Elginus saltus
Creators: name: Stiller, M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cicadellidae
Elginus
Elginus saltus

description: Elginus saltus (Naudé)   
(Figs 29, 30, 70, 97, 149, 225, 252, 269)  
 Deltocephalus saltus Naudé 1926, 52, holotype female [Viljoen’s Pass, (34°05'S 19°04'E), 12.i.1923 F.W. Petty] (USIC). Elginus saltus (Naudé); Theron, 1975, 204.   
 Diagnosis. Style apophysis smooth. Aedeagal shaft short.   
 Colour. Male & female. Vertex with apical paired, wedge-shaped marking. Some specimens with overall darker colour (Figs 29, 30).   
 Dimensions. Male (n = 54). Lengths: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 3.3–3.5 mm, apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 2.8–3.1 mm; vertex medially 0.4–0.5 mm; vertex laterally next to eye 0.3–0.4 mm; pronotum medially 0.4 mm; scutellum medially 0.3–0.4 mm. Maximum widths: head 1.0 mm; pronotum 0.8–0.9 mm; scutellum 0.5 mm. Ocellus: diameter 26–32 µm; ocellocular distance 43–61 µm.   
 Abdominal apodemes. Male. Fig. 269.   
 Genital capsule. Male. Aedeagal shaft tubular, tapering apicad; short, 1.4 times as long as dorsal apodeme; slender, curved anteriorly, apex curved slightly to right, sometimes left (Figs 70, 97); gonopore posterior. Plate apex rounded; 4–7 uniseriate macrosetae. Pygofer lobe bluntly pointed. Style apophysis smooth, slightly curved; almost reaching apex of plate; apophysis 1.1 times as long as anterior lateral lobe (Fig. 225).   
 Dimensions. Female (n = 34). Lengths: apex of vertex to apex of tegmina 3.2–3.6 mm, apex of vertex to apex of abdomen 3.2–3.5 mm; vertex medially 0.5–0.6 mm; vertex laterally next to eye 0.3–0.4 mm; pronotum medially 0.4 mm; scutellum medially 0.3–0.4 mm. Maximum widths: head 1.0– 1.1 mm; pronotum 0.8–0.9 mm; scutellum 0.5 mm. Ocellus: diameter 25–34 µm; ocellocular distance 47–60 µm.   
 Genital capsule. Female. Sternite VII with apical margin broadly rounded with small variable notch (Fig. 252). Third valvula with apical setation variable, allotype female (Villiersdorp) with one seta (25.5 µm), Bokfontein specimen with 1–2 setae (19.2–27.5 µm long), Stellenbosch specimen with three setae (24.5–27.5 µm long), about 10 proximal, shorter setae (13.7 µm). Second valvula with fine irregular serrations.   
 Holotype female (Not examined). South Africa, Western Cape. 1♀, Viljoen’s Pass, (34°05ʹS 19°04ʹE), 12.i.1923 F.W. Petty (USIC). Allotype females (examined). 2♀. ibid .   
 Additional Material Examined. South Africa, Gauteng. 1♂, Ezemvelo, 25°42ʹS 28°55ʹE, 1402 m, 14.xii.2005, M. Stiller, sweeping Xerophyta retinervis (Velloziaceae) regrowth after fire. Western Cape. 2♂, 1♀, Ceres, 33°22ʹS 19°18ʹE, 3.ii.1921, 21.iii.1921, R.E. Turner; 1♂, 3♀, Ceres, 33°22ʹS 19°18ʹE, 15.i.1925, 15.iii.1925, R.E. Turner; 6♂, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, 33°58ʹS 18°55ʹE, 18.xii.1967, 28.x.1968, 26.iv.1969, 15.iv.1970, 15.iv.1971, 29.xi.1971; 1♀, Franschhoek Pass, 33°56ʹS 19°09ʹE, 6.i.1971; 1♀, Oudekraal, 33°59ʹS 18°22ʹE, 21.xi.1974; 1♂, Viljoen’s Pass, 34°05ʹS 19°04ʹE, 5.xii.1974, 11♂, 6♀, Ceres Slagboom, 33°14ʹS 19°16ʹE 8.v.1975; 13♂, 4♀, Hermanus, 34°25ʹS 19°15ʹE, 9.xii.1977; 3♂, Stellenbosch, 33°56ʹS 18°51ʹE, 12.x.1978; 3♂, Rawsonville, 33°41ʹS 19°19ʹE, 13.i.1979; 1♂, Stellenbosch, 33°56ʹS 18°51ʹE, 18.iii.1981; 3♂, 5♀, Villiersdorp, 33°58ʹS 19°17ʹE, 28.x.1981; 8♂, Franschhoek Pass, 33°56ʹS 19°09ʹE, 16.i.1985; 1♀, Stellenbosch, 33°56ʹS 18°51ʹE, 20.ii.1985; 1♂, Bainskloof, 33°40ʹS 19°10ʹE, 8.iii.1985; 28♂, 7♀, Bokfontein 32°25ʹS 19°15ʹE, 8.iii.1985; all J.G. Theron; 7♂, 6♀, Slagboom Farm Agter Witsenberg, 33°14ʹS 19°16ʹE, 882 m, 13.xii.2004, DVac wetland grass and sedges (Merxmuellera stricta); 11♂, 8♀, Theewaterskloof Dam, 33°59ʹS 19°11ʹE, 327 m, 16.xii.2004, DVac M. stricta, wetland at edge of dam, mountain fynbos; 13♂, 3♀, ibid. above, but DVac Cannomias sp. (Restionaceae), and sedges in fynbos wetland; all M. Stiller (AMNH, BMNH, SANC, USIC).   
 Remarks. Known mainly from the Fynbos Biome and has a similar distribution to that of E. bispinus and E. theroni. However, the single record from Gauteng could suggest an expanded range. A similar situation occurred with E. theroni that is also considered a Fynbos endemic, with a single record from Gauteng Province. It is impossible that either of these specimens remained in a vial after a collecting trip to the Western Cape. Elginus saltus and E. theroni are readily separated by features of male and female genitalia. All other species have the apophysis of the style serrate or denticulate, except E. levilobus that is the most closely related species. Elginus levilobus has a limited distribution in the Grassland Biome, near Heidelberg, west of Pretoria and Deneysville in Gauteng and Strydpoortberg in Limpopo Provinces.
description: Published as part of Stiller, M., 2009, Revision of Elginus Theron (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) with the description of two new genera and comments on the grassland leafhopper fauna in South Africa, pp. 1-56 in Zootaxa 2135 (1) on pages 23-24, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2135.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5321522