Family Delphacidae

Subfamily Delphacinae 

Tribe Saccharosydnini

Distribution: Widespread in New World tropics, with one species found well into the New World temperate region.  One species in Japan.

Type species (in original combination): Delphax saccharivora Westwood, 1833.

Recognized species

Saccharosydne brevirostris Muir, 1926 - Ecuador
Saccharosydne gracillis Muir, 1926 - Brazil
Saccharosydne ornatipennis Muir, 1926 - Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, St. Lucia

Saccharosydne procerus Matsumura, 1924 - Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku), China ("Manchuria"), Russia (Maritime Territory), Taiwan, Korea
Saccharosydne rostrifrons (Crawford, 1914) - Cuba, St. Lucia
Saccharosydne saccharivora (Westwood, 1833) - USA: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, ?Wisconsin; Bahamas (Great Abaco, Long, Mangrove Cay, New Providence); Barbados, Bermuda, Columbia, Cuba, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Venezuela.

Saccharosydne subandina Remes Lenicov and Rossi Batiz, 2010 - Argentina
Saccharosydne viridis Muir, 1926 - Guyana (as British Guiana)

Hosts:

Saccharosydne procerus Matsumura, 1924 - Zizania aquatica L. (annual wildrice), Zizania caduciflora (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz., Zizania latifolia (Griseb.) Turcz. ex Stapf

Saccharosydne viridis Muir, 1926 - Oryza sativa L. (Rice)
Saccharosydne saccharivora (Westwood, 1833) -  Andropogon bicornis L. (barbas de indio), Andropogon glomeratus (Walter) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.(bushy bluestem), Saccharum officinarum L. (Sugarcane); Sorghum sudanense (Piper) Stapf (Sudangrass)
Saccharosydne ornatipennis Muir, 1926 - Paspalum intermedium Munro ex Morong (intermediate paspalum)
Saccharosydne rostrifrons (Crawford, 1914) - Paspalum virgatum L. (talquezal)

Economic Importance:

Saccharosydne saccharivora has long been known as a pest on sugarcane (described as such by Westwood 1833, see e.g., CIE 1956).  It is certain that the current distribution of this species has much to do with the current and historic cultivation of sugarcane. Recently, Arocha et al. (2005) reported sugarcane yellow leaf phytoplasma vectored by Saccharosydne saccharivora.  This is a highly unusual finding as it represents the first delphacid phytoplama vector (all other delphacids are virus vectors).  This finding has generated interest in research on the biology and taxonomy of saccharosydnine delphacids.  Currently, Ana Maria Marino de Remes Lenicov and students are examining the taxonomy and biology of saccharosydnine planthoppers in Argentina (as, I am sure, are Arocha and colleagues in Cuba).

Aside for S. saccharivora, the species in this tribe are quire poorly known, but the possibility of other taxa in this tribe being vectors of phytoplamas or viruses needs to be carefully examined.  Several economic plants are reported as hosts for Saccharosydne species, but other than sugarcane, there impact is unclear.

Recognition

Very fragile, head narrow with respect to thorax, with narrowed frons, slightly to decidedly projected beyond eye; antennae short relative to Neomalaxa; greenish in life, often yellowed in museum specimens. 

There are evidently a number of undescribed species.  Several of the described species are incompletely characterized, so it is often difficult to clearly diagnose described species.  Saccharosydne ornatipennis is the only described Saccharosydne with distinct wing markings; but it is possible - or probable - that there are undescribed species with such markings (for example, I'm not positive this is S. ornatipennis or undescribed) (from Venezuela; thanks Marco Gaiani)

Saccharosydne saccharivora  (photos from Florida and North Carolina specimens).

Saccharosydne near brevirostris (from Mexico)

Saccharosydne near ornatipennis (Argentina)

Molecular resources

There are two species of Saccharsydne (four genes, from Urban et al. 2010) on Genbank (here) There are no data on this genus on BOLD. 

Selected references

Arocha, Y., M. Lopez, M. Fernandez, B. Pinol, D. Horta, E.L. Peralta, R. Almeida, O. Carvajal, S. Picornell, M.R. Wilson, and P. Jones. 2005. Transmission of a sugarcane yellow leaf phytoplasma by the delphacid planthopper Saccharosydne saccharivora, a new vector of sugarcane yellow leaf syndrome. Plant Pathology 54(5): 634-642.

Batiz, M.F.R. and A.M.M.D. Lenicov. 2009. First record of the genus Saccharosydne Kirkaldy 1907 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Delphacidae) in Argentina. Interciencia 34(2): 127-129.

Chen, J. 1994. A prelimiary [sic] study on the biological character and control techniques of green slender planthopper Saccharosydne procerus (Matsumura). Journal of Huazhong Agricultural University 13(1): 40-45.

Commonwealth Institute of Entomology. 1956. Saccharosydne saccharivora (Westw.). Distribution Maps of Insect Pests, London. Map. No. 62.

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.

Guagliumi. P. 1953. El saltahoja de la caña de azucar Saccharosydne saccharivora Westw. y la fumagina en Venezuela. Ministerio de Agricultura y Cría. Instituto Nacional de Agricultura. Venezuela. Boletín Técnico number 7: 1-82. number 7: 1-82.

Metcalfe, J. R. 1969. Studies on the biology of the sugar cane pest Saccharosydne saccharivora (Westw.) (Hom.: Delphacidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 59: 393-408.

Muir, F.A.G. 1926b. Contributions to our knowledge of South American Fulgoroidea (Homoptera). Part I. The Family Delphacidae. Experiment Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association, Entomological Series, Bulletin 18:1-51, plates 1-5.

Remes-Lenicov, A.M.M. de and M.F. Rossi-Batiz. 2010. A new species of Saccharosydne Kirkaldy from Argentina (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). Neotropical Entomology 39(4): 584-589.

Rossi-Batiz, M.F. and A.M.M. de Remes-Lenicov. 2009. First record of the genus Saccharosydne Kirkaldy 1907 (Hemiptera - Fulgoromorpha - Delphacidae) in Argentina. Interciencia - Journal of Science and Technology of the Americas, Venezuela 34 (2): 127-129.

Westwood, J.O. 1833. Additional observations upon the insect which infests the sugar canes in Grenada. The Magazine of Natural History [and Journal of Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, and Meteorology] 6:409-413, fig. 54.

Yu, X.-p. 2001. Role of Saccharosydne procerus on Zizania caducifloras as an alternate host for Anagrus nilaparvatae, the egg parasitoid of the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, which attacks temperate rice. In: T.W. Mew, E. Borromeo, and B. Hardy, (eds.). Exploiting Biodiversity for Sustainable Pest Management: Proceedings, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. Pp. 15-22.

Zhang, F-m. 1983. A preliminary report on the study of Saccharosydne procerus (Matsumura). Entomological Knowledge 20(2): 56-58.