Genus Ledromorpha Stål

Genus Ledromorpha Stål 1864: 68
Type species: Fulgora planirostris Donovan 1805: pl.1, designated by Evans 1947d: 130

Known species:Ledromorpha planirostris (Donovan) is the only described species. It is found in Qld, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania on the trunk or under the bark of eucalyptus trees (Myrtaceae).

Comments: This is the world's largest leafhopper varying in length from 21 to 28mm. All specimens known in collections are females and no male ever seems to have been collected despite the fact that the species is not uncommon. This tends to indicate that the species may be parthenogenetic. However, in addition to briefly describing the species, Donovan (1805), provided an illustration (see image above right). The illustration shows an insect with its wings expanded into a flying position, thereby exposing a dorsal view of the abdomen, and it is clearly of a male since the abdomen of the female is greatly elongated by the large ovipositor (see image at right). Investigation into Donovan's techniques by other workers (Max Day, Ted Edwards, pers. comm. 2000) has revealed that Donovan prepared many of his illustrations at home from notes taken while visiting collections. It would appear, therefore, that in deciding to show the insect with its wings expanded, Donovan created a male abdomen without realising his mistake. The discovery of the female holotype of L. planirostris in MAMU was announced by Fletcher et al. (2003).

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