Family Delphacidae

Subfamily Delphacinae

Tribe Delphacini

Distribution: Mostly a northern genus, widespread throughout the Holarctic region; some species circumboreal.  Two species are distributed into the New World tropics, one species from temperate South America.

Type species (in original combination): Liburnia foveata Van Duzee, 1897.

Recognized species

There are 17 species and two subspecies described species in this genus.  Some species of Nothodelphax are incompletely described and can be challenging to recognize. A revision of this genus is needed and some published distribution records require confirmation.

1 Nothodelphax albocarinatus (Stal, 1858) - Widespread, northern Europe, Asia, North America (USA: Alaska, Illinois, Kansas; Canada: Labrador, Manitoba, Nunavut, Yukon) (early European records of this species may be N. distincta)
2 Nothodelphax atlanticus (China, 1958) - Chile
   Nothodelphax atlanticus nigrescens Fennah, 1965 - Chile (Isla Wellington)
3 Nothodelphax consimilis (Van Duzee, 1897) - USA: Arizona, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon: Canada: Alberta, British Columbia
4 Nothodelphax distincta (Flor, 1861) - Northern and Central Europe
5 Nothodelphax eburneocarinatus (Anufriev, 1979) - USA: Alaska; Canada: Nunavut, Yukon; Mongolia; Russia inc. Yakut, Tuva (Magadan, Kamchatka Regions, and Primor’ye Territory).
6 Nothodelphax foveata (Van Duzee, 1897) - USA: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio; Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan; Mexico.
   Nothodelphax foveata subfoveata (Muir and Giffard, 1924) - Mexico
7 Nothodelphax gillettei (Van Duzee, 1897) - USA: California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming; Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan.
8 Nothodelphax glacia Wilson, 1992 - Canada: Manitoba, Yukon
9 Nothodelphax guentheri (Diabola, 1966) - Canada: Alberta?, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan?, Yukon?; Mongolia, Russia inc, Taymyr Autonomous District (Altay Territory)
10 Nothodelphax latifrons Emeljanov 1989 - Mongolia
11 Nothodelphax lineatipes (Van Duzee, 1897) - USA: Arizona, California, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington; Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan
12 Nothodelphax neocclusa (Muir and Giffard, 1924) - USA: California, Colorado; Canada: British Columbia,
13 Nothodelphax occlusa (Van Duzee, 1897) -USA: California, Colorado, Nevada; Canada: British Columbia; Mexico
14 Nothodelphax slossonae (Ball, 1903) - USA: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi; Canada: Ontario; Belize, Bermuda, Cuba, Puerto Rico

   = Liburnia breviceps (Dozier, 1922); syn. by Beamer 1946: 87.
15 Nothodelphax tshaunica (Anufriev, 1979) - Canada: Yukon; Russia (Chukchi Autonomous District, Magadan Region)
16 Nothodelphax umbrata Emeljanov, 1982 - Canada: Yukon; Mongolia, Russia (Magadan, Kamchatka Regions and Yakut Autonomous Republic)
17 Nothodelphax venusta (Beamer, 1948) - USA: Texas

Economic importance: Limited. While some species are common, none are reported from economic plants.

Host plants:

So far, all reported hosts are sedges.

Nothodelphax albocarinatus - Carex limosa L. (Mud sedge), Eriophorum sp.

Nothodelphax consimilis -Scirpus microcarpus J. Presl & C. Presl (panicled bulrush).

Nothodelphax distincta - Eriophorum vaginatum L. (tussock cottongrass; in bogs).

Nothodelphax slossonae - Eleocharis quadrangulata (Michx.) Roem. & Schult. (quarestem spikerush).

Plant names according to The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov).

Recognition

Species often sexually dimorphic with females paler than males.  Some species (e.g., N. consimilis) quite common in both long and short winged forms.  Males of some species uniformly dark (e.g., N. consimilis, N. lineatipes) others much paler (N. foveata).  Females can not usually be identified with certainty; males usually require dissection - the best recognition features require examination of the aedeagus.  Superficially, Nothodelphax is quite similar to Javesella, but differ most obviously in the genitalia, esp. the shape of the parameres.

Nothodelphax albocarinatus  (Thanks to Matt Bowser, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Soldotna, Alaska, for the opportunity to examine and photograph specimens of this species).

Nothodelphax consimilis - male

Nothodelphax consimilis - female

Nothodelphax foveata - male

Nothodelphax foveata - female

 

Nothodelphax gillettei

Nothodelphax lineatipes - male

Nothodelphax lineatipes - female

Nothodelphax occlusa - male

Nothodelphax occlusa - female

 

Nothodelphax slossonae - male

Nothodelphax venusta - male

Nothodelphax venusta - female

 

Molecular resources:

At this time, neither

Genbank has several genes available for Nothodelphax gillettei (here). Bold has barcode data available for Nothodelphax venusta (here).  Urban and colleagues (2010) extracted 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, wingless, and cytochrome oxidase I of Nothodelphax gillettei, N. lineatipes, N. neocclusa and N. slossonae in their analyses.

 

Selected References

Emeljanov, A. F. 1982. Fulgoroidea (Homoptera) collected in the Mongolian People's Republic by the entomofaunistical group of the Soviet Mongolian complex biological expedition in 1970-1975. Nasekomye Mongolii [Insects of Mongolia] 8: 69-122.

Emeljanov, A. F. 1989. New species of leafhoppers (Homoptera, Cicadellidae) from the Mongolian Peopl's Republic and adjacent regions of the USSR. Nasekomye Mongolii [Insects of Mongolia] 10: 118-125.

Hamilton, K.G.A. 2002. Homoptera (Insecta) in Pacific Northwest grasslands. Part 1 - New and revised taxa of leafhoppers and planthoppers (Cicadellidae and Delphacidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 99: 3-31. [Transferred Delphacodes venusta to Nothodelphax].

Fennah, R. G. 1963. New Genera of Delphacidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London (B) 32: 15-16.

Fennah, R. G. 1965. Fulgoroidea from Southern Chile (Hemiptera). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 17: 233-272.

Wilson, S. W. 1988. Delphacidae of Alaska (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs 12: 335-343.

Wilson, S. W. 1992. The Delphacidae of Yukon Territory, Canada (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Insecta Mundi 6(2): 79-100