Species Siphanta minuta (Fabricius, 1775)

Siphanta minuta (Fabricius), adult

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Cicada minuta Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Ryngota. Systema entomologiae, sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, observationibus. 816 pp. [dated 1775] [683].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂ (Joseph Banks Collection), Australia.
• Siphanta sensilis Kirkaldy, G.W. 1907. Leafhoppers — Supplement (Hemiptera). Bulletin of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experimental Station Entomological Series 3: 1-186 [101].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BPBM ♂ (coll.: vii.1904), Cairns, Queensland
  Comment: Fletcher (1985: 36), by referring to a specific syntype as holotype, designated a lectotype by default.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Fletcher, M.J. 1985. Revision of the genus Siphanta Stål (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Flatidae). Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 110: 1-94 [36] (synonymy of S. sensilis Kirkaldy)

Generic Combinations

• Siphanta minuta (Fabricius, 1775). —
  Fletcher, M.J. 1985. Revision of the genus Siphanta Stål (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Flatidae). Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 110: 1-94 [36]

Introduction

This was the first Australian flatid planthopper to be named. The original specimen was collected on James Cook's voyage along the east coast of Australia and now resides in the Joseph Banks collection in BMNH. No details of its locality were provided other than "Australia" but the distribution of the species indicates that it was probably collected when HMS Endeavour was beached for repairs near what is today Cooktown. The truncate shape of the tegmen and the bright coloration with distinctive dark granules distinguish the species from other species of Siphanta. Fletcher (1985) included it in the roseicincta group.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NT, Qld: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Pine Creek (PCK), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder.

Diagnosis

roseicincta Group. Head short, vertex no more than ½ as long as wide at base. Apical margin of vertex roundly or angularly produced slightly. Frons wider than long or as wide as long with strong median longitudinal carina but lateral carinae obsolete or indicated at very apex only. Tegmen narrow with apical angle rounded and sutural angle rounded or obtusely angulate, never produced. M1+2 branched at about middle of tegmen, well before apex of clavus. Green, fading to yellow or orange in dried specimens. Frons dark brown in most species. Apex of head, carinae of frons, outer claval vein, fore- and mid-tibiae and all tarsi usually marked with red. Tegminal granules black at tip. Margin of tegmen except base of costal margin and claval margin to apex of clavus marked with red.
S. minuta. Frons and vertex testaceous, heavily spotted with red. Pronotum orange becoming green laterally, with two longitudinal green stripes between lateral carinae and with granules around hind margin laterally. Mesonotum orange with three longitudinal green stripes. Tegmen yellow with pale green patch in centre of each cell and dark granules. Base of costal area usually spotted with red, but red border to tegmen often not extending basal of apex of costal cell. Outer claval vein orange over basal half, thence spotted with red to apex of clavus. Frons with broad ridges on each side of disc but lateral carinae absent; vertex very short, longer against eyes than in midline. Tegmen with sutural angle slightly obtusely angled, almost rightangled; costal margin straight from apex of costal cell to apical angle. Male pygofer with short broadly triangular process. Paramere with prominent pointed process. Female third valvulae narrow, triangular with pilose area ventral. Second valvulae gap V-shaped (Fletcher 1985).

ID Keys

Fletcher 1985: 4–6
Fletcher, M.J. (2005). Illustrated Key to the species of the genus Siphanta Stål (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Flatidae)
http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/flatid/siphanta/siph00.htm

Diagnosis References

Fletcher, M.J. 1985. Revision of the genus Siphanta Stål (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Flatidae). Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 110: 1-94 [36–37]

History of changes