Species Ribautiana ulmi (Linnaeus, 1758)

Ribautiana ulmi (L.), adult female.

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Cicada ulmi Linnaeus, C. 1758. II. Hemiptera. pp. 434-457 in Linnaeus, C. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10, 824 pp. [439].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown sex, quantity unknown (depository unknown), Sweden.
• Eupteryx ocellata Curtis, J. 1829. Homoptera. A Guide to an Arrangement of British Insects; being a catalogue of all the named species hitherto discovered in Great Britain and Ireland. United Kingdom : Publisher unknown 256 pp. [192] [nom. nud.].
• Cicada musciformis De Geer, C. 1773. Cinquième mémoire. Des Cigales. Memoires pour servir a I'Historie des Insectes 3: 1-696 [189].

  Type data:

   Status unknown.
• Leptochloris [monomial] Amyot, C.J.B. 1847. Entomologie Française. Rhynchotes. Méthode Monomymique. Ordre deuxième, Homoptères. Homoptera. Latr. [Part 4]. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 2 5: 143-238 [232] [invalid name].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• De Geer, C. 1773. Cinquième mémoire. Des Cigales. Memoires pour servir a I'Historie des Insectes 3: 1-696 [189] (synonymy of C. musciformis)
• 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. [895] (synonymy of E. ocellata)

Generic Combinations

• Ribautiana ulmi (Linnaeus, 1758). —
  Zachvatkin, A.A. 1947. Homoptera Cicadina from north-western Persia. Revue d'Entomologique de l'URSS 28: 106-115 [113]

Introduction

The European elm leafhopper is widespread in the cooler parts of Australia and causes extensive chlorotic mottling on its hosts which reduces the value of such trees as ornamentals in Australia. In Europe, its principal hosts are species of elm, Ulmus L. (Ulmaceae) but it is also known from alder, Alnus Miller (Betulaceae), Tilia L. (Tiliaceae), Quercus L. (Fagaceae), Buxus L. (Buxaceae) and bramble (Rosaceae) (Ribaut 1936). The species was first reported in Australia by Fletcher & Williams (1987) who recorded it near Melbourne on elm and alder. A different species of the genus, Ribautiana tenerrima (Herrich-Schäffer), the Bramble Leafhopper, has been introduced to New Zealand and poses a potential biosecurity threat for the Australian berry fruit industry.

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Tas, Vic: Flinders (FLI), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: parenchyma feeder (associated flora: Ulmus spp. [ULMACEAE]; Alnus spp. [BETULACEAE]; Tilia spp. [MALVACEAE]; Quercus spp. [FAGACEAE]; Buxus spp. [BUXACEAE]; Rubus spp. [ROSACEAE]), pest (associated flora: Alnus [BETULACEAE] alder; Ulmus [ULMACEAE] elms).

Diagnosis

This species is easy to recognise once it has been placed into the tribe Typhlocybini since it is green and found on elms and alders. The only other Typhlocybini in Australia is yellow and found on pome fruit.

General References

Fletcher, M.J. & Williams, D.G. 1987. The occurrence in Australia of Ribautiana ulmi (L.) (Homoptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 26: 373-374 [373]

Ribaut, H. 1936. Homoptères Auchénorhynques. I. (Typhlocybidae). Faune de France 31: 1–231 [115–116]

History of changes