely distributed in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Its greatest diversity appears to be in the Oriental region where recent investigations on Hishimonus suggest much of the diversity remains undocumented. In the present study, twenty-eight species of the leafhopper genus Hishimonus Ishihara from China are reviewed based on comparative morphological study, including ten new species: H. fletcheri sp. nov., H. lii sp. nov., H. dietrichi sp. nov., H. kuohi sp. nov., H. tenuis sp. nov., H. hamuleus sp. nov., H. triangulus sp. nov., H. virakatmathiellus sp. nov., H. paraphycitis sp. nov., and H. yuanmouensis sp. nov. Two additional species (Hishimonus knightiellus Virktamath & Murthy and Hishimonus subtilis Knight) are recorded from China for the first time. Furthermore, three new synonymies are proposed: Hishimonus reflexus Kuoh, 1976 syn. nov. and Hishimonus biuncinatus Li, 1988 syn. nov. are reduced to synonymy with Hishimonus bucephalus Emeljanov, 1969; Hishimonus lamellatus Cai & Kuoh, 1995 syn. nov. is a junior synonym of Hishimonus expansivus Li, 1988. All the taxa are described and illustrated based on observations of specimens from China. The first study of the female genitalia of Chinese Hishimonus reveals considerable similarity among the Hishimonus species studied. A key and list of all Chinese Hishimonus species are also provided.