Family NOGODINIDAE Melichar, 1898

Museums

Regional Maps

• Nogodini Melichar, L. 1898. Monographie der Ricaniiden (Homoptera). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums in Wien 13: 197-359 [204].

  Type genus:

   Nogodina Stål, 1859.

Introduction

The Nogodinidae have had a mixed history taxonomically although they have been poorly studied in Australia. Some nogodinids (such as the Varciini) are delicate lacy-winged insects, but the Lipocalliini (the pebblebugs) and the Bilbiliini have the tegmina opaque and convex. Most nogodinids are forest-dwelling insects, commonly found in moist coastal forests, but the pebblebugs are primarily distributed in the more arid parts of the continent and their spherical shape and close-fitting tegmina are probably adaptations to a dry environment. The Lipocalliini seem to be particularly diverse in NW Australia although most of the species are undescribed.

Diagnosis

The Nogodinidae do not present a uniform appearance but are united through features of the male and female genitalia. The Varciini are lacy-winged insects, the Tongini and the Bilbiliini have opaque tegmina and look like small Flatidae or even Issidae while the Lipocalliini are spherical with opaque tegmina which wrap around the body. These groups have frequently been classified in other families, notably the Issidae and the Acanaloniidae, but Gnezdilov (2010) has demonstrated that the external appearance of these groups is largely a result of convergence and the classification used here is therefore more natural. Australia has a varied fauna of Nogodinidae including representatives of most of the various forms. Much of the fauna remains to be described, particularly in parts of Western Australia where the arid zone appears to be rich in Lipocalliini.

Gnezdilov (2007) characterises the Nogodinidae by the male with massive phallobase with variform processes and distinctive style with long and narrow capitulum devoid of teeth. Within the females, most of the genera are characterised by elongate gonoplacs and narrow connective laminae of gonapophyses VIII and IX.

ID Keys

Fletcher, M.J. (1999) Identification key and checklists for the Planthoppers of Australia and New Zealand (Superfamily Fulgoroidea) https://idtools.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/index.html

Diagnosis References

Gnezdilov, V.M. 2007. On the systematic positions of the Bladinini Kirkaldy, Tonginae Kirkaldy and Trienopinae Fennah (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea). Zoosystematica Rossica 15: 293–297 [293]

Gnezdilov, V.M. 2010. Composition and distribution of the family Issidae (Hemiptera, Fulgoroidea). in Abstracts: Talks and Posters. 13th International Auchenorrhyncha Congress. Vaison-la-Romaine, France. 28 June – 2 July 2010. pp. 87–88 [87–88]

History of changes