Subfamily APHROPHORINAE Amyot & Serville, 1843

"Cuckoo spit" or spittle produced by the nymph of a spittlebug.

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Museums

Regional Maps

External Links

• Aphrophorides Amyot, C.J.B. & Audinet-Serville, J.G. 1843. Histoire Naturelle des Insects. Hémiptères. Paris : Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Rue Hautefeuille 10 B13 676 pp. [563].

  Type genus:

   Aphrophora Germar, 1821.

Introduction

The true spittlebugs are usually visible as masses of froth (sometimes called "cuckoo-spit") clinging to the stems of shrubs or small trees. This froth is not produced by all species but is used by nymphs of many species either to reduce the risk of dehydration or to deter parasites and predators. Adults are free living. The most common and widespread species in Australia is the brown Philagra parva (Donovan), which has a narrow curved horn on the front of the head, and the beetle-like Bathyllus albicinctus (Erichson) which feeds primarily on herbaceous plants. Both Evans (1966) and Liang & Fletcher (2003) treated the spittlebugs as a family but Hamilton (2001 and pers. comm. 2010) regards them as a subfamily of the Cercopidae.

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

CERCOPIDAE: APHROPHORINAE: Novaphrophara tasmaniae Lallemand, 1940 [only one specimen of this species, recognised by Liang & Fletcher (2003) as the holotype, has ever been collected — from Cradle Valley, Tasmania. Evans (1966) questioned the Tasmanian origin of this specimen because the species is quite unlike other known Australian aphrophorids and no further specimens have been collected from that region of the world despite Evans spending many years as Government Entomologist in Tasmania. A second specimen in BMNH, identified as this species by K.G.A. Hamilton, is from Madagascar and it seems probable that this is the true source of Lallemand's holotype] — Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [321]; Liang, A.-P. & Fletcher, M.J. 2003. A review of the Australian aphrophorid spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae). Australian Journal of Entomology 42(1): 84-93 [91–92]

Diagnosis

Aphrophorids are brown, black, yellowish or greyish insects and sometimes have bold yellow markings. In the head, the postclypeus is flat or convex but seldom very considerably swollen. The crown is usually longest in the centre and may be narrowly produced. The pronotum is usually parallel-sided through sometimes it widens posteriorly. The tegmina, which are usually rugose and sometimes pubescent, are apically rounded or acute (Evans 1966).

Apex of tegmen with very short, narrow appendix or lacking appendix; apex of hind tibia with two distinct, complete rows of apical spines; eyes much longer than wide; Hind margin of pronotum W-shaped.

ID Keys

Fletcher, M.J. (2010) Identification Key and Checklists for the Froghoppers and Spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cercopoidea) of Australia and neighbouring areas. http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/cercopid/index.html [accessed 18.iv.2012]

Diagnosis References

Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [316]

General References

Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [316-331]

Hamilton, K.G.A. 2001. A new family of froghoppers from the American tropics (Hemiptera: Cercopoidea: Epipygidae). Biodiversity 2(3): 15-22 [18]

Liang, A.-P. & Fletcher, M.J. 2003. A review of the Australian aphrophorid spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae). Australian Journal of Entomology 42(1): 84-93

History of changes