Genus Laccocera Van Duzee, 1897

[back to Higher Classification of Delphacidae]
[back to A checklist of New World delphacid species]

Family Delphacidae Leach, 1815

Subfamily Delphacinae Leach, 1815

Tribe Delphacini Leach, 1815

Genus Laccocera Van Duzee, 1897: 241.

Type species: Laccocera vittipennis Van Duzee, 1897.

Distribution

New World; western US and Canada with a few northeastern records of Laccocera vittipennis.

Recognized species

There are ten recognized species in this genus: [Genus found in Metcalf 1943: 126]

Laccocera bicornata Crawford, 1914: 582 – USA: Colorado
Laccocera canadensis Beirne, 1950: 173 – USA: MT; CAN: AB, BC, SK
Laccocera flava Crawford, 1914: 581 – USA: CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY; CAN: AB, SK
= Laccocera zonata var. flava Crawford, 1914: 581.
= Laccocera flava Crawford, 1914; status by Penner 1945: 40.
Laccocera lineata Scudder, 1963: 174 – USA: WA; CAN: AB, BC, SK
Laccocera minuta Penner, 1945: 32 – USA: Arizona
Laccocera obesa Van Duzee, 1897: 244 – USA: AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, KS, MT, NE, NM, NV, SD, TX, UT, WY; CAN: AB, SK
Laccocera oregonensis Penner, 1945: 44 – USA: ID, MT, OR, WA; CAN: BC
Laccocera vanduzeei Penner, 1945: 34 – USA: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, UT; CAN: BC
Laccocera vittipennis Van Duzee, 1897: 242 – USA: CA, CO, IA, ID, ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NH, NV, NY, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY; CAN: AB, BC, MB, ON, QC, SK
Laccocera zonata Van Duzee, 1897: 243 – USA: AZ, CA, CO, NV, MT; CAN: AB

Plant Associations

This genus appears to feed on grasses.

Laccocera obesa was reported from Thinopyrum ponticum (Podp.) Z.-W. Liu & R.-C. Wang (tall wheatgrass) (Poaceae, a grass; interestingly, the distribution of Laccocera corresponds fairly closely to the distribution of this species).

Laccocera sp. was reported from Achnatherum coronatum (Thurb.) Barkworth (giant ricegrass, as Stipa coronata Thurb.), Muhlenbergia richardsonis (Trin.) Rydb. (mat muhly) , and Puccinellia sp. (alkaligrass) (all Poaceae, grasses).

Laccocera vanduzeei was collected from Weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees).

See also Hamilton 2002: 41.

Note: Host information from Wilson et al. (1994) and Wilson & Wheeler (2010); check FLOW for additional hosts not listed here (none as of 11 Aug 2017)

Predators/parasites

Laccocera vittipennis was reported taken by Mimesa (Mimesa) cressonii Packard (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) (Kurczewski & and Lane 1974: 379; also Krombien 1979: 1596).

Economic Importance

Probably limited; none have been associated with economic crops.  Laccocera lineata was listed as endemic and potentially rare in Scudder (1994: 43).

Recognition

The genus is easily recognized by the pitted frons and body (shared with Achorotile), but having the median carina of the frons forked near the vertex (different from Achorotile).  Some of the species can be challenging to recognize.

Keys to species are presented by Penner (1945) and Scudder (1963); Scudder’s key includes only the Canadian species, while Penner’s key does not include the 2 species subsequently described (obviously)

Here is the key to species of Laccocera modified from Penner (1945)

1. Vertex considerably broader than long; median cell of vertex either not angled anteriorly or bluntly so … 2

1’. Vertex square or but slightly broader than long; median cell of vertex sharply angled anteriorly … 4

2. Body less than 1.5 mm to tip of abdomen; median cell of vertex oblongate; styles [parameres] quite short; aedeagus slender and but slightly curved … Laccocera minuta Penner

2’. Body length greater than 1.5 mm to tip of abdomen; median cell of vertex hexagonal or rounded anteriorly; styles long; aedeagus considerably curved … 3

3.  Anterior margin of vertex rounded; lateral margins of median cell of vertex nearly parallel, rounded anteriorly; pronotum not as wide as head; genital styles shorter and obliquely truncate … Laccocera vanduzeei Penner

3’. Anterior margin of vertex straight; median cell hexagonal; pronotum about as wide as head; genital styles long and pointed at tip … Laccocera vittipennis Van Duzee

4. Median carinae of vertex meet abruptly below apex; genital styles short; aedeagus blunt, barbed … Laccocera obesa Van Duzee

4’. Median carinae of vertex meet at or before apex; genital styles long; aedeagus long, either spatulate or hooked at tip… 5

5. Six prominent pits in each compartment of frons… 6

5’. Seven prominent pits in each compartment of frons; aedeagus with process before tip resembling blade-shaped hook; processes of tenth abdominal segment long and curved…Laccocera zonata Van Duzee

6. Aedeagus lobed at tip; anterior lateral margins of median cell of vertex straight … Laccocera flava Crawford

6’. Aedeagus lobed at tip [with] about four serrations on ventral margin in front of hook; anterior lateral margins of median cell of vertex narrowed in middle … Laccocera oregonensis Penner

Laccocera vittapennis

Male

Female

Laccocera canadensis PARATYPE

Laccacera canadensis (from the Beaty Biodiversity Museum website)

Laccocera flava (The following images from the Beaty Biodiversity Museum website)

Laccocera lineata (from the Beaty Biodiversity Museum website)

 

Laccocera vanduzeei from BOLD.

Laccocera zonata

 

Laccocera canadensis from Beirne, 1950

Laccocera from Scudder 1963

Laccocera from Penner 1945 (plates 1-5)

Online resources

Laccocera at …

BOLD.
EOL
FLOW
Discover Life
Bugguide
3I Interactive Keys and Taxonomic Databases (Dmitry Dmitriev)
Spencer Entomological Collection , Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Les Hemipteres du Quebec

Web Photos

The photo gallery of the Spencer Entomological Collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum has some nice images of the holotype of Laccocera lineata here.

Molecular Resources

GenBank has a lot of data from Laccocera vittapennis (but little else).  BOLD at this time (Feb. 2020) has 91 sequences, including 8 taxa but successful for 3 species.

Selected References

Barringer, L. E. and C. R. Bartlett. 2018. Pennsylvania planthoppers (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoroidea): relative abundance and incidental catch using novel trapping methods. Insecta Mundi 0661: 1–31.

Bartlett, C. R., L. B. O’Brien and S. W. Wilson. 2014. A review of the planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) of the United States. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 50: 1-287.

Beirne, B. P. 1950. A new species of Laccocera from Canada and records of other Canadian species (Homoptera: Araeopidae). Canadian Entomologist 82: 173-174. [pdf is poor photocopy]

Blades, D.C.A. and C.W. Maier. 1996. A survey of grassland and montane arthropods collected on the southern Okanagan region of British Columbia. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 93: 49-73. (Laccocera vanduzeei noted)

Britton, W. E. 1920a. Check-list of the insects of Connecticut. Bulletin of the Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey 31.  397 pp.  [see pp. 45-56; whole volume from http://openlibrary.org; vittipennis listed p. 51]

Cockerell, T.D.A. 1915. Animals and plants described as new from Colorado in 1912, 1913, and 1914.  The University of Colorado studies 11(4): 213-251.

Crawford, D. L. 1914. A contribution toward a monograph of the Homopterous insects of the family Delphacidae of North and South America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 46: 557-640.

Downes, W. 1927a. A preliminary list of the Heteroptera and Homoptera of British Columbia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 1927: 5-22. [see p. 21]

Dozier, H. L. 1926a. Notes on new and interesting delphacids. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 34: 257-263.

Fletcher, J. 1907a. Entomological record, 1906. Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 37: 86-104.

Hamilton, K.G.A. 2002a. Homoptera (Insecta) in Pacific Northwest grasslands. Part 1 – New and revised taxa of leafhoppers and planthoppers (Cicadellidae and Delphacidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 99: 3-31. [p. 16, description of A. apicata]

Hamilton, K.G.A. 2002b. Homoptera (Insecta) in Pacific Northwest grasslands. Part 2 – Pleistocene refugia and postglacial dispersal of Cicadellidae, Delphacidae and Caliscelidae. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia. 99: 33-80. [see p. 43, 73)

Haws, B. A., D. L. Nelson, A. H. Roe. 1988. Index to information on insects associated with western wildland shrubs. General technical report INT 248. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Ogden, UT. 296 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.100137 [listed L. flava, L. spp.]

Krombein, K. V. 1979. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America north of Mexico, vol. 2. Apocrita (Aculeata). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC. Pp. i-xvi + 1199-2209. (1596)

Kurczewski, F. E. and C. J. Lane. 1974. Observations on the nesting behavior of Mimesa (Mimesa) basirufa Packard and M. (M.) cressonii Packard (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 76: 375-384.

Leach, W. E. 1815a. Entomology. The Edinburg encyclopedia; conducted by David Brewster 9: 57-172. (family Delphacidae here).

Maw, H.E.L., R.G. Foottit, K.G.A. Hamilton and G.G.E. Scudder. 2000. Checklist of the Hemiptera of Canada and Alaska. NRC Research Press, Ottawa. read online: http://www.ccebook.org/preview/0660181657/Checklist-of-the-hemiptera-of-Canada-and-Alaska.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1923a. A key to the Fulgoridae of Eastern North America with descriptions of new species. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 38(3): 139-230, plus 32 plates. [from http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/jncas/] [p. 216, 227, 229]

Metcalf, Z. P. 1943. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 3, Araeopidae (Delphacidae). Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. 552 pp.

Muir, F.A.G. and W. M. Giffard. 1924a. Studies in North American Delphacidae. Bulletin of the Experiment Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association, Entomological series no. 15: 1-53.

Osborn, H. 1898a. Additions to the list of Hemiptera of Iowa, with descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science 5: 232-247. (L. vittapennis listed).

Penner, L. R. 1945. The genus Laccocera Van Duzee (Homoptera: Delphacidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 18: 30-47.

Procter, W. 1946. The insect fauna with reference to methods of capture, foodpalnts, the flora and other biological features. Biological Survey Mt. Desert region Inc. Part VII. 446 pp. [Laccocera vittipennis listed, also in earlier editions of same work, e.g. 1927 p. 33, 1938 p. 75]

Scudder, G.G.E. 1963. Studies on the Canadian and Alaskan Fulgoromorpha (Hemiptera).I. The genera Achrotile [sic] Fieber and Laccocera Van Duzee (Delphacidae). Canadian Entomologist 95: 167-177. [pdf is poor photocopy]

Scudder, G. G. E. 1994. An annotated systematic list of the potentially rare and endangered freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates in British Columbia. Entomological Society of British Columbia. 92 pp. [Laccocera lineata listed]

Van Duzee, E. P. 1897. A preliminary review of the North American Delphacidae. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 5: 225-261. (see p. 241 for Laccocera).

Van Duzee, E. P. 1905a. List of Hemiptera taken in the Adirondacks Mountains. Bulletin of the New York State Museum 97: 546-556. (Laccocera p. 553)

Van Duzee, E. P. 1912c. A few days’ work and play in Canada. Ottawa Naturalist 26: 68-70.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1916a. Check list of Hemiptera (excepting the Aphididae, Aleurodidae and Coccidae) of America North of Mexico. New York Entomological Society, New York. 111 pp. [see p. 78 onward]

Van Duzee, E. P. 1917a. Report upon the collection of Hemiptera made by Walter M. Giffard in 1916 and 1917, chiefly in California. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Ser. 4) 7(11): 249-318. [see p. 321]

Van Duzee, E. P. 1917b. Catalogue of the Hemiptera of America North of Mexico (excepting the Aphididae, Coccidae and Aleurodidae). University of California Publications, Technical Bulletins, vol. 2. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. i-xiv, 1-902. [from Google books] (see p. 770).

Wilson, S. W. 1988. Delphacidae of Alaska (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs 12: 335-343.

Wilson, S. W. 1992. The Delphacidae of Yukon Territory, Canada (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Insecta Mundi 6(2): 79-100.

Wilson, S. W. and A. G. Wheeler, Jr. 2010. Planthopper (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) diversity of weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula), an introduced host of little known, rarely collected native species. Entomologica Americana 116(3/4): 98–106.

Wilson, S. W., C. Mitter, R. F. Denno, and M. R. Wilson. 1994. Evolutionary patterns of host plant use by delphacid planthoppers and their relatives. In: R. F. Denno and T. J. Perfect, (eds.). Planthoppers: Their Ecology and Management. Chapman and Hall, New York. Pp. 7-45 & Appendix [host references in appendix].

Young, D. B. 1910. Additional list of Adirondack insects. Bulletin of the New York State Museum 141: 123-125.