Species Kahaono montana Evans, 1966

Museums

Regional Maps

• Kahaono montana Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [261].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM K68463 ♂ (coll.: iii. 1963, J.W. Evans, 1600 m), Mt Kosciuszko, New South Wales.

 

Introduction

This beautifully coloured insect is remarkable as the only member of the Order Hemiptera known to produce a genuine proteinaceous silk. The first report of the nymphs of the species living under silken shelters on leaves was by Day and Fletcher (1994) while Fletcher & Kent (2002) showed that this habit was associated with this species in other parts of the country on more than one species of Eucalyptus l'Hér. (Myrtaceae). Chang et al. (2005) showed that the material was a genuine proteinaceous silk and Gurr and Fletcher (2011) confirmed that the silk was produced by the insects themselves and that the shelters provided protection from predators. It is unknown how the silk is produced. In addition, observations have shown that Kahaono wallacei Evans also uses the K. montana tents at Richmond, New South Wales and it is possible that both species contribute to the tent construction. If so, this would be a remarkable example of interspecific cooperation. If not, then K. wallacei could be considered a social parasite of K. montana. K. wallacei has been observed feeding without such shelters in Orange Botanic Gardens, New South Wales (Fletcher & Kent 2002). K. montana has been recorded in several locations from SE Queensland south as far as the Sydney basin in New South Wales.

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Australian Alps (AA), Sydney Basin (SB), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: parenchyma feeder (associated flora: Eucalyptus dunnii Maiden, 1905 [MYRTACEAE] Dunn's White Gum; Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill, 1862 [MYRTACEAE] Flooded gum; Eucalyptus robusta Smith, 1795 [MYRTACEAE] Swamp mahogany).

Nymph: silk fixed retreat maker.

 

Diagnosis

General coloration pallid (spirit specimens). Tegmen in part pale hyaline brown, in part vitreous; veins apically brown, arms of apical Y-vein, very dark brown. Length ♂ 3.8, ♀ 4.2 mm (Evans 1966).

The male is smaller than the female and with more extensive dark brown on the tegmen. The tegmen also has some red markings towards the base. The male in the image provided here also has extensive whitish patches of brochosomes (see http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~rakitov/brochosomes.html).

 

Diagnosis References

Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [261]

 

General References

Chang, J.C., Fletcher, M.J., Gurr, G.M., Kent, D.S. & Gilbert, R.G. 2005. A new silk: Mechanical, compositional, and morphological characterization of leafhopper (Kahaono montana) silk. Polymer 46(19): 7909–7917

Day, M.F. & Fletcher, M.J. 1994. An annotated catalogue of the Australian Cicadelloidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). Invertebrate Taxonomy 8: 1117-1288 [1228]

Fletcher, M.J. & Kent, D.S. 2002. Feeding by Kahaono leafhoppers in silken shelters (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Dikraneurini). Australian Entomologist 29(4): 115–118

Gurr, G.M. & Fletcher, M.J. 2011. Silk production by the Australian endemic leafhopper Kahaono montana Evans (Cicadellidae:Typhlocybinae: Dikraneurini) provides protection from predators. Australian Journal of Entomology 50(3): 231–233

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
26-Jun-2023	MEMBRACOIDEA	26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
10-May-2022	CICADOMORPHA	24-May-2023	MODIFIED
02-Jun-2021	AUCHENORRHYNCHA	26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
05-Dec-2019	CICADELLIDAE Latreille, 1825	26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED	Dr Murray Fletcher
05-Dec-2019		26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)