Taxonomy and systematics of Delphacodes planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) of the New World

Graduate Research Assistant: Anthony Gonzon

The delphacid genus Delphacodes Fieber, 1866, as defined by recent workers consists of 10 species from the Palearctic region; however, there are about 160 species currently in this genus from the New World. These species are technically ‘incertae sedis’ until they can be properly assigned to valid generic constructs. The purpose of this project is to revise segregates of New World Delphacodes into existing or new genera. Recently, work has been completed and published on species allied with the genera Toya and Metadelphax. Funded through NSF DEB Revisionary Systematics proposal DEB-0743397.

A Generic Revision of the New World Dictyopharinae (Hemiptera: Dictyopharidae)

Graduate Research Assistant: Rick Donovall

The New World members of the Dictyopharinae include 172 species in 36 genera, distributed from southern Canada to south-central Chile and Argentina.  Emeljanov (1983) described tribes within the Dictyopharinae, but did not include 17 New World genera, leaving the higher taxonomy of half the New World genera undefined.  The purpose of this project is to provide identification keys and diagnoses for all New World genera of the subfamily Dictyopharinae, place all genera in existing or new tribes, and develop a checklist of world dictyopharid species.

Assessment of total Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera: Insecta) richness for the GSMNP and initiative to develop web-based resources.

The research is an extension of previous work on the planthoppers of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which are being investigated as part of the ongoing All Taxon Biological Inventory, sponsored by Discover Life In America and the National Park Service.  Previous work on planthoppers recognized 97 planthoppers species in the Park.  The current project broadens the scope of the previous work to include all Auchenorrhyncha, which are the planthoppers, leafhoppers, treehoppers, cicadas, and spittlebugs (froghoppers).   Published inventories for the GSMNP report 53 species of treehoppers, and unpublished records report 97 species of leafhoppers recorded from the ATBI malaise traps (Typhlocybinae excluded) including 38 species recorded in Park records.  This probably represents no more than half the Park leafhopper diversity.  The diversity of spittlebugs and cicadas has not been directly assessed, but there are likely no more than 12 cicada species, and 30 cercopid species.  The current initiative seeks to document all Auchenorrhyncha known from the Park so that gaps in our knowledge can be identified and a sampling plan developed to meet those gaps over the next few years.