Family Achilidae

Subfamily Achilinae

Tribe Plectoderini Fennah, 1950

Genus Xerbus O'Brien, 1971

Type species: Catonia brunnella Ball, 1933.

Synonyms: None

Distribution: Southwestern US

Recognized species

There is 1 species currently in the genus

Xerbus brunnellus (Ball, 1933) - USA: AZ

Economic Importance: Limited.

Known host plants: 

None - nymphs of achilids associated with fungus (usually in logs).  The significance of adult host association is unclear.

Recognition:

Rostrum as long as clypeus (versus longer); pronotum medially longer than tegulae, and mesonotum with lateral carinae bent or rounded

Xerbus brunnellus (Photos by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

Collecting

Most often taken at lights.

Molecular resources: No data for this genus appears on GenBank or Barcode of Life. 

Selected references:

Fennah, R. G. 1950. A generic revision of the Achilidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea) with descriptions of new species. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 1: 1-170.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1948. General catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fasc. IV. Fulgoroidea, Part 10. Achilidae. Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. 85 pp.

O’Brien, L. B. 1971. The systematics of the tribe Plectoderini in America north of Mexico (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Achilidae). University Of California Publications in Entomology 64: 1-79.