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Cicadellinae is a relatively large subfamily of leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) with a cosmopolitan distribution with most genera known to occur in the Neotropics. Mexico houses nearly 16% of the total genera and most are endemic, inhabiting threatened native forests. Here, a new unusual Mexican genus, Christopherus gen. nov., is described to accommodate a new species of Cicadellini, C. mictlantecuhtli sp. nov., collected in the endangered Cloud Forest of Sierra Juárez, Oaxaca State of Mexico, based on dry-pinned museum specimen data. The new taxa can be separated from other Neotropical Cicadellini genera easily using male genitalia features: (i) pygofer without processes, (ii) segment 10th without processes, (iii) paraphysis absent, and (iv) edeagus with single basal atrial process elongate and asymmetrical. The monotypic genus Gillonella with its type species, G. ampulla Nielson & Godoy, 1995, are redescribed. A detailed extensive morphological description and discussion to distinguish the new genus from allied red-striped Neotropical genera in Mexico, Central America, and South America are given. Distributional data for new taxa within Mexican forests is also provided.
The remarkable sharpshooter Prodigiella silvanoi gen. et sp. nov. is described and illustrated (including the external form, color, male and female terminalia) from the Atlantic Forest of southern and southeastern Brazil (states of Paraná and Rio de Janeiro). The new genus can be distinguished from other Neotropical genera of the Cicadellini by a combination of various morphological features, including an asymmetrical aedeagus with a bifid shaft and peculiar basal and apical processes and ovipositor valvula II distinctly expanded beyond basal curvature, its dorsal margin with 35–40 teeth, and ventral margin without preapical prominence. A discussion comparing Prodigiella with superficially similar taxa of the genera Macugonalia Young, 1977, Ruppeliana Young, 1977, and Versigonalia Young, 1977 is provided. The discovery of this peculiar new genus indicates that much collecting work in the remaining parts of the Atlantic Forest is clearly and urgently needed.