Family Issidae

Subfamily Issinae

Tribe Issini Spinola, 1839

Subtribe Hysteropterina Melichar, 1906

Genus Paralixes Caldwell, 1945

Note: This genus described as a subgenus of Ulixes, status revised by Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2006b: 224.

Type species (in original combination): Issus scutatus Walker, 1851.

(Type species of Ulixes (Ulixes) is Issus marmoreus Stål, 1861a).

Synonyms: None.

Distribution: Southwestern US and Central America.

Recognized species

There are five species currently assigned to this genus.

Paralixes fowleri (Melichar, 1906) - Mexico (Durango)

     = Hysteropterum fowleri Melichar 1906: 149, new name for unavailable H. montanum Fowler, 1904 (nec Becker 1865).
     = Hysteropterum montanum Fowler 1904: 120.

     = Paralixes fowleri (Melichar 1906); comb. by Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2008: 15.

Paralixes horizontalis (Caldwell 1945:108) - Mexico (Chiapas)

     = Ulixes (Paralixes) horizontalis Caldwell 1945.

     = Paralixes horizontalis (Caldwell 1945); status by implication Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2006: 224.
Paralixes intermedius (Fowler 1904: 115) - Mexico (Durango), Guatemala

     = Ulixes intermedius Fowler 1904.

     = Paralixes intermedius (Fowler 1904); status by implication Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2006: 224.

Paralixes perpendicularis (Caldwell 1945:108) - Mexico (Tamaulipas).

     = Ulixes (Paralixes) perpendicularis Caldwell 1945.

     = Paralixesperpendicularis (Caldwell 1945); status by implication Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2006: 224.

Paralixes scutatus (Walker, 1858) - USA: AZ, TX; Mexico, Guatemala
     = Issus scutatus Walker, 1858: 44.
     = Ulixes (Paralixes) scutatus (Walker, 1858); comb. by Caldwell 1945: 108.
     = Paralixes scutatus (Walker, 1858); status by Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2006: 224.

Economic Importance:

Limited - species are rarely encountered.

Known host plants: 

None.

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

Recognition:

Hind wings absent or rudimentary, body rounded in dorsal view, wings strongly reticulate; mesonotum with lateral carinae not elevated (vs. Traxus; clypeus on same plane as frons (in lateral view; vs. Traxus, Ulixes)

This genus is rarely encountered.

Paralixes scutatus (photographs by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

Paralixes scutatus (Holotype; photograph courtesy Mick Webb, The Natural History Museum)

Paralixes perpendicularis (Paratype)  (photographs by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

This genus is not listed on Bugguide (nor is Ulixes).

Collecting

Adults are evidently taken sweeping or beating.

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

Selected references:

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

Gnezdilov, V. M. and L. B. O'Brien. 2008. New taxa and combinations in Neotropical Issidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea). Insecta Mundi 31: 1-26.

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

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