Genus Philatis Stal, 1862

[Back to North American Acanaloniidae]

Family Acanaloniidae Amyot & Serville, 1843

Subfamily Acanaloniinae Amyot & Serville, 1843

Tribe Acanaloniini Amyot & Serville, 1843

Genus Philatis Stal, 1862: 68

Type species: Mycterodus productus Stål, 1859.

Synonyms:
= Euthiscia Van Duzee, 1923: 193 (Type species Euthiscia signata Van Duzee, 1923); syn. by Gnezdilov (2012: 645).
= Galapagosana Distant, 1909: 73 (Type species Issus rostrifer Butler, 1877); syn. by Gnezdilov (2012: 645).

Distribution: Galapagos (Philatis, s.s.), Peru, Panama,  and southern California and Arizona; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Gulf of California) (former Euthiscia).

Recognized species

There are 22 species in this genus as follows:

[see Metcalf 1954: 43 for genus]

Continental (North American) species:
Philatis signata (Van Duzee, 1923) – Mexico: Espiritu Santo Island, Gulf of California.
= Euthiscia signata Van Duzee, 1923: 193.
= Philatis signata (Van Duzee, 1923); comb. by Gnezdilov 2012: 645 (p. 71 in English version).
Philatis tuberculata (Van Duzee, 1923) – USA: AZ, CA; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Isla Monserrate)
  = Euthiscia tuberculata Van Duzee, 1923: 193.
= Philatis tuberculata (Van Duzee, 1923); comb. by Gnezdilov 2012: 645 (p. 71 in English version).

Species from the Galapagos and the Neotropics

Philatis athamas Fennah, 1967: 92 – Darwin Island
Philatis atrax Fennah, 1967: 93 – Santa Cruz Island
Philatis auson Fennah, 1967 – Pinzon Island
Philatis breviceps Van Duzee, 1933: 33 – Galapagos (Charles Island)
Philatis cinerea Osborn, 1924: 78 – Galapagos (Tower [ Genovesa] Island)
Philatis crockeri (Van Duzee, 1937) – Galapagos (Santa Cruz [Indefatigable] Island)
  = Euthiscia crockeri Van Duzee, 1937: 119.
= Philatis crockeri (Van Duzee, 1937); comb. by Fennah 1967: 85.
Philatis daunus Fennah, 1967 – James Island
Philatis delia Fennah, 1967: 90 – Santa Cruz Island
Philatis deucalion Fennah, 1967: 87 – Santa Cruz Island
Philatis latobius Fennah, 1967: 94 – Wolf Island
Philatis lento Fennah, 1967: 86 – Floreana Island
Philatis lycambes Fennah, 1967: 95 – Pinzon Island
Philatis major Osborn, 1924: 79 – Galapagos (Santa Cruz (Indefatigable) Island)
Philatis monaeses Fennah, 1967: 96 – San Cristobal Island
Philatis opheltes Fennah, 1967: 97 – North Seymour Island
Philatis productus (Stål, 1859: 278) – Galapagos (Albemarle [Isabela]), Tower [Genovesa], North Seymour, Santa Cruz [Indefatigable] Islands); also Panama (error?), Peru (Type specimen from Callao)
= Mycterodus productus Stal, 1859: 278 (original combination)
= Philatis producta (Stal, 1859), comb. by Stal 1862: 68 (emendation to ‘productus‘ initially by Heidemann 1901: 370).
Philatis rostrifera (Butler, 1877: 90) – Galapagos (Charles Island)
= Issus rostrifer Butler, 1877: 80.
= Galapagosana rostrifer (Butler, 1877); comb. by Distant, 1909: 74.
= Galapagosana rostrifera (Butler, 1877); emendation by Champion, 1924: 260
=Philatis rostrifera (Butler, 1877); comb. by Gnezdilov, 2012: 645 (p. 71 in English version).
Philatis servus Van Duzee, 1933: 34. – Galapagos (Albemarle Island [= Isabela])
(emendation of servus to serva by Metcalf 1954: 45; back by Fennah 1967: 85).
Philatis varia (Walker, 1851) – Galapagos (St. James, Charles Islands).
= Issus varius Walker, 1851: 372.
= Thionia varia (Walker, 1851); comb. by Melichar, 1906: 322.
= Galapagosana (?) varia (Walker, 1851); comb. by Champion, 1924: 260.
= Philatis varia (Walker, 1851); comb. by Gnezdilov 2012: 645 (p. 71 in English version).
Philatis vicinus Van Duzee, 1933: 34 – Galapagos (Jervis Island [Rábida])
(emendation of vicinus to vicina by Metcalf 1954: 45, back in Fennah 1967: 84).

Distribution primarily from Van Duzee, 1933, Metcalf (1964, 1958) and Linsley & Usinger (1966).

Economic Importance: Limited; species are uncommonly encountered.

Plant associations:

Aloysia wrightii (A. Gray) A. Heller (as Lippia wrightii A. Gray; Wright’s beebrush, Verbenaceae).

Philatis auson – Scalesia sp

Hosts from Ball 1935, Fennah, 1967, Wilson et al. (1994); plant names from USDA PLANTS or Tropicos.

Recognition:

Similar to Issidae, with no spines on hind tibiae (unlike Issidae), yellowish to brown in color.  Head produced, front of head rounded in cross-section and blunt. Hind wing is rudimentary or absent. Forewings rounded on leading margin. The clavus extends well past the midpoint of the wing and nearly to wing apex.

Stal (1862: 68) described Philatis within a key as “Capite angulato-producto, vertice leviter transverse; tegminibus extus rotundatis, apice rotundato-truncatis; alis nullis” (Google translate gives “Angular head-produced, top, slightly transverse; shelters outwardly rounded rounded-cutting; no wings”)

I have not yet found an adequate description of the genus Philatis, although I may not have reviewed every source yet.

Original description of Euthiscia Van Duzee 1933: 193:

Aspect of Mycterodus but closely allied to Thiscia Stal. Impunctate. Vertex horizontal, conically produced, ecarinate, with the margins acute. Front occupying the entire face, ecarinate, convex, the sharply carinate sides joining the vertex close to the eyes; deeply excavated to receive the base of the clypeus. Clypeus long, straight, moderately convex transversely, ecarinate. Pronotum short, broadly rounded before, very feebly concavely arcuated behind, ecarinate or nearly so. Scutellum large, as long as broad, tricarinate. Elytra ample, vertical, somewhat bullate, enclosing the body and meeting below ; venation about as in Acanalonia but with much less reticulation ; wings rudimentary. Abdomen compressed. Hind tibiae unarmed.

This genus differs from Thiscia by the very broad smooth front, much simpler elytral venation and rudimentary wings. Type of genus Euthiscia signata Van Duzee, new species.

Key to species from the Galapagos from Van Duzee 1933: 35. “Key to the Known Species of Philatis”

a. Vertex one-half as long as wide at anterior angle of eyes; distinctly obliquely striate; Charles Island … breviceps Van Duzee
aa. Vertex about two-thirds as long as wide at anterior angle of eyes … 1

1. Ultimate ventral segment of female deeply notched either side of a rounded median lobe … 2
1-. no as above … 3

2. Front and vertex with distinct median carina; lateral carinae of front distinct at base; tip only of tarsi black; North Seymour Island … productus
2-. Carina; of front obsolete, of vertex nearly so; Tower Island … cinerea

3. Median notch of ultimate ventral segment of female deep, its fundus nearly straight; tarsi infuscated … vicinus
3-. Median notch of ultimate ventral segment of female shallow … 4

4. Median notch of ultimate ventral segment of female with its fundus or base straight … servus
4-. Median notch of ultimate ventral segment of female with its fundus minutely notched … major

Philatis tuberculata (Photos by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

Philatis signata from Mexico

Philatis signata from Mexico

Philatis signata from Mexico (Baja California)

Philatis servus Van Duzee, 1933 from FLOW

Philatis servus Van Duzee (holotype)

Philatis breviceps (image courtesy Mike Wilson, National Museum of Wales; specimen collected by Charles Darwin)

Philatis vicinus Van Duzee from Fennah 1967

Philatis vicinus Van-Duzee type specimen from the California Academy of Sciences (used by permission)

Molecular resources: GenBank has some sequence data for Philatis sp.; Barcode of Life has no data for this genus (link to family) (18 Nov, 2018).

Selected references:

Amyot, C. J. B. and J. G. Serville. 1843. Deuxième partie. Homoptères. Homoptera Latr. Histoire Naturelle des insectes. Hemiptères 1843: 1-676.

Ashmead, W. H. 1889a. A generic synopsis of the Fulgoridae. Entomologica Americana 5(1): 1-6.

Ball, E. D. 1935a. Some new Issidae with notes on others (Homoptera: Fulgoridae). Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 30: 37-41.

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.

Butler, A. G. 1877. Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, and Hemiptera. Account of the zoological collection made during the vist of H.M.S. “Petrel” to the Galapagos Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1877(45): 86-91.

Distant, W. L. 1909. Rhynchotal notes xiviii. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Ser. 8) 4: 73-87.

Fennah, R. G. 1967. Fulgoridae of the Galápagos Archipelago. Proceedings of the California Academy of Science, fourth series 35(4): 53-102.

Gnezdilov, V. M. 2012. On the composition and distribution of the family Acanaloniidae Amyot et Serville (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea). Entomologicheskoe obozrenie 91(3): 157–161. [In Russian]

Heidemann, O. 1901b. “Entomological results (1): Hemiptera” in Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos Expedition, 1898-1899. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences 3: 363-370.

Linsley, E. G. and R. L. Usinger. 1966. Insects of the Galápagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 33 (7): 113-196.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1954. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 14 Acanaloniidae. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1958. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 15, Issidae. Waverly Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland.

Osborn, H. 1924. Homoptera of the Williams Galapagos Expedition. Zoologica. Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society 5: 77-79.

Stål, C. 1859. Hemiptera. Species novas descripsit. Fregatten Eugenies Resa. Arkiv for Zoologi. Utgifvet af K. Svenska Vetenskaps-akademien 4: 219-298.

Stål, C. 1862. Bidrag till Rio de Janeiro-tratkens Hemipterfauna.II. Handlingar. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien 3(6): 1-75.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1923. Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Gulf of California in 1921 – The Hemiptera (True Bugs, etc.). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Ser. 4) 12: 123-200.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1933. The Templeton Crocker Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences, 1932, No. 4. Characters of twenty-four new species of Hemiptera from the Galapagos Islands and the coast and islands of Central America and Mexico. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Ser. 4) 21: 25-40.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1937. The Hemiptera of the Templeton Crocker Expedition to Polynesia in 1934-1935. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Ser. 4) 22: 111-126.

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. Pp. 7-45 (& appendix). In: R. F. Denno and T. J. Perfect, (eds.). Planthoppers: Their Ecology and Management. Chapman and Hall, New York.