Family Delphacidae

Subfamily Delphacinae

Tribe Delphacini

Note:  This genus placed in the subtribe Numatina by Emeljanov 1993.

Distribution: Two species are found in southern United States, and two from the Old World (Portugal, Spain, Palestine, Canary Islands)

Type species (in original combination):  Bostaera nasuta Ball, 1902

Recognized species

There are four recognized species in this genus:

Bostaera balli Penner, 1952 - USA: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina
Bostaera bolivari (Melichar, 1901) - Spain, Palestine, Portugal
Bostaera gomerense Carl, 1995 - Canary Islands
Bostaera nasuta Ball, 1902 USA: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, New Mexico, Texas (Eastern records of this species should be checked)

Hosts: None reported.

Economic Importance: Limited.

Recognition

The genus is distinctive and can be recognized among New World genera by the head broader than the pronotum, strongly flattened antennae, the frons widest near the top with the median carina forked low on the face.  The only North American genus that is somewhat similar is Stobaera, which shares flattened antennae and patterned wings. Also somewhat similar is the South American genus Neoperkinsiella.  The species are very similar externally, and differ only in that B. balli has fewer teeth on the aedeagus with the proximal teeth much larger than the distal.  Members of this genus are very similar to the genus Pseudaraeopus Kirkaldy, 1904.  One species of Pseudaraeopus was initially described in Bostaera (viz. P. frontalis (Lindberg, 1958)) and one member of Amblycotis (viz. A. horvathi (Muir, 1934)).

Bostaera balli

Bostaera nasuta - Male

Bostaera nasuta - Female

Molecular resources

At this time, neither Genbank nor BOLD provide sequence data for this genus. Bostaera nasuta was sequenced for 18S, 28S, CO1, WG in Urban et al. (2010).

Selected References

Ball, E. D. 1902a. New Genera and Species of North American Fulgoridae. Canadian Entomologist 34:259-266.

Carl, M. 1995. Zoogeographie der Zikadenfauna Gomeras (Kanarische Inseln) sowie Beschreibung von Bostaera gomerense sp.n. und Cyphopterum granreyi sp.n. (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha). Mitteilungen Muenchener Entomologischen Gesellschaft. 85(20): 57-71.

Emeljanov, A. F. 1993. A new genus of planthoppers of the family Delphacidae from Ethiopia (Homoptera, Cicadina). Zoosystematica Rossica 2(1): 93-96. [scan of poor copy]

Muir, F.A.G. 1925c. On the genus Amblycotis Stål and Bostaera Ball (Delphacidae, Homoptera). Canadian Entomologist 57: 279.

Penner, L. R. 1952. A new Bostaera from Florida (Homoptera-Delphacidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 25(1): 1-3