Family Flatidae

Subfamily Flatinae Spinola, 1839

Tribe Flatini Spinola, 1839

Genus Hesperophantia Kirkaldy, 1904b.

Type species (in original combination): Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862c.

Synonyms:

     = Carthaea Stål, 1862c (nec Walker 1858) (Type species Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862c); unavailable (preoccupied) replaced by Hesperophantia Kirkaldy, 1904b: 279.
     = Carthaeella Strand, 1928 (Type species Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862c) (replacement name for unavailable Carthaea Stål, 1862c); syn. by Neave 1939: 593.

Distribution: Neotropical (Central and Northern South America).  Reported from California in error.

Recognized species

There appear to be 6 species currently assigned to this genus (from Metcalf 1957; same listed on FLOW):

1 Hesperophantia acuminata (Melichar, 1902) (see also Medler 1994: 216) - French Guiana, Surinam, Colombia

   = Carthaea acuminata Melichar, 1902: 32.

   = Hesperophantia acuminata (Melichar, 1902); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
2 Hesperophantia caudata (Stål, 1862) (see also Medler 1994: 217) - Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)

   = Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862: 11.

   = Carthaea caudata (Stål, 1862); comb. by Stål, 1862: 68.

   = Hesperophantia caudata (Stål, 1862); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
3 Hesperophantia championi (Fowler, 1900)(see also Medler 1993: 435) - Panama, Guatemala

   = Flata championi Fowler, 1900: 51.

   = Carthaea championi (Fowler, 1900); comb. by Melichar 1902: 31.

   = Hesperophantia championi (Fowler, 1900); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
4 Hesperophantia folium (Gmelin, 1789) - Surinam, Brazil (Espírito Santo, Rio De Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Caterina)

   = Fulgora folium Gmelin, 1789: 2092 (new name for Cicada foliumambulans De Geer, 1773).

   = Poeciloptera folium (Gmelin, 1789); comb. by Schaum 1850: 72.

   = Hesperophantia folium (Gmelin, 1789); comb. by Metcalf 1957: 226.
5 Hesperophantia rectangularis (Melichar, 1902) - Brazil (Santa Caterina), Guyana (as British Guiana)

   = Carthaea rectangularis Melichar, 1902: 31.

   = Hesperophantia rectangularis (Melichar, 1902); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
6 Hesperophantia ricanioides (Spinola, 1839) - Mexico, also California apparently in error.

   = Poeciloptera ricanioides Spinola, 1839: 442.

   = Bladina (?) ricanioides (Spinola, 1839); comb. by Fowler 1900: 69.

   = Carthaea (?) ricanioides (Spinola, 1839); comb. by Van Duzee, 1916: 82.

Economic Importance:

Limited.

Known host plants: none.

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

Recognition:

Unclear.   This genus is evidently polyphyletic; the type species is unfamiliar to me.  I have seen photos of the type specimen of ricanioides, and it resembles a grey Flatormenis, but the tail is not the same.  I have seen a specimen putatively of championi, which is quite different from ricanioides.

Hesperophantia ricanioides from Spinola 1839.

Hesperophantia acuminata (left, holotype) from Medler (1994) and H. championi (right, holotype) from Medler (1993)..

Websites: This genus is not present on Bugguide.

Collecting

[?]

Molecular resources: There are no data for this genus on Genbank; or on Barcode of Life.

Selected references:

Fowler, W. W. 1900. Order Rhynchota. Suborder Hemiptera-Homoptera. (Continued). Key to the genera of the subfamily Flatinae with descriptions of the new species. Biologia Centrali-Americana 1: 49-56.

Gmelin, J. F. 1789a. Insecta Hemiptera. In Caroli a Linné. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Impensis G. E. Beer, Lipsiae [Leipzig, Germany]. 1 (4):1517-2224.

Kirkaldy, G. W. 1904c. Bibliographical and nomenclatorial notes on the Hemiptera. No. 3. Entomologist 37: 279-283.

Medler, J. T. 1993. Types of Flatidae (Homoptera) XVIII. Lectotype designations for Fowler and Melichar type specimens in the Museum of Natura History in Vienna, with 2 new genera and a new species. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien Serie B Botanik and Zoologie 94-95(B): 433-450.

Medler, J. T. 1994. Types of Flatidae (Homoptera) in the Stockholm Museum with lectotype designations. Part 2. Entomologica Scandinavica 25(2): 215-225.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1957. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 13, Flatidae and Hypochthonellidae. North Carolina State College, Raleigh, North Carolina. Pp. 1-565.

Melichar. L. 1902. Monographie der Acanaloniiden und Flatiden (Homoptera) (Fortsetzung). Annalen des k.k Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums. Wien 17: 1-253.

Melichar, L. 1923a. Homptera, fam. Acanaloniidae, Flatidae et Ricaniidae. Genera Insectorum. Bruxelles 182: 1-185.

Spinola, M. 1839. Essai sur les Fulgorelles, sous-tribu de la tribu des Cicadaires, ordre des Rhyngotes. (Suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 8: 339-454.

Stål, C. 1862. Bidrag till Rio de Janeiro-tratkens Hemipterfauna.II. Handlingar. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien. Stockholm 3(6): 1-75.

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.