The insect fauna of the Galapagos islands is meagre but special. Comparatively few insect taxa have reached Galapagos but they have often radiated in its unique circumstances of volcanic origin, isolation and climate to produce endemic taxa. The planthopper genus Philatis (family Issidae) is an example of an endemic radiation, with 19 species described - mostly as single island endemics. Morphologically they are externally similar, but exhibit some variation between apparent species. Internally the male and female genitalia are very similar and do not immediately offer characters to distinquish species. Multivariate ordination techniques (PCA & Canonical Variates Analysis) were used (Rowson 2001- MSc thesis) to define and test species. Most of the species appear to be 'good' but morphology suggests that at least two species could be synonymised but a further 7 species could be described. Further work based on analysis of courtship songs is planned and specimens have been sampled for DNA extraction and molecular analysis.
Species 1: Homoptera Issidae Philatis
Keywords: taxonomy, Galapagos
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