3.1. Distribution pattern of different leafhopper species in
different agro-climatic zones of Himachal Pradesh
A total of 85 species of leafhoppers (Plate 5; Plate 6; Plate 7; Plate
8; Plate 9; Plate 10 and Plate 11) belonging to 61 genera of 12
subfamilies were recorded from four agro climatic zones of Himachal
Pradesh and the diversity varied with different elevation ranges (Table
3; Fig II). Mid hills zone II was most diverse with recorded 66
leafhopper species followed by High hills wet temperate zone III (49),
while, Sub-mountain low hills zone I and High hills dry temperate zone
IV were comparatively less diverse with 35 and 39 number of species,
respectively (Table 6). Among the collected 85 leafhopper species, 4
species namely Gurawa monorcephala Pruthi (Plate 5c),Olidiana kirkaldyi (Walker) (Plate 6b), Leofa(Prasutagus ) pulchellus Distant (Plate 6d) andParalimnellus cingulatus (Dlabola) (Plate 8f) were recorded for
the first time from Himachal Pradesh and 1 speciesPseudosubhimalus sp. Nov. (Plate 8j) might be the new species
from India as to be supported by molecular studies (Fig II).
Both the qualitative and quantitative results obtained from this study
indicate that marked difference existed in the leafhopper distribution
with respect to altitude. The species composition, stratification,
structural attributes such as density and abundance were found to differ
between these altitudinal zones. Some leafhopper species displayed a
high grade of morphological variation due to altitude and exposure.
Leafhopper species (Plate 5; Plate 6; Plate 7; Plate 8; Plate 9; Plate
10 and Plate 11) with habitus darkly stained with evident colourfully
patterned forms with higher intensity of red, orange, brown, black and
bright tones of reddish yellow, recurred in the mid hills zone II and
high hills wet temperate zone III as in case of Atkinsoniella
anabella Young (reddish black) (Plate 5h), Chudania axona Zhang
and Yang (white with black pattern) (Plate 11h); Sohipona sohiiGhauri & Viraktamath (white with orange pattern); Nephotettix
nigropictus (Stål) (green with black pattern); Changwhania sp.
(blackish orange) (Plate 7k) etc. While those recorded in low hills zone
I and high hills dry temperate zone IV were mostly black, grey, light
green and paler in colour. It was recorded in our study, that few
leafhoppers species recorded were distributed only in a particular
altitude thereby indicating their certain kind of slight preference and
speciation towards that particular habitat (Table 4; Fig. II). A total
of 17 leafhopper species (Plate 5; Plate 6; Plate 7; Plate 8; Plate 9;
Plate 10 and Plate 11) were commonly recorded in all the four
agro-climatic zones of Himachal Pradesh (Table 5) thus, depicting the
distribution of these species on wide range of crops preferably feeding
on common grasses and weeds.