[Return to North American Achilidae]
Contents
Family Achilidae Stål, 1866
Subfamily Achilinae Stål, 1866
Tribe Plectoderini Fennah, 1950
Genus: Opsiplanon Fennah, 1945: 477.
Type species: Opsiplanon ornatifrons Fennah, 1945: 477.
Synonyms: None
Distribution of Opsiplanon from FLOW (23 Sept 2018)
Distribution: Southeastern US and Neotropics
Recognized species
There are 3 described species in this genus:
Opsiplanon luella (Metcalf, 1923) – USA: FL, GA, KS, MS, NC, SC, TX
= Catonia luella Metcalf, 1923: 177.
= Opsiplanon luellus (Metcalf, 1923); comb. by O’Brien 1971: 27-28.
Opsiplanon nemorosus Fennah, 1945: 478 – Trinidad
Opsiplanon ornatifrons Fennah, 1945: 477 – Trinidad
Note: this genus is moderately common throughout Central America – such specimens may represent new species or species misplaced at the generic level, or possibly the described species are much more broadly distributed than currently reported.
Economic Importance:
Limited.
Plant associations:
None – nymphs of achilids associated with fungus (usually in logs). The significance of adult host association is unclear. Opsiplanon nemorosa was collected ‘resting on fiddlewood’ (Fennah 1945: 479).
Recognition:
Relatively small species, Sc+R fork of forewing near stigma, subcostal cell 1/6 length of forewing, widest medially; medioventral lobe of male pygofer trilobed at apex
Pygofer process of male Opsiplanon luella (Drawn by Kimberley Shropshire)
Wing of Opsiplanon (redrawn by Kimberley Shropshire from O’Brien 1971)
Opsiplanon luella habitus (The photo right above courtesy of Lois O’Brien)
Opsiplanon luella habitus (Photos by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware, except as noted).
Online Resources
3i.
EOL.
Bugguide.
Discover Life.
FLOW.
Hoppers of North Carolina.
Kunzweb Gallery. (Link is to Achilidae, genus not present)
American Insects. (Link is to Achilidae, genus not present)
BOLD. (Link is to Achilidae, genus not present)
Collecting:
Most often taken at lights. Opsiplanon ornatifrons was collected ‘on low branches of shrubs; O. nemorosus was taken ‘on fiddlewood’ (Fennah 1945).
Molecular resources:
No data for this genus appears on GenBank or Barcode of Life.
Selected references:
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.
Dozier, H. L. 1928a [dated 1922 or 1926]. The Fulgoridae or planthoppers of Mississippi, including those of possible occurrence. Technical Bulletin of the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station 14: 1-152.
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. 1945a. 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.
Metcalf, Z. P. 1923. A key to the Fulgoridae of Eastern North America with descriptions of new species. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 38: 139-230.[see http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/jncas/]
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.
Stål, C. 1866a. Hemiptera Homoptera Latr. Hemiptera Africana vol. 1-2. Officina Norstedtiana, Stockholm, Sweden. 256 + 181 pp. [From Smithsonian Biodiversity Heritage Library http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/] (partial translation)
