Species Sextius virescens (Fairmaire, 1846)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Centrotus virescens Fairmaire, L.M.H. 1846. Revue de la tribu des Membracides. (Suite et fin). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 2(4): 479-531 [515].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) MNHP sex, quantity (Donné par M. Eug. Desmarest), Australia
  Comment: Day (1999) stated that the type was missing.
• Ceresa suffusa Walker, F. 1851. List of the Specimens of Homopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum (Natural History) Vol. 2 pp. 261-636. [530].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♀, locality unknown.
• Sextius assimilis Kirkaldy, G.W. 1906. Leafhoppers and their natural enemies. Bulletin of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experimental Station Entomological Series 1(9): 271-479 [376].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BPBM sex, quantity unknown (coll.: i.1905, Koebele), Sydney, New South Wales.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Goding, F.W. 1903. A monograph of the Australian Membracidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 28: 2-41 [10] (synonymy of C. suffusa)
• Metcalf, Z.P. & Wade, V. 1965. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Membracoidea. Section 1. Raleigh, North Carolina : North Carolina State University pp. 1-743. [208] (synonymy of S. assimilis)

 

Generic Combinations

• Sextius virescens (Fairmaire, 1846). —
  Goding, F.W. 1903. A monograph of the Australian Membracidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 28: 2-41 [10]

 

Introduction

This is the best known Australian membracid. It is common and widespread in Australia and its distribution is probably almost as wide as that of its major hosts which are species of Acacia Mill. (Fabaceae). However, a species level revision of the genus Sextius will hopefully determine how many valid species of the genus are present in Australia and this will probably affect the known distributions of all described species. Adults and nymphs of this species are familiar on wattles and are almost always tended by ants. Cookson & New (1980) listed 18 species of Acacia being utilised by this species in southern Victoria. Kitching (1974) described the nymphal stages and Kitching & Filshie (1974) described the morphology and mode of action of the anal apparatus.

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, WA: Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Pine Creek (PCK), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder (associated flora: Acacia decurrens Willd. [FABACEAE] Black Wattle; Acacia sp. [FABACEAE] Wattle).

 

Diagnosis

Pallide virescens; cornubus acutis, divaricatis, spina postica vix emarginata.
Ponctué, d'un jaune verdâtre pâle; cornes testacées, divariquées, triangulaires, aiguës, peu allongées; partie postérieure du prothorax légèrement échancrée à l'écusson, épaisse à la base; tête obtuse, testacée; pied testacés. Elytres hyalines, légèrement verdâtres à la base (Fairmaire 1846).

 

Diagnosis References

Fairmaire, L.M.H. 1846. Revue de la tribu des Membracides. (Suite et fin). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 2(4): 479-531 [515–516]

 

General References

Cookson, L. & New, T.R. 1980. Observations on the biology of Sextius virescens (Fairmaire) (Homoptera, Membracidae) on Acacia in Victoria. Australian Entomological Magazine 7(1): 4–10

Kitching, R.L. 1974. The immature stages of Sextius virescens (Fairmaire) (Homoptera: Membracidae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 13: 55–60

Kitching, R.L. & Filshie, B.K. 1974. The morphology and mode of action of the anal apparatus of membracid nymphs with special reference to Sextius virescens (Fairmaire) (Homoptera). Journal of Entomology. Series A 49(1): 81–88

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
26-Jun-2023	MEMBRACOIDEA	26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
26-Jun-2023	MEMBRACIDAE Germar, 1821	24-May-2023	MODIFIED
10-May-2022	CICADOMORPHA	26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
02-Jun-2021	AUCHENORRHYNCHA	26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
16-May-2012		26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
26-Apr-2012		26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED
		26-Jun-2023	MODIFIED