Family Delphacidae

Subfamily Asiracinae 

Tribe Neopunanini

Distribution: Caribbean islands.

Type species (in original combination): Neopunana saba Asche, 1983.

Recognized species

There are eight recognized species currently placed in this genus.

Neopunana alapa (Caldwell, 1951) (in Caldwell and Martorell, 1951) - Puerto Rico
Neopunana caribbensis (Caldwell, 1951) (in Caldwell and Martorell, 1951) - Puerto Rico (Vieques Is.), Virgin Islands (Guana, St. Thomas)
Neopunana dolon (Fennah, 1959) - Montserrat, St. Kitts,
Neopunana dominicana (Fennah, 1959) - Dominica
Neopunana puertoricensis (Muir, 1918) - Puerto Rico
Neopunana robusta (Caldwell, 1951) (in Caldwell and Martorell, 1951) - Puerto Rico
Neopunana saba Asche, 1983 - Saba
Neopunana vulgaris (Caldwell, 1951) (in Caldwell and Martorell, 1951) - Puerto Rico

There are several undescribed species in this genus.

Reported Hosts: Apparently none.  Members of this genus can be taken by beating woody vegetation.

Economic Importance: Limited. 

Recognition

This genus erected by Asche (1983), who described the type species and separated the New World genus Neopunana from the old world genus Punana Muir, 1913. Most species are included in the key to species of Puerto Rico by Caldwell and Martorell (1951).

Unsusual and distinctive.  Flattened, with a rounded frons, short and wide head, and 5 carinae on the mesonotum.   The median carina of the frons tends to be obscure (a feature used by Emeljanov, 1996, in the tribal description).  Different species tend to have distinctive dark patterning on the body and forewings, but variation among species is not known for most taxa, so male genitalic features (the aedeagus and features of segment 10) are best used for species confirmation.  Genitalia may need staining to reveal features. 

Neopunana caribbensis

.Neopunana saba

Molecular resources:

At this time, neither Genbank or Bold have any molecular resources for this genus; however, Urban et al. (2010) sequence 4 genetic loci (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, wingless, and cytochrome oxidase I) for Neopunana caribbensis.

Selected references

Asche, M. 1983. Aufgliederung der Asiracinen-Gattung Punana Muir, 1913: Equasystatus gen. nov. aus Equador und Neopunana gen. nov. von den Karibischen Inseln (Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha Fulgoromorpha Delphacidae). Marburger Entomologische Publikationen 1(8): 127-166.

Caldwell, J. S. and L. F. Martorell. 1951 [dated1950]. Review of the Auchenorynchous [sic] Homoptera of Puerto Rico. Part II. The Fulgoroidea except Kinnaridae. Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico 34(2): 133-269.

Emeljanov, A. F. 1996. On the question of the classification and phylogeny of the Delphacidae (Homoptera, Cicadina), with reference to larval characters. Entomological Review 75(9): 134-150. [the PDF is really bad, but it is all I have]]

Fennah, R. G. 1959. Delphacidae from the Lesser Antilles (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 8: 245-265.