Species Balclutha lucida (Butler, 1877)

Balclutha lucida (Butler), adult.

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Jassus lucidus Butler, A.G. 1877. Hemiptera-Homoptera. In Dr. Albert Gunther's Zoological Collections made by H.M.S. "Peterel". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1877: 90-91 [91].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♀, James Is., Galapagos Ils.
• Gnathodus laevis Melichar, L. 1903. Homopteren-Fauna von Ceylon. Berlin: Felix L. Dames. 248 pp. [209].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown ♂ ♀, quantity unknown (i–v.1902), Henaratgoda, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
• Nesosteles glauca Kirkaldy, G.W. 1906. Leafhoppers and their natural enemies. Bulletin of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experimental Station Entomological Series 1(9): 271-479 [344].

  Type data:

   Holotype BPBM 2259 sex unknown (coll.: viii.1904, Koebele), Cairns, Queensland.
• Eugnathodus floridana DeLong, D.H. & Davidson, R.H. 1933. Some new species of Eugnathodus (Homoptera Cicadellidae). Ohio Journal of Science 33(1): 55-58 [56].

  Type data:

   Holotype OSM ♂ (21.iv.1921), La Belle, Florida, USA.
• Nesosteles marquesana Osborn, H. 1934. Cicadellidae of the Marquesas Islands. Bulletin of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum 114: 239-269 [265].

  Type data:

   Holotype BPBM ♀ (coll: 3.iii.1931, Le Bronnec & H. Tauraa, 2500 ft), Va Huka, Hitikau Ridge, Marquesas Islands.
• Balclutha filum Linnavuori, R.E. 1960. Homoptera : Cicadellidae. Insects of Micronesia 6(5): 225-344 [342].

  Type data:

   Holotype USNM ♂ (16.xii.1947, H.S. Dybas), Babelthuap Island, Palau Islands.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Linnavuori, R.E. 1975. Homoptera : Cicadellidae, Supplement. Insects of Micronesia 6(9): 611-632 [632] (synonymy of E. floridana , N. marquesana , B. filum)
• Knight, W.J. 1987. Leafhoppers of the grass-feeding genus Balclutha (Homoptera, Cicadellidae) in the Pacific region. Journal of Natural History 21: 1173-1224 [1183] (synonymy of G. laevis , N. glauca )

Generic Combinations

• Balclutha lucida (Butler, 1877). —
  Metcalf, Z.P. 1968. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle VI, Cicadelloidea. Part 10, Euscelidae. Raleigh N.C. : North Carolina State College 2695 pp. [2409]

Introduction

This is another widespread species although the records in Australian collections are relatively sparse. It has been found from Cairns in the wet tropics of North Queensland to near Myrtleford in NE Victoria (Trebicki et al. 2010) but there are, as yet, no records from New South Wales.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, Qld, Vic: NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder (associated flora: Oryza sativa L. [POACEAE] Rice).

Diagnosis

Colour pale yellow or greenish yellow (image here has been decoloured in ethanol), sometimes suffused with rust. Head as wide as pronotum. Male pygophore acutely rounded posteriorly, without processes. Subgenital plates elongate, narrowing at midlength to finger-like apex. Connective with arms and stem of approximately equal length. Aedeagus simple; shaft elongate, cylindrical, curving dorsally and then anteriorly to point well anterior to base, straight or sinuate, gonopore apical. Length ♂ 2.7–3.5 mm, ♀ 2.8–3.7 mm (Knight 1987).
Knight (1987) provides illustrations of the male genitalia.

ID Keys

Knight 1987: 1180

Diagnosis References

Knight, W.J. 1987. Leafhoppers of the grass-feeding genus Balclutha (Homoptera, Cicadellidae) in the Pacific region. Journal of Natural History 21: 1173-1224 [1184–1185]

General References

Trebicki, P., Harding, R.M., Rodoni, B., Baxter, G. & Powell, K.S. 2010. Diversity of Cicadellidae in agricultural production areas in the Ovens Valley, north-east Victoria, Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 49(3): 213–220 [214]

History of changes