| Comment: G. gothica and G. hieroglyphica are somewhat of a taxonomic mess and can be quite confusing: while many experts treat these two species as belonging in Graphocephala, some place them in the genus Neokolla. Both species were initially described as Tettigonia gothica and T. hieroglyphica. When they were elevated to Neokolla, both were synonymized under Neokolla hieroglyphica (in particular, T. gothica was N. h. atra and T. hieroglyphica was N. h. hieroglyphica). Young (1977), who revised Cicadellini comprehensively, treated Neokolla as a junior synonym of Graphocephala, something that has been followed by other leafhopper workers. Neokolla was later resurrected in a paper based on an interpretation of Say’s original description of the type species of Neokolla (hieroglyphica Say) that was contrary to those of prior authors (plus, Say’s description could apply to either hieroglyphica or gothica, as evident by both being placed under the same species within Neokolla). Neokolla species in general are quite variable in coloration, with some of these colors getting named forms, which some have then elevated to species status. As a result of this taxonomic disagreement, Graphocephala gothica is what some are currently calling Neokolla hieroglyphica, and Graphocephala hieroglyphica appears to be what some are calling Neokolla uhleri (though uhleri, considered for some time as a variety of hieroglyphica, was depicted in older literature as having quite different head markings, see: Ball 1901). To further add complication to this situation, gothica is also considered by some authorities to belong in Amphigonalia, also following Young; therefore, gothica is being designated on this site as belonging to both Graphocephala and Amphigonalia in order to simplify some of the complexities. As you can see this taxonomic reshuffling has resulted in quite a bit of confusion and complexity.
Old collection records from North Carolina are labeled G. hieroglyphica, but a couple from the same regions/locales where these were collected were initially labeled gothica before being switched to hieroglyphica. (Delong 1960) noted that all eastern specimens previously labeled hieroglyphica actually belong to gothica. It is possible that some specimens could have been misidentified/mislabeled and actually represent G. hieroglyphica (though unlikely), but for now all these collection records have been left on this page as representing gothica.
For more images of this species, see BG, though only focus on individuals reported from the East and note that the species is placed within Neokolla there. |
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