Species Peregrinus maidis (Ashmead, 1890)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Delphax maidis Ashmead, W.H. 1890. The corn delphacid, Delphax maidis. Psyche (Cambridge) 5: 321-324 [323].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown ♂, ♀, quantity unknown, Florida, USA.
• Delphax psylloides Lethierry, L.F. 1896. A new species of Fulgoridae, Delphax psylloides. Indian Museum Notes 3(3): 105–106 [105].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) IM ♂, ♀, Sri Lanka (coll: E.E. Green).
• Pundaluoya simplicia Distant, W.L. 1906. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma 3: 1-503 [468].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH sex, quantity unknown (coll.: Green), Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Kirkaldy, G.W. 1907. Descriptions et remarques sur quelques Homoptères de la famille des Fulgoroideae vivant sur la canne à sucre. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Comptes-rendus) 51: 123-127 [125] (synonymy of D. psylloides and P. simplicia)

Generic Combinations

• Peregrinus maidis (Ashmead, 1890). —
  Kirkaldy, G.W. 1904. Some new Oahuan (Hawaiian) Hemiptera. The Entomologist 37(494): 174-179 [176]

Introduction

This species, which has a pantropical distribution, is known to transmit Maize Stripe Tenuivirus, Maize Mosaic Virus (= Maize Mosaic Rhabdovirus), Sorghum Stripe Virus and Maize Mosaic Nucleorhabdovirus in SE Asia and the Pacific. It has been recorded in Australia in coastal Queensland, the far north of the Northern Territory and NE New South Wales. It appears to be restricted to maize.

Metcalf (1943) dated the description of Delphax psylloides by Lethierry as 1894 but the description was actually published in 1896. Lethierry (1896) provided the following notes on the occurrence of the species in Sri Lanka: "The species was forwarded from Ceylon by Mr E.E. Green, and the following particulars are taken from the interesting notes he has furnished regarding it. The insect is to be found in its various stages of growth swarming within the clasping sheaths of the leaves of the Indian corn plant (Zea mays). In wet weather it is accompanied by a sooty fungus which has not been noticed at other times. It is also attended by ants. The eggs are buried in the tissues of the plant on the inside of the sheathing leaves, the orifice being concealed by a deposit of white woolly secretion. The effect upon the plants depends upon the period at which they are attacked. If attacked when young, they are stunted and weakened. Older, well established plants do not suffer so much."

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), NSW North Coast (NNC), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder, vector.

Extra Ecological Information

This species is a vector of Maize Stripe Tenuivirus, Maize Mosaic Virus (= Maize Mosaic Rhabdovirus), Sorghum Stripe Virus and Maize Mosaic Nucleorhabdovirus in SE Asia and the Pacific.

Diagnosis

♂ Length 2 mm. wing expanse 6.6 mm. Pale greenish-yellow, in death pale brownish yellow; apex of first and the apical half of second antennal joints, lower part of frons, spots on pleurae, most of the abdomen, except the first ventral segment and the lateral edges of the dorsal segments, smoky black. Legs pale, the femora more or less embrowned; apex of posterior tibiae with several black tipped spines and a large movable spur; tarsi 3-jointed, the basal joint longer than the other two together, all with black tipped spines or teeth at apex the anterior and middle tarsi shorter, the terminal joint the longest, longer than the first two together, Face with three keels, the middle one forked on the frons above; clypeus also tricarinated, the middle carina delicate; beak, apparently but two-jointed, reaching far beyond the middle coxae, the first joint being slightly the longer. Prothorax and mesothorax tricarinate, those of the last being delicate or sub-obsolete. Front wings pale greenish-brown, sub-hyaline, the apex of the clavus and veins of apical cells more or less distinctly surrounded by filliginous clouds. ♀. Length 2.6 mm; wing expanse 7 mm. This sex agrees with the male, except its slightly larger size, the clypeus as well as the frons and all the coxae are more or less distinctly embrowned or blackish, while the apical edges of the abdominal segments, as well as the lateral edges and a broad dorsal stripe, are yellow. The brachypterous form measures 3 mm. in length, the abdomen being much broader and more depressed than in the fully winged form. The aborted wings, are less than 3 mm in length, with a spot at apex of clavus and two on the apical margin. (Ashmead 1890)

Diagnosis References

Ashmead, W.H. 1890. The corn delphacid, Delphax maidis. Psyche (Cambridge) 5: 321-324 [323–324]

General References

Lethierry, L.F. 1896. A new species of Fulgoridae, Delphax psylloides. Indian Museum Notes 3(3): 105–106 [105]

Common Name References

Ashmead, W.H. 1890. The corn delphacid, Delphax maidis. Psyche (Cambridge) 5: 321-324 [321] (Corn Delphacid)

Naumann, I. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Australian Insect Names. Common and Scientific Names for Insects and Allied Organisms of Economic and Environmental Importance. Melbourne : CSIRO Publications v 200 pp. [Date published 31/12/1993] [36] (Maize Planthopper)

History of changes