Species Maiestas dorsalis (Motschulsky, 1859)

Maiestas dorsalis (Motschulsky), adult.

© Copyright Prof. Mike Claridge, University of Wales, UK.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Deltocephalus dorsalis Motschulsky, V.I. 1859. Homoptères. In, Insectes des Indes orientales, et de contrées analogues. Etudes Entomologiques, rédigées par Victor de Motschulsky. 25-118 pp. [114].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ZMM ♀ (coll.: M. Nietner), 'Colom.' [Colombo], Sri Lanka.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Vilbaste, J. 1975. On some species of Homoptera Cicadinea described by V. Motschulsky. Eesti NSV Teaduste Akadeemia Toimetised 24, Bioloogia. Vol. 3. 228-236 pp. [233].
• Deltocephalus fulguralis Matsumura, S. 1902. Monographie der Jassinen Japans. Természetrajzi Füzetek 25: 353-404 [391].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) MATS 3 ♀ (coll.: Matsumura), Hatiodji, nr Tokyo, Japan; MATS sex, quantity unknown (coll.: Nawa), Gifu, Japan; MATS sex, quantity unknown (coll.: M. Yano), Buzen, Japan.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Melichar, L. 1903. Homopteren-Fauna von Ceylon. Berlin: Felix L. Dames. 248 pp. [200]

Generic Combinations

• Recilia (Inazuma) dorsalis (Motschulsky, 1859). —
  Kwon, Y.J. & Lee, C.E. 1979. On some new and little known Palaearctic species of leafhoppers (Homoptera : Auchenorrhyncha : Cicadellidae). Nature and Life in Southeast Asia 9(2): 69-97 [80]
• Inazuma dorsalis (Motschulsky, 1859). —
  Ishihara, T. 1953. A tentative checklist of the superfamily Cicadelloidea of Japan (Homoptera). Scientific Reports of the Matsuyama Agricultural College 11: 1-72 [48]
• Recilia dorsalis (Motschulsky, 1859). —
  Nielson, M.W. 1968. The leafhopper vectors of phytopathogenic viruses (Homoptera, Cicadellidae). Taxonomy, biology, and virus transmission. United States Department of Agriculture. Technical Bulletin 1382: 1-386 [315]
• Maiestas dorsalis (Motschulsky, 1859). —
  Webb, M.D. & Viraktamath, C.A. 2009. Annotated check-list, generic key and new species of Old World Deltocephalini leafhoppers with nomenclatorial changes in the Deltocephalus group and other Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Cicadellidae). Zootaxa 2163: 1-64 [16]

Introduction

This is the most distinctively marked species of the genus with its zigzag dark marking down the length of the tegmen. It is a minor pest of rice but is also a known vector of a number of rice diseases (Wilson & Claridge 1991) although whether it transmits the diseases in Australia has yet to be shown.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld: Darwin Coastal (DAC), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Plains (GUP), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder.

Extra Ecological Information

Known hosts: rice, barley, wheat, sugarcane (Poaceae), Citrus (Rutaceae) (Nielson 1968: 317).

Diagnosis

This species is easily recognisable by the zig-zag marking on its tegmen.

Common Name References

Wilson, M.R. & Claridge, M.F. 1991. Handbook for the Identification of Leafhoppers and Planthoppers of Rice. Wallingford : CAB International 142 pp. [92] (Zig-Zag Leafhopper)

History of changes