Species Acanthuchus trispinifer (Fairmaire, 1846)

Acanthucus trispinifer (Fairmaire), adult.

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Centrotus trispinifer Fairmaire, L.M.H. 1846. Revue de la tribu des Membracides. (Suite et fin). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 2(4): 479-531 [515].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) MNHP sex, quantity unknown (coll: Westwood), Tasmania.
• Acanthuchus gracilispinus Stål, C. 1869. Bidrag till Membracidernas kannedom. Öfversigt af Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar. Stockholm 26: 231-300 [287].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) NHRM sex, quantity unknown, Australia borealis.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [295] (synonymy of A. gracilispinus)

Generic Combinations

• Acanthuchus trispinifer (Fairmaire, 1846). —
  Stål, C. 1866. Analecta Hemipterologica. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 10: 381-394 [386]

Introduction

This is the most common and widespread species of the genus with Evans (1966) listing localities from five states. This species was the model used to create the logo for the 9th International Auchenorrhyncha Congress, held in Sydney, New South Wales in February 1997.

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tasmanian South East (TSE)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder (associated flora: Acacia decurrens Willd. [FABACEAE] Black Wattle; Cotoneaster sp. [ROSACEAE]).

Associated Flora References

Cookson, L. & New, T.R. 1980. Observations on the biology of Sextius virescens (Fairmaire) (Homoptera, Membracidae) on Acacia in Victoria. Australian Entomological Magazine 7(1): 4–10 [9] (Acacia decurrens)

Diagnosis

Fusco-ferrugineus, dorso medio spinoso, scutello albido.
D'un brun ferrugineux; cornes fortes, aiguës, un peu recourbées en arrière; au-dessus de l'écusson une pointe trigone, peu aiguë; écusson blanchâtre; élytres ferrugineuses à la base; côtés de la poitrine d'un blanc farineux. Long. 0,006.(Fairmaire 1846).

General coloration brown with golden, lateral pubescence at the sides of the thorax anteriorly. Median, central, elevated pronotal process thorn shaped; posterior pronotal process strongly sinuate. Tegmen mottled hyaline, brown with a whitish area at the apex of the clavus. Length ♂ 4, ♀ 5.2–5.5 mm. Width across lateral horns, 3 mm (Evans 1966).

ID Keys

Goding 1903: 13–14

Diagnosis References

Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [295]

Fairmaire, L.M.H. 1846. Revue de la tribu des Membracides. (Suite et fin). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 2(4): 479-531 [515]

Goding, F.W. 1903. A monograph of the Australian Membracidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 28: 2-41 [13–14]

History of changes