The Auchenorrhyncha fauna of peat bogs in the Austrian part of the Bohemian Forest (Insecta,Hemiptera)

The first overview on the Auchenorrhyncha fauna of peat bogs of the Austrian Bohemian Forest is presented. Seven oligotrophic peat bog sites were studied in 2011 by suction sampler (“G-Vac”) and 93 Auchenorrhyncha species (with 7465 adult specimens) were recorded. Eleven species (about 18 % of the individuals) are tyrphobiontic or tyrphophilous. The relative species abundance plot is not very steep; the six most abundant species represent 50 % of the individuals. The most common species is Conomelus anceps (17 % of the individuals). Compared to the whole Austrian Auchenorrhyncha fauna, the fauna of peat bogs comprises distinctly more univoltine species and more species hibernating in nymphal stage. Densities of adult Auchenorrhyncha in peat bogs are low in spring (about 10–60 individuals per m²) and high in July, with up to 180 (±50) individuals per m². Disturbed peat bogs have higher species numbers and higher Auchenorrhyncha densities in total, but lower numbers and densities in peat bog specialists.     

Taxonomic review of the genus Tambinia Stål (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Tropiduchidae) with descriptions of four new species from the Pacific region

Four new species of Tambinia Stål (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Tropiduchidae), Tambinia conus sp. n. (Papua New Guinea), Tambinia macula sp. n. (Malaysia: Borneo), Tambinia robustocarina sp. n. (Malaysia: Sabah) and Tambinia sexmaculata sp. n. (Australia: Kuranda) are described and illustrated from the Pacific region. The diagnostic characters of this genus are redefined. A checklist and a key to the known species of Tambinia are provided.     

Implications of imaginal-size variation over the flight period in stoneflies (Plecoptera)

In the present study, the decrease in the mean size of specimens over the species flight period in Plecoptera (12 species, 5 families) was analysed, revealing a significant decrease in the adult mean size, for both males and female, in almost all the species without an extended flight-period pattern. Some of the data show that, in addition to temperature, other regulatory factors must govern these variations. Data support the explanation previously proposed for other insect groups that the individuals with appropriate development emerge at the beginning of the flight period or slightly afterwards, when environmental conditions are suitable, whereas individuals with suboptimal size emerge later trying to increase in size but under pressure to emerge during a specific period of the year. Nevertheless, our data suggest that maximum size does not necessarily coincide with the peak flight period (maximum reproductive possibility).     

Paracorethrura Melichar, 1915 (Hemiptera: Lophopidae): two distinct species or sexual dimorphism in a species?

A taxonomic update is provided for Paracorethrura Melichar, 1915. P. arrhen n. sp. is described from Vietnam and brings up the number of species to two for the genus: P. iocnemis (Jacobi, 1905) being known only by female specimens and P. arrhen only by males, CO1 sequences are provided in order to check if they are truly two different species or if we are witnessing some sexual dimorphism.     

Les cicadiaires vecteurs potentiels de phytopathogènes en vignoble tunisien (Hemiptera : Cicadomorpha : Fulgoromorpha)

Afin de connaître la faune des cicadiaires dans le vignoble tunisien, plusieurs collectes ont été réalisées. Ces prélèvements de 1109 spécimens, effectuées aussi bien sur la vigne que sur les adventices, au cours de l’année 2001, ont concerné plusieurs parcelles, dans les principales régions viticoles du pays : Rafraf, Baddar, Mraissa, Belli, Gobba et Bousalem. Trente espèces d’Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha et Fulgoromorpha, ont été collectées dont les espèces vectrices de phytoplasme et les espèces aux dégâts directs sur la vigne. 82,50% des espèces de cicadelles rencontrées en Tunisie sont signalées comme vecteurs de virus ou de phytoplasmes causant des maladies graves ou comme ravageurs directs des cultures. Les 17,49% restant ne jouent pas de rôle important sur les cultures.     

A preliminary study on the distribution patterns of endemic species of Fulgoromorpha (Hemiptera,?Auchenorrhyncha) in Iran

Iran is known as the most complex and varied country in southwest Asia, in terms of geography, vegetation, climate and consequently biological diversity. The rather high number of recorded endemic species of Fulgoromorpha in Iran indicates a high potential for speciation in some areas.In this study, in order to identify the endemic zones for Fulgoromorpha of Iran, three main biogeographic regions of the country were divided into 13 primary zones, mainly according to the distribution of published and unpublished locality records of endemic species. Using Venn diagrams and cluster analyses on the primary zones, 6 final endemic zones were recognized: Caspian zone, southern slopes of Alborz, Zagros Mountains, Kerman Mountains, Khorasan Mountains, and Baluchestan and Persian Gulf coasts. Then a similarity map was produced for endemic zones using a Multidimensional analysis (Alscal) and the differences between the positions of the same zones in the similarity and geographic maps were discussed.     

Planthoppers of Delaware (Hemiptera, Fulgoroidea), excluding Delphacidae, with species Incidence from adjacent States

The number of species of planthoppers (excluding Delphacidae) known from Delaware is updated from 7 (in 4 families) to 62 species (in 9 families). Specimen abundance is tallied by county and seasonally by two week intervals. The Chao1 abundance estimator suggests that the true fauna may be 74 species, although species incidence tallied from adjacent states (MD, NJ, PA and DC) suggests that a total fauna of approximately 100 species may be possible. An artificial key is presented to genus and select species with photos of most included taxa.     

A new genus of the tribe Issini (Hemiptera,Fulgoromorpha, Issidae) from China

Macrodarumoides petalinus, a new genus and species of Issidae (Hemiptera) are described based on specimens from Yunnan and Guangxi, China.     

Molecular phylogenetics of cixiid planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha): new insights from combined analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear genes

The planthopper family Cixiidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) comprises approximately 160 genera and 2000 species divided in three subfamilies: Borystheninae, Bothriocerinae and Cixiinae, the later with 16 tribes. The current paper represents the first attempt to estimate phylogenetic relationships within Cixiidae based on molecular data. We use a total of 3652 bp sequence alignment of four genes: the mitochondrial coding genes Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit 1 (Cox1) and Cytochrome b (Cytb), a portion of the nuclear 18S rDNA and two non-contiguous portions of the nuclear 28S rDNA. The phylogenetic relationships of 72 terminal specimens were reconstructed using both maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference methods. Through the analysis of this empirical dataset, we also provide comparisons among different a priori partitioning strategies and the use of mixture models in a Bayesian framework. Our comparisons suggest that mixture models overcome the benefits obtained by partitioning the data according to codon position and gene identity, as they provide better accuracy in phylogenetic reconstructions. The recovered maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference phylogenies suggest that the family Cixiidae is paraphyletic in respect with Delphacidae. The paraphyly of the subfamily Cixiinae is also recovered by both approaches. In contrast to a morphological phylogeny recently proposed for cixiids, subfamilies Borystheninae and Bothriocerinae form a monophyletic group.