Tishechkin D.Yu. 2021. Comparison of interspecific differences in coloration, morphology, and male calling signal patterns in two genera of Idiocerini (Homoptera: Cicadellidae: Eurymelinae) // Russian Entomol. J. Vol.30. No.1: 4–15 [in English].
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobyevy Gory, Moscow 119234, Russia. E-mail: macropsis@yandex.ru
doi: 10.15298/rusentj.30.1.02
ABSTRACT. Comparison of interspecific differences in coloration, morphology, and male calling signals in six species of Populicerus and three species of Idiocerus revealed similar patterns. Species within each genus, with the exception of P. ambigenus, are almost indistinguishable by the shape of male genitalia, differ only partly by the shape of the abdominal apodemes, but are easily distinguishable by coloration. Male calling signals in different species of Idiocerus are distinctly different; in Populicerus, they are more similar, and in some species are almost indistinguishable. All species studied are reproductively isolated due to geographic allopatry, different host specialization, or, in case of overlapping ranges and the same host, due to differences in calling signal temporal patterns. Thus, some leafhopper taxa distinctly differ from each other only in coloration, but are different biological species in spite of similar shape of male genitalia, abdominal apodemes and, occasionally, even of male calling signal patterns. In leafhopper taxonomy, such cases should be taken into account when clarifying the status of dubious forms of species rank.
KEY WORDS: Homoptera, Cicadellidae, Idiocerini, Populicerus, Idiocerus, morphology, coloration, vibrational signals, diagnostic traits.