Subfamily Cicadellinae Van Duzee, 1916

Museums

Regional Maps

• Cicadellina Van Duzee, E.P. 1916. Suborder Homoptera Latr. 1810. Section Auchenorhyncha A. & S. 1843. In, Check list of Hemiptera (excepting the Aphididae, Aleurodidae and Coccidae) of America North of Mexico. 1-111 pp. [65].

  Type genus:

   Cicadella Latreille, 1817 [placed on the list of Generic Names in Zoology, ICZN Opinion 647, 1963].

Introduction

The Cicadellinae are characterised by the swollen frontoclypeus, associated with their food source being xylem fluid rather than phloem fluid as with most other leafhoppers. Xylem feeders tend to be larger insects with expanded cibarial pump and associated muscles. Within the Cicadellidae, only the Cicadellinae are known xylem feeders. Other Cicadellidae are phloem feeders or cell-rupture feeders, ie parenchyma feeders. Within Australia, there are four genera recognised, all in the tribe Cicadellini. David A. Young published a landmark series of taxonomic works reviewing the Cicadellinae of the world of which Young (1979) on the genus Cofana Melichar and Young (1986) on the old-world Cicadellini are of most relevance to Australia. The Australian species are medium sized or larger, elongate insects. The most common species are those in the genus Ishidaella Matsumura which are medium sized leafhoppers with blue-black tegmina and yellow heads with various patterns of black. Australia also has three species of Cofana with C. spectra (Distant), known as the white leafhopper, recorded on a number of economic grass species overseas including rice, barley, wheat, sugarcane and sorghum although few reports indicate that any significant damage was caused to those hosts (Young 1979).

Diagnosis

Leafhoppers in this subfamily are usually cylindrical in shape. The face of the head is convex, the labium short, the anteclypeus wide and swollen, and the maxillary plates narrow or of moderate width. The postclypeus, which is considerably swollen, extends laterally on to the crown. The ocelli are situated on the crown. The antennal ledges, which are situated at the hind margin of the face, are strong and rounded but not prominent. They are visible from above as projecting ledges (Evans 1966).

ID Keys

Fletcher, M.J. (2009 and updates). Key to the leafhoppers and treehoppers of Australia and neighbouring areas (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/leafhop/index.html

Diagnosis References

Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [143–144]

General References

Young, D.A. 1979. A review of the leafhopper genus Cofana (Homoptera: Cicadellidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 81: 1-21

Young, D.A. 1986. Taxonomic study of the Cicadellinae (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) Part 3. Old World Cicadellini. Technical Bulletin of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service 281: 1-639

History of changes