Family Delphacidae Leech 1815

Subfamily Asiracinae Fieber, 1872 

Tribe Asiracini Fieber, 1872

Asiraca Latreille, 1796: 202.

Distribution: Palearctic (see below)

Type species (in original combination): Cicada clavicornis Fabricius, 1794.

Generic synonyms

   Manchookhonia Kato, 1933 (Type species Manchookhonia granulipennis Kato, 1933); Synonomy by Asche 1985: 116.

   Boresinia Chou in Chou et al. 1983: 60, 66; replacement name for Manchookhonia Kato [in Lophopidae]; Synonymy By Liang, 1998: 188.

Recognized species

There are five species and one subspecies currently placed in this genus.

Asiraca choui (Yuan & Wang, 1992) - China (Shaanxi)

Asiraca clavicornis (Fabricius, 1794: 41) - Widespread in Europe, Russia, North Africa, Middle East, Asia

  = Cimex aequinoctialis Scopoli, 1763; suppressed by ICZN, 1999: 211 (opinion 1935).
Asiraca clavicornis divisa Rey, 1891: 243 - Germany, France
Asiraca germari Metcalf, 1943: 29 - Brazil

  = Asiraca longicornis Germar 1830: 56 (nec Latreille 1802); replacement name by Metcalf 1943.
Asiraca granulipennis (Kato, 1933) - China (Jinlin, Manchurua), south Korea

Asiraca longicornis Latreille 1802: 260 - not specified

Note - Asiraca germari is unlikely to belong to this genus. It is more likely to belong to Copicerus, although this would be difficult to confirm because the type material may be lost.

Hosts:

Asiraca clavicornis is polyphagous on dicots

Economic Importance:

Limited, although Asiraca clavicornis has been intercepted at US ports.

Recognition

The genus Asiraca is highly distinctive, although possibly mistaken for the New World genus Copicerus.

Asiraca clavicornis has expanded femora and tibiae of the front legs, long, flattened antennae, and the spur on the hind leg does not have teeth.

Websites

Asiraca is here on Discover Life, and here on British Bugs.

Molecular resources

On Genbank there are data for Asiraca clavicornis. There are no data for this genus on BOLD. 

Selected references

Chou, I., H-f. Chao and S-n. Chiang. 1983. Modification of insect scientific names connected with 'Manchukuo'. Entomotaxonomia 5(1): 60-66.

Dolling, W. R. 1996. The identity of Cimex aequinoctialis Scopoli (Hem., Delphacidae). Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 132(1580-83): 49-50.

Fabricius, J. C. 1794. Ryngota. In: Entomologia systematica emendata et aucta: secundun classes, ordines, genera, species, adjectis synonimis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus. Impensis Christ. Gottl. Proft, Hafniae [Copenhagen, Denmark]. 4:1-472.

Fieber, F. X. 1872a. Katalog der europäischen Cicadinen, nach Originalien mit Benützung der neuesten Literatur. Carl Gerold's Sohn, Wein [Vienna, Austria]. Pp.: i-iv, 1-19.

Germar, E. F. 1830. Species Cicadarium enumeratae et sub genera distributae. Thon's Entomologisches Archiv 2 (2):1-8 [i.e. 37-44], 45-57.

ICZN. 1999. Opinion 1935. Cicada clavicornis Fabricius, 1794 (currently Asiraca clavicornis; Insecta, Homoptera): specific name conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 56(3): 211-212.

Kato, M. 1933. Notes on some Manchurian Homoptera, collected by Mr. K. Kikuchi. The Entomological World. Organ of the Insect Lover's Association 1: 2-12.

Latreille P. A. 1796. Classe troisième Hémiptères. p. 89-92. In: Latreille P. A. 1796. Précis des caractères génériques des insectes, disposés dans un ordre naturel. Prèvôt, Paris.

Latreille, P. A. 1802b. Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des Crustacés et des Insectes: ouvrage faisant suite aux oeuvres de Leclerc de Buffon, et partie du cours complet d'histoire naturelle rédigé par C. S. Sonnini, membre de plusieursSociétés savantes. F. Dufart . Paris. 2:5-380.

Liang, A.-P. 1998. On the Eurasian planthopper genus Asiraca Latreille (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoromorpha: Delphacidae). Reichenbachia 32: 187-196.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1943. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 3, Araeopidae (Delphacidae). Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts.

Rey, C. 1891. Observations sur quelques Hémiptères-Homoptères et descriptions d'espèces nouvelles ou peu connues. Revue d'Entomologie 10: 240-256.

Scopoli, J. A. 1763. Entomologia Carniolica exhibens insecta Carnioliae indigena et distributa in ordines, genera, species, varietates : methodo Linnaeana. 420 pp. [132] Ioannis Thomae Trattner, Wien (Vienna, Austria).

Wilson, M.R. and M. Asche. 1998.Cicada clavicornis Fabricius, 1794. currently Asiraca clavicornis; Insecta, Homoptera. proposed conservation of the specific name. Case 3040. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 55(2) 93-95.

Yuan, F. and Y. Wang. 1992. A new species of Boresinia Chou (Homoptera: Lophopidae) from China. Entomotaxonomia 14(3): 179-182.