[Return to North American Achilidae]
Contents
Family Achilidae Spinola, 1839
Subfamily Achilinae Spinola, 1839
Tribe Plectoderini Fennah, 1950
Genus: Catonia Uhler, 1895: 61.
Type species (in original combination): Flata nava Say 1830: 238.
Synonyms:
= Pyren Fennah, 1950 (subgenus)
Note: Fennah (1950) described the subgenus Pyren for Catonia (Pyren) saltator Fennah, 1950; all other species in the genus presumably in subgenus Catonia.
Distribution:
Widespread in the New World
Recognized species
There are 40 species (or so) in this genus:
North American Taxa
(All subgenus Catonia)
1. Catonia arbutina Ball, 1933: 135 – USA: AZ
2. Catonia bicinctura Van Duzee, 1915: 119 – USA: FL, GA, LA, MA, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, OH, SC, TN, TX
3. Catonia carolina Metcalf, 1923: 176 – USA: AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, KS, LA, MD, MO, NC, NJ, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA
4. Catonia cinctifrons (Fitch, 1856) – USA: CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
5. Catonia lunata Metcalf, 1923: 178 – USA: AL, CT, DC, FL, GA, KS, IL, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, SC, TX, VA; CAN: ON
6. Catonia nava (Say, 1830) – USA: AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NE, NY, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA; CAN: ON
=Catonia nava bifasciata Metcalf, 1948; syn. by Bartlett et al. 2014: 80.
7. Catonia picta Van Duzee, 1908 – USA: AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, NJ, NY, TX, VA
8. Catonia pini Metcalf, 1923:177 – USA: FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, NJ
9. Catonia pumila Van Duzee, 1908 – USA: AL, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MN, MO, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA
10. Catonia texana O’Brien, 1971 – USA: TX
Neotropical taxa
Subgenus Pyren Fennah 1950: 146.
- Catonia (Pyren) saltator Fennah, 1950: 166 – Dominica
Subgenus Catonia
- Catonia (Catonia) intricata Uhler, 1895: 61 (see Fennah 1950: 146) – St. Vincent, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico
- Catonia albidovariegata (Fowler, 1904: 107) (see Fennah 1950: 159) – Guatemala, Panama
- Catonia antiguana Fennah, 1950: 152– Antigua
- Catonia antillicola Wolcott, 1936 – Puerto Rico
- Catonia arida Caldwell, 1951 – Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
- Catonia basalis (Fowler, 1904) – See Plectoderes
- Catonia bugabae Fennah, 1950: 162– Panama
- Catonia championi Fennah, 1950: 164 – Panama, Guatemala
- Catonia chiriquensis (Fowler, 1904) (see Fennah 1950: 160) – Panama
- Catonia cinerea Osborn, 1935 – Puerto Rico
- Catonia cinerea magna Caldwell 1951- Puerto Rico
- Catonia digitalis Fennah, 1950: 155– St.Vincent
- Catonia dominicana Fennah, 1950: 156 – Dominica
- Catonia dorsovittata Caldwell 1951 – Puerto Rico
- Catonia gayi (Blanchard, 1852) (see Fennah 1965: 258) – Chile
- Catonia haitiensis Dozier, 1931 – Haiti
- Catonia major Fennah, 1950: 153 – Antigua
- Catonia mitrata Fennah, 1950: 151 – Dominica
- Catonia montserratensis Fennah, 1950: 157 – Montserrat
- Catonia moraballi Fennah, 1950: 166 – British Guiana
- Catonia muscosa Fennah, 1950: 165 – British Guiana
- Catonia notata (Fowler, 1904) – See Spino Fennah 1950: 58
- Catonia ornatipennis (Blanchard, 1852) (see Fennah 1965: 257) – Chile
- Catonia pallida Fennah, 1945: 475– Trinidad
- Catonia pallidistigma Fennah, 1945: 476 – Trinidad
- Catonia rufula Osborn, 1926 – Cuba
- Catonia sanctae-luciae Fennah, 1950: 150 – St. Lucia
- Catonia sancti-geronimi Fennah, 1950: 161– Guatemala
- Catonia sancti-vincenti Fennah, 1950: 148 – St. Vincent
- Catonia sobrina (Fowler, 1904) (see Fennah 1950: 158) – Mexico
- Catonia sobrina albidovariegata (Fowler, 1904) – Guatemala, Panama
- Catonia zunilana Fennah, 1950: 163 – Guatemala
Economic Importance:
Limited.
Known host plants:
Nymphs of achilids associated with fungus (usually in logs). The significance of adult host association is unclear.
- Catonia arbutina – Pinus cembroides Zucc. (Mexican pinyon, Pinaceae)
- Catonia bicinctura – Pinus sp., Callicarpa americana L. (American beautyberry, Verbenaceae)
- Catonia carolina – Thespesia grandiflora DC.(maga, Malvaceae; as Montezuma speciosissima), Inga vera Willd.(river koko, Fabaceae), Piper aduncum L. (higuillo de hoja menuda, Piperaceae)
- Catonia cinctifrons – Pinus clausa (Chapm. ex Engelm.) Vasey ex Sarg. (sand pine), Pinus sp., Quercus sp. (oak), Carya sp. (hickory)
- Catonia lunata – Pinus sp., Quercus sp., Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton (cranberry, Ericaceae)
- Catonia nava – Cornus sp. (dogwood), Platanus sp. (sycamore), Acer sp. (maple)
- Catonia picta – Pinus sp.
- Catonia pini – Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Br. (horseflyweed, Fabaceae)
- Catonia pumila – Pinus sp., Quercus sp., Carya sp.
Hosts from O’Brien 1971, Wilson et al. 1994; plant names from USDA PLANTS. See also plant associations listed on genus-page of FLOW.
Recognition:
The most common genus of achilids in the eastern US. Similar to Synecdoche; Subcostal cell of forewing about 1/3 length of wing, wider before its apex; medioventral lobe of male pygofer bifurcate.

Wing of Catonia (drawings by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware; redrawn from O’Brien 1971)
Websites:
- EOL
- FLOW
- Discover Life
- GBIF
- Bugguide
- Gernot Kunz Kunzweb Gallery
- 3I Interactive Keys and Taxonomic Databases (Dmitry Dmitriev)
- Hemipterans of North Carolina
- Austin bug Collection
Collecting:
Most often taken at lights.
Molecular resources:
At this time GenBank has data for 2 species of Catonia (Catonia carolina & Catonia sp,) and Barcode of Life has data for 3 Catonia species (Catonia bicinctura, Catonia picta, Catonia pumila)
Selected references:
Ball, E. D. 1933. Some new Western leafhoppers of the fulgorid family Achilidae. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 9: 133-138.
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.
Caldwell, J. S. and L. F. Martorell. 1951 [dated 1950]. Review of the Auchenorynchous [sic] Homoptera of Puerto Rico. Part II. The Fulgoroidea except Kinnaridae. Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico 34(2): 133-269.
Dozier, H. L. 1931. New and interesting West Indian Homoptera. American Museum Novitates. Published by the American Museum of Natural History 510: 1-24.
Emeljanov, A. F. 1992. Toward the problem and limits and subdivisions of Achilidae (Homoptera, Cicadina). Entomological Review 71(1): 53-73 (Translation of Entomologicheskoye Obozreniye 1991, 70: 373-393, in Russian).
Emeljanov, A. F. 1993. Description of tribes of the subfamily Achilinae (Homoptera, Achilidae) and revision of their composition. Entomological Review 72(6): 7-27 (Translation of Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 71: 574-594 from Russian).
Fennah, R. G. 1945. New Lanternflies (Fulgoroidea) From South America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 96(3189): 95-106.
Fennah, R. G. 1945. The Fulgoroidea, or lanternflies, of Trinidad and adjacent parts of South America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 95(3184): 411-520.
Fennah, R. G. 1950. A generic revision of the Achilidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea) with descriptions of new species. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 1: 1-170.
Fennah, R. G. 1965. Fulgoroidea from Southern Chile (Hemiptera). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 17: 233-272.
Fitch, A. 1856. Third report on noxious and other insects of the State of New York. Transactions of the New-York State Agricultural Society 16: 315-490.
Fowler, W. W. 1904. Order Rhynchota. Suborder Hemiptera-Homoptera. (Continued). Biologia Centrali-Americana 1: 85-124.
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: 139-230.
Metcalf, Z. P. 1948. General catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fasc. IV. Fulgoroidea, Part 10. Achilidae. Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. 85 pp.
O’Brien, L. B. 1971. The systematics of the tribe Plectoderini in America north of Mexico (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Achilidae). University Of California Publications in Entomology 64: 1-79.
O’Brien, L. B. 1985. New synonymies and combinations in New World Fulgoroidea (Achilidae, Delphacidae, Flatidae, Fulgoridae: Homoptera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 78(5): 657-662.
Osborn, H. 1935. Insects of Porto Rico and the Virgin islands. Homoptera (exclusive of Sternorhynchi). Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. New York 14: 111-260 [195].
Say, T. 1830a+b. Descriptions of new North American hemipterous insects, belonging to the first family of the section Homoptera of Latreille. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 6: 235-244, 299-314. [from Biodiversity Heritage Library]
Spinola, M. 1839. Essai sur les Fulgorelles, sous-tribu de la tribu des Cicadaires, ordre des Rhyngotes. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 8: 133-337.
Spinola, M. 1852. Tribu IV.-Hipocefalocera.Historia fisica y politica de Chile segun documentos adquiridos en esta republica durante doce años de residencia en ella y publicada bajo los auspicios del supremo gobierno por Claudio Gay. En Casa del autor . Paris. Vol./pp.: 7:238-305 [248]. (A translation of the first footnote located on page 113 of this item notes that “one should also notice that we have marked with an ‘x’ all the species described by Mr. Blanchard and that because of neglect they had remained in the museum without being found by Mr. de Spinola).
Uhler, P. R. 1895a. An enumeration of the Hemiptera-Homoptera of the Island of St. Vincent, W. I. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1895: 55–84.
Van Duzee, E. P. 1912. Hemipterological gleanings. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. 10: 477-512.
Van Duzee, E. P. 1915c. New genera and species of North American Hemiptera. Journal of Entomology and Zoology 7: 109-121.
Van Duzee, E. P. 1916. Notes on some Hemiptera taken near Lake Tahoe, California. Technical Bulletin. University of California, College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station. Entomology 1: 229-249.
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.
Wolcott, G. N. 1936a. “Insectae Borinquenses.” A revised annotated check-list of the insects of Puerto Rico. The Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico 20: 1-600.