Family Achilidae

Subfamily Achilinae

Tribe Myconini Fennah, 1950

Genus Cixidia Fieber, 1866

Type species: Cicada confinis Zetterstedt, 1828.

Synonyms:

  = Epiptera Metcalf, 1922; status (subgenus) by Anufriev 1969: 173-174 (Type species Flata opaca Say, 1830).

Distribution: Widespread in Palearctic and Nearctic regions.

Recognized species

In North America, there are 14 species, all in the subgenus Epiptera; worldwide there are 40 species (plus 1 subspecies)

Nearctic

1 Cixidia (Epiptera) brittoni (Metcalf, 1923) - USA: CT, NC, NY, PA, RI; CAN: BC, MB, NB, ON, QC, SK
2 Cixidia (Epiptera) colorata (Van Duzee, 1908) - USA: ME, NY, VA, WI
3 Cixidia (Epiptera) confusa (Beirne, 1950b) - USA: MA, ME, MN, MS; CAN: AB, BC, LB, MB, NB, ON, QC, SK, YK
4 Cixidia (Epiptera) fusca (Walker, 1851) - USA: AL, CO, DC, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MN, MS, NC, NJ, NM, NY, PA, RI, TX, VA, WI; CAN: ON, QC; Puerto Rico
5 Cixidia (Epiptera) fusiformis (Van Duzee, 1910b) - USA: CA, OR, WA; CAN: BC
6 Cixidia (Epiptera) henshawi (Van Duzee, 1910b) - USA: CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA; CAN: AB, BC
7 Cixidia (Epiptera) manitobiana (Beirne, 1950) - USA: AZ, CA; CAN: AB, BC, MB, NB, QC, SK, YK
8 Cixidia (Epiptera) opaca (Say, 1830) - USA: DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, MA, MD, MN?, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, VA; CAN: BC, ON, QC
9 Cixidia (Epiptera) pallida (Say, 1830) - USA: CA, DC, FL, LA, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA; CAN: AB, BC, LB, MB, NT, ON, QC, SK, YK
10 Cixidia (Epiptera) septentrionalis (Provancher, 1889) - USA: DC, ME, MN, NH, NJ, NY, PA, WI; CAN: AB, BC, LB, MB, NB, ON, QC, SK
11 Cixidia (Epiptera) shoshone (Ball, 1933a) - USA: AZ, ID, NM, WY
12 Cixidia (Epiptera) slossonae (Van Duzee, 1908) - USA: AK, AZ, ME, MN, NH, NY; CAN: BC?, NT?, ON, QC
13 Cixidia (Epiptera) variegata (Van Duzee, 1908) - USA: AL, AZ, CT, DC, DE, IL, LA, MA, MD, ME, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA; CAN: NB, ON, QC
14 Cixidia (Epiptera) woodworthi (Van Duzee, 1916)  - USA: AK, CA, ID, OR, WY; CAN: YK

Palearctic

Subgenus Cixidia

1 Cixidia (Cixidia) confinis (Zetterstedt, 1840) - Northern Europe (Sweden, Finland, Estonia)

Subgenus Epiptera

2 Cixidia (Epiptera) kasparyani Anufriev, 1983 - Russia (Maritime Territory)
3 Cixidia (Epiptera) lapponica (Zetterstedt, 1828) - Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Russia (northern & middle, Siberia)

4 Cixidia (Epiptera) lapponica hyalina (Metcalf, 1948)
5 Cixidia (Epiptera) marginicollis (Spinola, 1839) - Mediterranean region (Sicily)

  = Cixidia (Epiptera) italica (Wagner 1959); syn. by D'Urso & Guglielmino, 1995)
6 Cixidia (Epiptera) maroccana Anufriev, 1969 - Morocco
7 Cixidia (Epiptera) okunii (Matsumura, 1914) - Japan

8 Cixidia (Epiptera) pilatoi D'Urso & Guglielmino, 1995 - Central Europe; Italy, southwestern Germany, Eastern Austria, Czechia (Bohemia, Moravia), Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Bulgaria, ? Ukraine, ? Moldavia

9 Cixidia (Epiptera) ussuriensis (Kusnezov, 1928) - Maritime Territory (Russia)

Subgenus apparently not assigned

10 Cixidia genei (Spinola, 1839)
11 Cixidia kabakovi Emeljanov, 2005 - Afghanistan
12 Cixidia karaseki (Melichar, 1905)
13 Cixidia leptarcya (Amyot, 1847)
14 Cixidia mersinica Dlabola, 1987 - Turkey
15 Cixidia misbeca (Amyot, 1847)
16 Cixidia ochrophara (Amyot, 1847)
17 Cixidia parnassia (Stål, 1859) - Southeastern central europe; Balkan peninsula, Afghanistan
18 Cixidia pinorum (Manee, 1910)
19 Cixidia polias Emeljanov, 2005 - Krasnodar Territory, Russia
20 Cixidia sabeca (Amyot, 1847)
21 Cixidia shikokuana (Ishihara, 1954)
22 Cixidia sikaniae D'Urso & Guglielmino, 1995 - Italy
23 Cixidia tristirops (Amyot, 1847)

Note: Neomenocria advena (Spinola, 1839) was listed as 'C. advena (Spinola, 1839)' on p. 63 of D'Urso & Guglielmino, 1995. The generic status of this species is not clear.

Economic Importance: Limited.

Known host plants: 

North American species stated to be 'associated with pine' by several authors.  Nymphs found associated with fungus in logs.  The significance of adult host association is unclear.

Cixidia (Epiptera) woodworthi - Pinus jeffreyi, Juniperus  (reported by Van Duzee 1916; Wilson et al. 1994)

Cixidia sikaniae - Pinus pinaster, "Quercus gr. pubescens" (reported by D'Urso & Guglielmino, 1995)

Cixidia (Epiptera) marginicollis - (under bark) Quercus cerris, Quercus ilex, Pinus pinaster, "Quercus gr. pubescens" ((reported by D'Urso & Guglielmino, 1995)

Cixidia pilatoi - Quercus sp.

Recognition: (North American species)

Larger achilids; Head, including eyes, less than 2/3 as wide as pronotum. Key to most species (11 of 14) in (Beirne 1950)

Note Photos of  C. henshawi, C woodworthi, C. colorata, and C. variegata are primary types; images courtesy Michael Krasnobrod & Norm Penny (California Academy of Sciences)

Other photos by Kimberley Shropshire (University of Delaware)

Collecting

Most often taken at lights.

Molecular resources: GenBank has limited data for Cixidia parnassia (Stal, 1859) (from Ceotto et al. 2008) and Barcode of Life has data for Cixidia (Epiptera) confusa (Beirne, 1950b). 

Selected references:

Anufriev, G. A. 1969. Studies on some Palearctic Achilidae (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha). Bulletin de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences Serie des Sciences Biologiques 17: 173-178.

Anufriev, G. A. 1983. A new species of the genus Cixidia Fieber, 1866 from the Soviet Maritime Territory. Reichenbachia 21(24): 141-144.

Ball, E. D. 1933. Some new Western leafhoppers of the fulgorid family Achilidae. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 9: 133-138.

Beirne, B. P. 1950. The Canadian species of Epiptera (Homoptera: Achilidae). Canadian Entomologist 82: 186 190.

d'Urso, V., A. Guglielmino, A. and A. Mauceri. 2005. The internal male and female reproductive apparatus in Cixidia sikaniae D’Urso & Guglielmino, 1995 (Fulgoromorpha, Achilidae). Zootaxa 1077: 25–36.

d’Urso, V. and A. Guglielmino. 1995. Taxonomic remarks on Italian Cixidia with description of two new species (Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha, Achilidae). Spixiana 18:49-64.

Dlabola, J. and P. Stys. 1976. Phantia subquadrata, Cixidia lapponica in Slovakia. Entomologica Bohemoslovaca 73: 348.

Emeljanov, A. F. 1992. Toward the problem and limits and subdivisions of Achilidae (Homoptera, Cicadina). Entomological Review 71(1): 53-73 (Translation of Entomologicheskoye Obozreniye 1991, 70: 373-393, in Russian).

Emeljanov, A. F. 1993. Description of tribes of the subfamily Achilinae (Homoptera, Achilidae) and revision of their composition. Entomological Review 72(6): 7-27 (Translation of Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 71: 574-594 from Russian).

Emeljanov, A. F. 2005. New genera and species of the family Achilidae (Homoptera). Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 84(1): 10-45.

Fennah, R. G. 1950. A generic revision of the Achilidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea) with descriptions of new species. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 1: 1-170.

Hepburn, H. R. 1967. Notes on the genus Epiptera (Homoptera: Achilidae). Journal of the Georgia Entomological Society 2(3): 78-80.

Holzinger, W.E., I. Kammerlander, and H. Nickel. 2003. The Auchenorrhyncha of Central Europe. Volume 1. Fulgoromorpha, Cicadomorpha excluding Cicadellidae. Brill Academic Publishing, Leiden, Netherlands.

Liang, A.-P. and L. B. O'Brien. 2002. External morphology of the wax glands of Epiptera woodworthi (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Achilidae). Southwestern Entomologist 27: 209-215.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1948. General catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fasc. IV. Fulgoroidea, Part 10. Achilidae. Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. 85 pp.

O’Brien, L. B. 1971. The systematics of the tribe Plectoderini in America north of Mexico (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Achilidae). University Of California Publications in Entomology 64: 1-79.

Wilson, S. W. 1983. Description of the fifth instar of Epiptera opaca (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Achilidae). Great Lakes Entomologist 16(1): 1-3.