Genus Philagra Stål, 1863

Philagra sp. nymphs in "spittle" on sheoak branches.

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Philagra Stål, C. 1863. Hemipterorum exoticorum generum et specierum nonnullarum novarum descriptiones. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 3 1: 571-603 [593].

  Type species:

   Philagra douglasi Stål, 1863 by subsequent designation, see Metcalf, Z.P. & Horton, G. 1934. The Cercopoidea (Homoptera) of China. Lingnan Science Journal 13: 367-429 [399].
• Chalepus Walker, F. 1851. List of the Specimens of Homopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum (Natural History) Vol. 3 pp. 637-907. [731] [junior homonym; of Chalepus Thunberg, 1805].

  Type species:

   Chalepus hastatus Walker, 1851 by subsequent designation, see Distant, W.L. 1908. Rhynchota. — Vol. IV. Homoptera and Appendix. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma 4: 1-501 [108].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Distant, W.L. 1908. Rhynchota. — Vol. IV. Homoptera and Appendix. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma 4: 1-501 [107] (synonymy of Chalepus Walker (preoccupied) with Philagra Stål)

Introduction

Species of Philagra are immediately recognised by the prolongation of the front of the head to form a narrow, upturned horn and the general honey-brown colour of the included species. The genus includes more than 30 species from China, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, India and Indonesia with four species recorded from Australia. The Australian distribution given here is based on collection records from the Australian Plant Pest Database which gives precise distributions in SE Queensland and eastern New South Wales with other states included on the basis that Evans (1966) noted that P. parva is distributed in all states and territories although precise localities are not available. The species tend to be associated with Acacia Mill. (Fabaceae) and species of Casuarinaceae.

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ)

Diagnosis

Head narrower than pronotum, anteriorly extended forwards as narrow process almost twice as long as pronotum. Tegmina narrowing apically, widest about level of apex of scutellum, covered with fine short golden hairs, venation inconspicuous, M and Cu fused basally, preapical cells, 3 of similar width. Legs robust, short. Hind tibia with two spurs, the distal larger than the proximal. Male pygofer short; subgenital plates large and elongate, tapering from base to dorsally recurved apex; genital styles usually forked or excavated apically; and aedeagal shaft tubular and straight, usually with spinose processes.

ID Keys

http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/cercopid/aphrophor/aphro00.htm

Diagnosis References

Liang, A.-P. & Fletcher, M.J. 2003. A review of the Australian aphrophorid spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae). Australian Journal of Entomology 42(1): 84-93 [88]

History of changes