Family Issidae

Subfamily Issinae

Tribe Issini Spinola, 1839

Subtribe Hysteropterina Melichar, 1906

Genus Kathleenum Gnezdilov 2004

Type species (in original combination): Hysteropterum cornutum Melichar, 1906.

Synonyms: None.

Distribution: Southwestern United States and Mexico.

Recognized species

There are two species currently assigned to this genus, one of which is divided into subspecies.

Kathleenum cornutum (Melichar, 1906) - USA: AZ, CA, CO, ID, NM, NV, TX, UT; Mexico (Baja California)
     = Hysteropterum cornutum Melichar, 1906: 147.
     = Hysteropterum cornutum var. cornutum Melichar, 1906; status by Ball, 1935a: 38.
     = Kathleenum cornutum (Melichar, 1906); comb. Gnezdilov, 2004: 2.
Kathleenum cornutum var. utahnum (Ball, 1935a) - USA: AZ, CA, CO, NM, TX, UT
     = Hysteropterum cornutum var. utahnum Ball, 1935a: 38.
     = Kathleenum cornutum var. utahnum Ball, 1935a; comb. by Gnezdilov, 2004: 2.
Kathleenum sepulchrale (Ball, 1935a) -USA: AZ, NM, TX, WY; Mexico (Coahuila, Hidalgo)
     = Hysteropterum sepulchralis Ball, 1935a: 37.
     = Kathleenum sepulchralis (Ball, 1935a); comb. by Gnezdilov, 2004: 2.
     = Kathleenum sepulchrale (Ball, 1935a); emendation by Gnezdilov & O’Brien, 2006b: 220, 224.

Economic Importance:

Limited.

Known host plants: 

Kathleenum cornutum cornutum - Artemisia tridentata Nutt. (big sagebrush, Asteraceae)

Kathleenum cornutum utahnum - Artemisia cana Pursh (silver sagebrush)

Kathleenum sepulchrale - Flourensia cernua DC. (American tarwort, Asteraceae)

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

Recognition:

Hind wings absent or rudimentary, Body elongate (not rounded in dorsal view, vs Paralixes & Traxus), wings not strongly reticulate; Intermediate carinae of front present, raised; smaller species usually 4.4 mm or less; vertex not as deeply emarginate as Tylanira; intermediate carinae of frons converging dorsally; intermediate carinae of frons parallel or weakly converging dorsally; frons at dorsal margin wider than tall at median carina; dorsal margin of frons wider than frons at midline (about 1.25x) with wide straight median line and sides angled upward; vertex about 3x wider than long in middle

Apparently this genus is quite common.

Kathleenum cornutum (all photographs by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware; scale = 1 mm)

Kathleenum sepulchrale

This genus is not listed on Bugguide but is included under Hysteropterum. (some of the identifications of Hysteropterum may require review)

Collecting

Adults are taken by sweeping or beating.

Molecular resources: There is data for Kathleenum cornutum and K. c. utahnumon on Barcode of Life; there does not appear to be any data for this genus on Genbank.

Selected references:

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.

Doering. K. C. 1938. A contribution to the taxonomy of the subfamily Issinae in America north of Mexico (Fulgoroidea: Homoptera. Part II. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 25(20): 447-575.

Gnezdilov, V. M. 2004. Two new genera of the family Issidae (Homoptera: Cicadina: Fulgoroidea) from North America. Russian Entomological Journal 13(1–2): 1–2.

Gnezdilov, V. M. and L. B. O'Brien. 2006. Generic changes in United States Issini (Hemiptera, Fulgoroidea, Issidae). Insecta Mundi 20(3-4): 217-225.

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

O'Brien, L. B. 1988. Taxonomic changes in North American Issidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 81(6): 865-869.

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