Overview
- The insects belong to the genus Batracomorphus and represent the first new African records of the group since 1981.
- All specimens were collected using light traps in high-elevation rainforest above 1,500 meters within Kibale National Park.
- Because external features are nearly identical across species, identification relied on the lock‑and‑key fit of male and female genitalia that prevents hybridization.
- One species was named Batracomorphus ruthae to honor entomologist Alvin Helden’s late mother.
- Before this work, 375 Batracomorphus species were known worldwide, and the study highlights leafhoppers’ ecological roles as herbivores and prey, with some species known as crop pests.