Family Derbidae

Subfamily Otiocerninae

Tribe Sikaianini Muir, 1917

Genus Mula Ball, 1928

Type species (in original combination): Mula resonans Ball, 1928.

Synonyms: None.

Distribution: Southwest USA and Caribbean, plus one species in Taiwan.

Recognized species

There are three recognized species in the genus:

Mula chushanensis Yang & Wu, 1993 - Taiwan

Mula resonans Ball, 1928 - USA: FL, LA, MS
Mula thrinacis Fennah, 1952: 117 - St. Lucia

Economic Importance:

Limited - species are infrequently encountered.

Known host plants: 

Derbidae are known or assumed to feed on fungal hyphae as immatures.  The significance of adult host associations are unclear.

Mula resonans - Sabal palmetto (Walter) Lodd. ex Schult. & Schult. f. (cabbage palmetto, Arecaceae)

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

Recognition:

Small, very fragile forms; wings greatly exceeding abdomen, frons extremely compressed, antennae lacking appendages, head only slightly projecting in front of eyes (less than diameter of eye), clavus open, first cell of forewing distinctly triangular, widest at midlength, narrowed both anteriorly and posteriorly; dark markings on wing mostly along veins; hindwings narrow, strap-shaped, with two longitudinal veins

Mula resonans (photographs by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

(This last photo is a better representation of how they evidently carry their wings at rest, even though it is covered with junck from a malaise trap).

As of this writing, there are no photos of Mula on Bugguide.

Collecting

Most of the observed specimens were found in malaise traps.

Molecular resources: As of this writing, there are appears to be no molecular data for this genus on Genbank OR Barcode of Life.

Selected references:

Ball, E. D. 1928. Some new genera and species of N. A. Derbidae with notes on others (Fulgoridae). Canadian Entomologist 60: 196-201.

Emeljanov, A. F. 1996. On the system and phylogeny of the family Derbidae (Homoptera, Cicadina). Entomological Review 75: 70-100). (Translation of Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 1995, 73: 783-811, Russian summary 946-947).

Fennah, R. G. 1952. On the generic classification of Derbidae (Fulgoroidea), with descriptions of new Neotropical species. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 103(4): 109-170.

Yang, Chung-Tu & Wu Rong-Hwa. 1993. Derbidae of Taiwan (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). National Chung Hsing University, Department of Entomology, Taichung (China, Taiwan). 230 pp.

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