Family Delphacidae

Subfamily Delphacinae

Tribe Delphacini

Distribution: Russia, Guatemala, USA: California (see below).

Type species: Kormus artemisiae Fieber, 1866

Recognized species

Only three species are in this genus, as follows:

Kormus apicimaculatusa (Fowler, 1905) - Guatemala.
Kormus artemisiae Fieber, 1866 - Russia, Caucasus, Kazakhstan.
Kormus californicus Crawford, 1914 - USA: California.

Recorded Hosts:

Kormus artemisiae is reported from Limonium gmelini (a Sea Lavender; Plumbaginaceae, leadwort family) (Wilson et al. 2004).

Economic Importance: Limited. The New World Kormus species are known only from the type material.

Recognition

Until a male is found of Kormus californicus, we will remain unsure of the proper placement of this species. I have not seen the type specimen of Kormus apicimaculatusa (the only known specimen of that species).  Kormus artemisiae has limited similarities to Kormus californicus and it is quite unlikely that they are correctly placed in the same genus.

Kormus artemisiae  - male (thanks to Alexandr Emeljanov for the photographed specimens).

Kormus artemisiae - female

Kormus californicus (holotype) - This is the only known specimen of this species (a female).  Thanks to Norm Penny, California Academy of Sciences Natural History Museum for the photos.

Molecular resources: none.

Select references

Crawford, D. L. 1914a. A contribution toward a monograph of the homopterous insects of the family Delphacidae of North and South America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 46:557-640, plus 6 plates.

Fieber, F. X. 1866b. Grundzüge zur generischen Theilung der Delphacini. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologish-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 16: 517-534.

Fowler, W. E. 1905. Order Rhynchota. Suborder Hemiptera-Homoptera (Continued). Biologia Centrali-Americana; or contributions to the knowledge of the fauna and flora of Mexico and Central America 1: 125-139

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.

Wilson, S.W., C. Mitter, R.F. Denno, and M.R. Wilson. 1994. Evolutionary patterns of host plant use by delphacid planthoppers and their relatives. In: R.F. Denno and T.J. Perfect, (eds.). Planthoppers: Their Ecology and Management. Chapman and Hall, New York. Pp. 7-45 & Appendix [host references in appendix].