Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 July 2009
The taro-feeding delphacid genus Tarophagus is revised. Three species are recognized: T. colocasiae (Matsumura) stat. rev. & comb. n. with which T. proserpina taiwanensis Wilson is synonymized; T. persephone (Kirkaldy) with which T. proserpinoides (Muir) and T. proserpina australis Fennah are synonymized; and T. prosperpina (Kirkaldy). The three species are separated by characters of the male and female genitalia, and each has a different distribution in Asia and the Pacific. Only in Papua New Guinea are all three species sympatric. Earlier studies on biology and pest status are reviewed in the light of these investigations.