Family Caliscelidae

Subfamily Caliscelinae

Tribe Caliscelini Amyot et Serville, 1843

Genus Aphelonema Uhler, 1876.

Type species: Aphelonema simplex Uhler, 1876.

Synonyms:

   = Peltonotus Mulsant & Rey 1855 (preoccupied; nec. Burmeister 1847) (Type species Peltonotus raniformis Mulsant & Rey 1855).
   = Peltonotellus Puton 1886; replacement name for unavailable Peltonotus Mulsant & Rey 1855 (nec. Burmeister 1847); syn. by Melichar 1906: 36, 53; removed from syn. and redefined (subgenus) by Emeljanov 1996: 994.
   = Mushya Kato, 1933; syn. by Chan & Yang 1994: 8.

Distribution: Widespread in US, Canada, Central America and Palearctic.

Recognized species

By my count, 32 valid species, plus subspecies as follows:

Notes: Emeljanov (1996) revised the taxonomy of the subgenera; distribution information for Palearctic species is incomplete (based largely on Metcalf 1958).

Subgenus Aphelonema Uhler, 1876
1 Aphelonema decorata (Van Duzee, 1908) - USA: MS, NJ, SC, FL
2 Aphelonema simplex Uhler, 1876 - USA: AL, CO, CT, DE, FL, IA, IL, KS, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, OH, SD, TX, VA; CAN: MB, ON, SK
      = Aphelonema rosa Metcalf, 1923: 188; syn. by Doering 1941: 190.
   Aphelonema simplex var. dorsata Ball, 1926 - USA: FL

Subgenus Nenema Emeljanov 1996 (Type species Peltonotellus bivittatus Ball 1902b)
3 Aphelonema bivittata (Ball, 1902) - USA: AZ, CA, CO, IA, KS, ND, NE, NM, OK, TX; CAN: AB, SK; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Federal District)
     = Peltonotellus bivittatus Ball 1902: 263; also Maw et al. 2000: 82.
     = Aphelonema bivittata (Ball, 1902); comb. by Van Duzee 1916a: 80.
4 Aphelonema concinna Doering, 1941 - USA: NV
5 Aphelonema confragosa Doering, 1941 - USA: AZ, NM, NV, TX
6 Aphelonema convergens Bunn, 1930 - USA: AZ, CO, NM
   Aphelonema convergens var. canyonensis Bunn, 1930 - USA: AZ
7 Aphelonema histrionica (Stål, 1862) - USA: AZ, CA, CO, IA, IL, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NH, NM, NV, NY, OR, PA, WI; CAN: AB, BC, MB, NB, NF, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK, YK
     = Peltonotus histrionicus Stål, 1862: 310.
     = Peltonotellus histrionicus (Stål, 1862); comb. by Ball 1902b: 263; also Maw et al. 2000: 82.
     = Aphelonema histrionica (Stål, 1862); comb. by Van Duzee 1916a: 80.
8 Aphelonema histrionica var. giffardi Van Duzee, 1917a - USA: CA, CO
9 Aphelonema rugosa (Ball, 1902) - USA: AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, KS, MN, MT, NE. NM, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY; CAN: AB, SK (MD record possibly in error); Belize
     = Peltonotellus rugosus Ball, 1902: 263; Maw et al. 2000: 82.
     = Aphelonema rugosa (Ball, 1902); comb. by Kirkaldy 1913: 25-26.
10 Aphelonema virgata Doering, 1941 - USA: AZ, NM

Subgenus Protrocha Emeljanov 1996 (Type species Aphelonema orbiculata Ball, 1935).

11 Aphelonema brevata Caldwell, 1945 - Mexico (Puebla, Veracruz)

12 Aphelonema impercepta Doering, 1941 - USA: AZ
13 Aphelonema minuta Bunn, 1930 - USA: AZ

14 Aphelonema nesolitaria Caldwell, 1945 - Mexico (Federal District)
15 Aphelonema nigriviridia Ball, 1926 - USA: FL
16 Aphelonema obscura Van Duzee, 1912 - USA: FL, GA, IA, KS, MS
17 Aphelonema orbiculata Ball, 1935 - USA: NM, TX; Mexico (Federal District, Mexico, Puebla, Veracruz)

18 Aphelonema robusta Caldwell, 1945 - Mexico (Michoacan)

19 Aphelonema rubranota Caldwell, 1945 - Mexico (Puebla)
20 Aphelonema solitaria Ball, 1935a - USA: AZ
21 Aphelonema viridis Dozier, 1928 - USA: MS

Subgenus Ceragra Emeljanov 1996 (Type species Aphelonema oxyura Kusnezov, 1930).

22 Aphelonema deserticola Emeljanov, 1964
23 Aphelonema oxyura Kusnezov, 1930 - Uzbekistan.

Subgenus Acromega Emeljanov 1996 (type species Peltonotus scurrilis Stål, 1862)
24 Aphelonema scurrilis (Stål, 1862) - Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)

Subgenus Peltonotellus Puton, 1886 (type species Peltonotellus raniformis Mulsant & Rey, 1855)

25 Aphelonema eoa Kusnezov, 1930 - Kyrgyzstan

       = Aphelonema zonata Dlabola, 1961, syn. by Dubovsky 1966.

26 Aphelonema fasciata Chan & Yang, 1994 - Taiwan, Japan

      = Mushya quadrivittata Kato, 1933; syn. Chan & Yang, 1994
27 Aphelonema melichari Horváth, 1897 - Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia
28 Aphelonema punctifrons (Horváth, 1895) - Hungary, Serbia, Russia, Yugoslavia, Urkraine
29 Aphelonema quadrivittata (Fieber, 1876) - Austria, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany
30 Aphelonema raniformis (Mulsant & Rey, 1855) - France, Italy.

Not placed / not sure

     Aphelonema brunneolutea Dlabola, 1993 - Iran (transferred to Ceragra Emeljanov, 1996)
31 Aphelonema ellisi Dlabola, 1974 - Corsica
32 Aphelonema vespertina Kirkaldy, 1913 - Mexico (Federal District)

Economic Importance: Limited.

Known host plants: 

Aphelonema decorata - sedges; Spartina alterniflora Loisel. (cordgrass, Poaceae)

Aphelonema scurrilis - Carex duriuscula C.A. Mey. (needleleaf sedge, Cyperaceae)

Aphelonema simplex - Spartina patens (Aiton) Muhl. (cordgrass, Poaceae)

Hosts from Wilson et al. 1994; plant names from USDA PLANTS or Tropicos.

Recognition:

Head not weevil-like, legs not modified, vertex broader than long (vs. Papagona)

Aphelonema decorata (All photographs by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

(note: this species sexually dimorphic; females pale)

Aphelomema histrionica

Aphelonema rugosa

Aphelonema simplex

(This species slightly sexually dimorphic; females slightly larger, browner)

Pages from Doering (1941)

Collecting

Most often taken sweeping grasses. Aphelonema simplex and A. decorata are found in coastal marshes and can be locally abundant.

Molecular resources: At this writing, data for A. histrionica and 2 undet. Aphelonema appears on Genbank; there is data for Aphelonema simplex and A. decorata on Barcode of Life.

Selected references:

Ball, E. D. 1902. New genera and species of North American Fulgoridae. Canadian Entomologist 34: 259-266.

Ball, E. D. 1935. Some new Issidae with notes on others (Homoptera: Fulgoridae). Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 30: 37-41.

Caldwell, J. S. 1945. Notes on Issidae from Mexico (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 38: 89-120.

Chan M. L. & Yang Chung-Tu. 1994. Issidae of Taiwan: (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). 168 pp. National Chung Hsing University, Department of Entomology, Taichung, China (Taiwan).

Dlabola, J. 1961. Die Zikaden von Zentralasien, Dagestam und Trankav Kasien (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 34: 241-358.

Dlabola, J. 1974. Zur Taxonomia und Chorologie einiger Mediterraner Zikaden (Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha). Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 20(3-4): 289-308

Dlabola, J. 1994 [1993]. Erganzungen zur Iranischen, Israelischen und Benachbarten Zikadenfaunen mit Beschreibungen 30 neuer Taxone (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha). Sbornik Narodniho Muzea V Praze Rada B Prirodni Vedy 49(1-4): 41-110. [German with Czech summary]

Doering, K. C. 1939 [1940a]. A contribution to the taxonomy of the subfamily Issinae in America north of Mexico (Fulgoroidea: Homoptera. Part III. University of Kansas Science Bulletin. 26(2): 83-167.

Doering, K. C. 1941. A contribution to the taxonomy of the subfamily Issinae in America north of Mexico (Fulgoroidea: Homoptera. Part IV. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 27(10): 185-233.

Dubovskii, G. K. 1966. Tsikadovye (Anchenorrhyncha) Ferganskoi doliny. [Cicadinea (Auchenorrhyncha) of the Fergana Valley]. Uzbek "Fan" Press, Tashkent. 156 pp.

Emeljanov, A. F. 1996. A new genus, Chirodisca gen. n., and new subgenera of the genus Aphelonema Uhl. (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea, Issidae). Entomological Review 76(8): 993-994.

Fitch, A. 1856. Third report on noxious and other insects of the State of New York. Transactions of the New-York State Agricultural Society 16: 315-490.

Kato, M. 1933. Notes on Japanese Homoptera, with descriptions of one new genus and some new species. The Entomological World 1: 452-471.

Kirkaldy, G. W. 1913. On some new species of leafhoppers. Part 1. Bulletin. Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experiment Station. Division of Entomology. 12: 7-27.

Maw, H.E.L., R. G. Foottit, K.G.A. Hamilton and G.G.E. Scudder. 2000. Checklist of the Hemiptera of Canada and Alaska. NRC Research Press, Ottawa.

Melichar, L. 1906. Monographie der Issiden. (Homoptera). Abhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königliche Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 3: 1-327.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1923. A Key to the Fulgoridae of Eastern North America with descriptions of new species. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 38(3): 139-230. [see http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/jncas/]

Metcalf, Z. P. 1958. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 15, Issidae. Waverly Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland.

Stål, C. 1862. Novae vel minus cognitae Homopterorum formae et species. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 6: 303-315.

Uhler, P. R. 1876. List of Hemiptera of the Region West of the Mississippi River, including those collected during the Hayden Exploration of 1873. Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. Washington 1(5): 269-361.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1908. Studies in North American Fulgoridae. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1907: 467-498.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1912. Hemipterological gleanings. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. 10: 477-512.

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