Research Scientist Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The leafhopper genus Errastunus contains boldly marked, grass-feeding leafhoppers in the deltocephaline tribe Paralimnini. The taxonomy of the genus in the Nearctic region has long been confused, with one to three distinct species recognized by different authors. Some populations have also been suggested to be adventive from Europe. I reviewed the taxonomy of the genus in North America using both morphological and molecular data. This shows that there are two distinct species in North America which are readily distinguishable morphologically although there is evidence of mitochondrial introgression between the species. The distribution of the two species, based on historical material in collections, suggests that Errastunus sobrinus is native to North America, while E. ocellaris includes both native and adventive populations.
