Family Derbidae

Subfamily Otiocerninae

Tribe Sikaianini Muir, 1917

Genus Sikaiana Distant, 1907

Type species (in original combination): Sikaiana hyalinata Distant, 1907b.

Synonyms: 

    = Iguvium Distant, 1917 (Type species Iguvium albomaculatum Distant 1917); syn. by Muir 1918b: 174, 176.
    = Euklastus Metcalf, 1923 (Type species Euklastus harti Metcalf 1923); syn. by Fennah 1952: 118.

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

Recognized species

In the New World, Sikaiana includes only a single species, but there are at least 16 Old World species

New World Sikaiana:
Sikaiana harti (Metcalf, 1923) - USA: DE, IL, GA, MD, MS, NC, OK, TN, TX, WI
     = Euklastus harti Metcalf 1923: 195.
     = Sikaiana harti (Metcalf 1923); comb. by Fennah 1952: 118.

Old World Sikaiana: (from FLOW; Distribution to be added later)

1 Sikaiana africana Muir, 1926
2 Sikaiana albomaculata (Distant, 1917)
3 Sikaiana caenosa Muir, 1913
4 Sikaiana clymene Muir, 1913
5 Sikaiana flammeivittata Fennah, 1950
6 Sikaiana fulva Muir, 1913
7 Sikaiana hyalinata Distant, 1907
8 Sikaiana laelaps Fennah, 1970
9 Sikaiana lycotas Fennah, 1969
10 Sikaiana maculosa Distant, 1907
11 Sikaiana makii Muir, 1915
12 Sikaiana nesiope Kirkaldy, 1907
13 Sikaiana nigrimaculata Muir, 1913
14 Sikaiana palaui Kuoh, 1977
15 Sikaiana straminea Muir, 1913
16 Sikaiana vitriceps Muir, 1917

Economic Importance:

Limited - New World 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.

Sikaiana makii - Palms (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, fFirst cell of forewing distinctly elongate (vs. Mula), widest near apex; dark markings on wing in cells and along veins; hindwings wider than Mula.

Sikaiana harti (photographs by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

As of this writing, this species is on Bugguide under Euklastus.

Collecting

Occasionally to lights or sweeping..

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:

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.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1923. A key to the Fulgoridae of eastern North America with descriptions of new species. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 38(3): 139-230, plus 32 plates. [available from http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/jncas/]

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

References for Old World species descriptions

Distant, W. L. 1907. Rhynchotal notes. xlii. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. London. (Ser. 7) 19: 395-416.

Distant, W. L. 1917. Rhychota. Part ii: Suborder Homoptera. The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Indian Ocean in 1905, under the leadership of Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner, M. A. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Second series. Zoology 17: 273-322.

Fennah, R. G. 1950. Fulgoroidea of Fiji. Bulletin Bernice P. Bishop Museum 202: 1-122.

Fennah, R. G. 1969. Fulgoroidea (Homoptera) from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands. Pacific Insects Monography 21: 1-116.

Fennah, R. G. 1970. Fulgoroidea (Homoptera) from Rennell and Bellona Islands. The Natural. History of Rennell Island, British Solomon Islands 6: 43-85.

Kirkaldy, G. W. 1907. Leafhoppers supplement. (Hemiptera). Bulletin. Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experiment Station. Division of Entomology 3: 1-186.

Muir, F. A. G. 1913. On some new species of leafhoppers. Part II. Derbidae. Bulletin. Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experiment Station. Division of Entomology 12: 28-92.

Muir, F. A. G. 1915. New and little-known Derbidae. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 3: 116-136.

Muir, F. A. G. 1918. Notes on the Derbidae in the British Museum collection.-I. Zoraidinae. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 54: 173-177.

Muir, F. A. G. 1926. Notes on some African Derbidae (Homoptera). Annals and Magazine of Natural History. London. (Ser. 9) 18: 227-240.