Tribe Scaphoideini Oman, 1943

Museums

Regional Maps

• Scaphoideini Oman, P.W. 1943. A generic revision of the Nearctic Cicadellidae (Homoptera). Bulletin of George Washington University 1941-43: 15-17 [16].

  Type genus:

   Scaphoideus Uhler, 1889.

Introduction

Scaphoideini currently contains 20 genera and over 300 described species spread through the Old World and New World tropical and temperate forests. In Australia, we have four genera, Scaphoideus Uhler with three species which were revised by Fletcher and Semeraro (2001) Melanetettix Knight & Fletcher with one Australian species, Diemoides Evans with nine endemic species and Thamnophryne Kirkaldy with a single described species although there are numerous undescribed species known in collections. Scaphoideus titanus Ball is the vector of Flavescence dorée of grapevines in Europe and S.luteolus Van Duzee is a vector of elm phloem necrosis in the United States but no economic damage has been associated with any Australian scaphoideine. The tribe was regarded as a nomen nudum by Zahniser and Dietrich (2010) because the first use of the name was in Paul W. Oman's published thesis abstract (Oman 1943), the full description appearing only in the unpublished thesis but it was redefined by Zahniser & Dietrich (2013) and ascribed to Oman (1943). Many of the included species are brightly coloured, attractive learhoppers.

Diagnosis

Despite a redefinition of the tribe by Zahniser & Dietrich (2013), it remains poorly defined. A list of features found in various combinations in the different genera is provided in that publication with two features found in all representatives. These are extremely long spines on the hind tibia (at least half the length of the fore tibia) and the presence of dense tufts of long fine or regular setae on the male or female pygofer. Most of the Australian representatives are fairly distinctively coloured although Thamnophryne and Diemoides include species which are brown often with dark brown markings.

ID Keys

Fletcher, M.J. (2009 and updates). Key to the leafhoppers and treehoppers of Australia and neighbouring areas (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/leafhop/index.html

Diagnosis References

Fletcher, M.J. & Semeraro, L. 2001. The genus Scaphoideus Uhler in Australia (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae). Australian Journal of Entomology 40(1): 1-8 [2]

Zahniser, J.N. & Dietrich, C.H. 2013. A review of the tribes of Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 45: 1–211 [148]

General References

Fletcher, M.J. & Semeraro, L. 2001. The genus Scaphoideus Uhler in Australia (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae). Australian Journal of Entomology 40(1): 1-8 [1]

Oman, P.W. 1943. A generic revision of the Nearctic Cicadellidae (Homoptera). Bulletin of George Washington University 1941-43: 15-17 [16]

Zahniser, J.N. & Dietrich, C.H. 2010. Phylogeny of the leafhopper subfamily Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) based on molecular and morphological data with a revised family-group classification. Systematic Entomology 35(3): 489–511 [499]

Zahniser, J.N. & Dietrich, C.H. 2013. A review of the tribes of Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 45: 1–211 [148]

History of changes