[Return to North American Achilidae]

Family Achilidae Stål, 1866

Subfamily Achilinae Stål, 1866

Tribe Plectoderini Fennah, 1950

Genus: Xerbus O’Brien, 1971

Type species: Catonia brunnella Ball, 1933: 137.

Synonyms: None

Distribution:

Southwestern US

Recognized species

There is 1 species currently in the genus:

Xerbus brunnellus (Ball, 1933: 137) – USA: AZ

Economic Importance:

Limited.

Plant associations:

None – nymphs of achilids associated with fungus (usually in logs).  The significance of adult host association is unclear.

Recognition:

Rostrum as long as clypeus (versus longer); pronotum medially longer than tegulae, and mesonotum with lateral carinae bent or rounded

Online Resources

3i.
EOL.
Bugguide. (Link is to Achilidae, genus not present)
Discover Life.
FLOW.
Hoppers of North Carolina. (Not present, genus is western)
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.

Molecular resources: 

No data for this genus appears on GenBank or Barcode of Life.

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.

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. 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.

Spinola, M. 1839a. Essai sur les Fulgorelles, sous-tribu de la tribu des Cicadaires, ordre des Rhyngotes. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 8: 133-337.

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)

Stål, C. 1866a. Hemiptera Homoptera Latr. Hemiptera Africana vol. 3-4. Officina Norstedtiana, Stockholm, Sweden. 200 + 276 pp.