Family Delphacidae

Subfamily Asiracinae

Tribe Tetrasteirini Emeljanov 1996

 

Features of the tribe were described by Emeljanov (1996):

"This tribe is characterized by a short, narrow corypha, extended, fairly narrow metopa with simple median carina, absence of areolet, small flattened antennae, presence of 4 evenly arcuate mesonotal carinae, oblique row of teeth at the tip of the second segment of the hindtarsi, and notch on the posterior margin on the hindwings opposite the tip of CuP." (p. 139-140).

This tribe is probably closely related to the Platysystatini. Members are quite small (less than 3 mm) and uncommon in most collections.  They are separated from the similar Platysystatini and Neopunanini by having 4 (not 5) carinae on the mesonotum and the fastigium in not carinate.  The vertex, while wider than long, is much longer than seen in Platysystatini.

There is a single genus in this tribe:

Tetrasteira Muir, 1926

Distribution: southern Central and South America (tropical regions).

Type species: Tetrasteira minuta Muir 1926.

Recognized species

There are 5 described species in this genus

Tetrasteira albitarsis Fennah, 1945 - Trinidad

Tetrasteira minuta Muir, 1926 - Brazil

Tetrasteira solata Barringer & Bartlett 2011 - Panama, ? Venezuela,

Tetrasteira trimaculata Barringer & Bartlett 2011 - Belize, Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Panama

Tetrasteira vulgaris Barringer & Bartlett 2011 - Ecuador

Also, an undescribed species from Peru.

Hosts: None reported (Tetrasteira is very common in canopy fogging samples from Ecuador).

Economic Importance: Limited.

Recognition:

All described species are very small and dark colored; similar to the 3 genera of Platysystatini except that the head is much narrower than the pronotum; intermediate carinae of mesonotum diverging (uniformly arched or straight, not sinuate), median mesonotal carina absent; antennae terete, fastigium without transverse carina, lateral margins of frons weakly rounded.

Tetrasteira albitarsis

Tetrasteira minuta holotype

.

Tetrasteira solata

 

Tetrasteira trimaculata

 

Tetrasteira vulgaris

 

Molecular resources: This genus is not present on Genbank; but 3 "Tetrasteira sp." (likely trimaculata) present on BOLD.

 

Selected references:

Barringer, L.E. And C.R. Bartlett. 2011. A review of New World Asiracinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Delphacidae) with five new taxa. Cicadina 12: 7-39.

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 (Translation of Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 1995 74: 780-794).

Fennah, R.G. 1945. New Lanternflies (Fulgoroidea) From South America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 96(3189): 95-106.

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.