Taxonomy of Neotropical Derbidae in the new tribe Mysidiini (Homoptera) Peter S. Broomfield Department of Entomology, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Contents Synopsis Introduction Techniques Acknowledgements Derbinae 3 Key to tribes of Derbinae 4 Mysidiini trib. n Key to genera of Mysidiini Checklist of Mysidiini Mysidia Westwood Pseudomysidia Metcalf 77 Dysimia Muir 87 Dysimiella gen. n 96 Mysidaloides gen. n 98 Neomysidia gen. n 99 Ipsemysidia gen. n 100 Amysidiella gen. n 101 Paramysidia gen. n 103 Symidia Muir 108 References Ill Index 151 Synopsis The subfamily Derbinae is divided into two tribes, the Derbini and Mysidiini, the latter newly described. Six genera and 136 species are described as new, one subspecies is raised to specific status, four specific synonymies and four combinations are newly established, and one neotype and 17 lectotypes are designated. Keys to the tribes, 10 genera and 182 species are provided. Introduction The Derbidae is one of the largest and least-known families of the Fulgoroidea, with probably less than one-fifth of the species currently recognised. It is world-wide in distribution, and the majority of the genera and species are confined to the tropics. The biology of the Derbidae is little known. The adults are phloem feeders, occurring on a wide variety of trees and shrubs, in grass land, and occasionally on cultivated cereals. In the U.S.A., Dozier (1928) recorded them feeding on numerous species of deciduous trees, frequently in moist situations. In the New World tropics they often appear to be randomly scattered throughout primary and secondary forest, although individual species may occur in very large numbers in plantations. There is little information on their host specificity, and they are of no known major economic importance. The nymphal stages, which are almost completely unknown, are frequently associated with decaying vegetation, and are often numerous amongst the litter of the forest floor or in plantations and orchards. They have been found by the present author in old beetle galleries in rotten timber, which suggests that they feed on fungal exudates. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) 50 (1): 1-152 Issued 28 February 1985
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