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[Back to North American Caliscelidae]
Contents
Family Caliscelidae Amyot & Serville, 1843
Subfamily Caliscelinae Amyot & Serville, 1843
Tribe Peltonotellini Emeljanov, 2008
Genus Bruchomorpha Newman, 1838: 399.
Type species: Bruchomorpha oculata Newman, 1838: 399.
Synonyms
= Embolonia Provancher, 1889 (Type species Embolonia tricarinata Provancher, 1889: 252 (key), 253: syn. by Van Duzee 1912b: 327 (Embolonia tricarinata jr. syn. of Bruchomorpha oculata Newman, 1838).
Distribution
Widespread in US, Canada, and Central America.
Recognized species
There are 27 recognized species and several subspecies as follows:
Bruchomorpha abrupta Ball, 1935b – USA: CO, FL, GA, NM, OK, TX
Bruchomorpha beameri Doering, 1939: 106 – USA: AZ, CA, CO, MT, ND, WA; CAN: AB, BC, MB, SK
Bruchomorpha bunni Doering, 1939: 119 – USA: AZ, NM
Bruchomorpha costaricensis Schmidt, 1927 – Costa Rica
Bruchomorpha decorata Metcalf, 1923 – USA: AZ, NC, TX: Mexico (Durango, Federal District, Jalisco, Morelia, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas); Panama
Bruchomorpha decorata nihldecorata Caldwell, 1945 – Mexico (Sonora)
Bruchomorpha dorsata Fitch, 1856 – USA: AR, CA, CO, CT, GA, IA, IL, KS, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TX, WI; CAN: BC, MB, ON, SK (also “Dakota”)
= Bruchomorpha flavovittata Stål, 1862 synonym by Melichar (1906)
Bruchomorpha dorsolineata Caldwell, 1945 – Mexico (Nuevo Leon)
Bruchomorpha duocantha Caldwell, 1945 – Mexico (Coahuila, Michoacan, Federal District)
Bruchomorpha extensa Ball, 1935b – USA: AZ, CA, ID, KS, NC?, NM, OK, TX, UT
Bruchomorpha jocosa Stål, 1862a: 310 – USA: DC, FL, IA, IL, KS, KY, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, OK, SC, TX, VA, WI; CAN: MB, SK = Bruchomorpha jocosa var. craniata Ball, 1935b – USA: IA, KS, NE, WI
= Bruchomorpha jocosa var. obscura Ball, 1935b – USA: DC, FL, MS, NJ, VA
= Bruchomorpha bimaculata Dozier, 1928 synonym by Ball (1935)
Bruchomorpha keidensia Doering, 1939: 118 – CAN: AB, MB, SK
Bruchomorpha longipennis Caldwell, 1945 – Mexico (Michoacan)
= Bruchomorpha longipennis abbrata Caldwell, 1945 – Mexico (Michoacan)
Bruchomorpha mexicana Kirkaldy, 1913: 26 – Mexico (Morelos)
Bruchomorpha minima Metcalf, 1923 – USA: FL, GA, MS, NC
= Bruchomorpha mormo Ball, 1935: 198 [nec Kirkaldy, 1907] syn. by Doering 1940: 121.
Bruchomorpha minutiforma Caldwell, 1945 – Mexico (Guerrero, Morelos)
Bruchomorpha mormo Kirkaldy, 1907b – USA: AZ, TX; Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza) (reported in error: USA: NC)
Bruchomorpha nodosa Doering, 1939: 110 – USA: AZ, KS, LA, NE, OK, TX
Bruchomorpha oculata Newman, 1838: 399 – USA: AR, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI; CAN: ON, PE, QC
= Cephalelus americanus Provancher, 1872 synonym by Provancher 1889: 253.
= Embolonia tricarinata Provancher, 1889 synonym by Van Duzee (1912)
= Bruchomorpha oculata nasuta Stål, 1862a: 310; status by Ball 1935b: 201.
= Bruchomorpha nasuta Stål, 1862a; syn. by Doering 1939: 113-115.
= Bruchomorpha oculata var. nigrata Ball, 1935b – USA: FL
Bruchomorpha pallidipes Stål, 1862a: 309 – USA: AL, CO, DC, DE, FL, IL, KS, LA, MD, MO, MS, NJ, OH, NC, SC, VA
Bruchomorpha pseudodorsata De Freitas, Dietrich & Takiya, 2020 – Mexico Northeast (Coahuila)
Bruchomorpha rosea Doering, 1939: 111 – USA: AZ, NM, TX
Bruchomorpha rugosa Metcalf, 1923 – USA: AZ, TX
Bruchomorpha suturalis Melichar, 1906 – USA: AZ, CA, CO, NM, OK, TX (NC, FL, MS records in error)
Bruchomorpha tenebrosa Doering, 1939 – USA: FL
Bruchomorpha tristis Stål, 1862a: 309 – USA: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MN, MT, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OR, TX, WA, WI; CAN: AB, MB, ON, SK
Bruchomorpha triunata Ball, 1935b – USA: AZ
Bruchomorpha vittata Metcalf, 1923 – USA: TX
= Bruchomorpha bicolor Metcalf, 1923 syn by Ball 1935: 198-199.
Economic Importance:
Limited.
Plant associations:
Presumably all of them are on grasses, the following associations are reported
- Bruchomorpha abrupta – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees; (Weeping lovegrass; Poaceae (from Wilson & Wheeler 2010)
- Bruchomorpha bunni – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees
- Bruchomorpha decorata – Setaria grisebachii E. Fourn. (as Chaetochloa grisebachii)
- Bruchomorpha dorsata – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees
- Bruchomorpha jocosa – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees
- Bruchomorpha nodosa – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees
- Bruchomorpha oculata – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees
- Bruchomorpha rosea – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees
- Bruchomorpha rugosa – ‘grasses’
- Bruchomorpha triunata– ‘grasses’
Hosts from Wilson et al. 1994, Wilson & Wheeler 2010; plant names from USDA PLANTS or Tropicos.
Recognition:
Genus is distinctive, head with weevil-like snout and legs not. Species features more difficult – Doering (1939) provides a key to U.S. species, but be prepared to struggle.
The key from Doering, 1939: 102 (slightly modified)
1. As viewed from above head extending anteriorly beyond eye a distance equal or greater than the length of eye itself; nasal process distinctly pronounced… 2
1’. As viewed from above head extending anteriorly a distance less than length of eye; nasal process moderately or not greatly produced … 13
2. (1) From a side view length of postclypeus approximately equal to or only slightly longer than width of frontal process at a point in line with apex of frons … 3
2’. Length of postclypeus at least one-third to three-fourths greater than width of frontal process … 4
3. (2) Front in profile slightly elevated before apex; ventral margin of postclypeus straight; black with yellow stripe to end of tegmina; legs black… Bruchomorpha suturalis Melichar
3’. Front not elevated before apex; ventral margin slightly concave; stripe to end of tegmina; yellow legs … Bruchomorpha beameri Doering
4. (2) Nasal process very narrow, truncate; ventral margin of postclypeus straight; a yellow species with two lateral longitudinal dark stripes… Bruchomorpha vittata Metcalf
4’. Nasal process rounded across apex; ventral margin of postclypeus concave; mostly dark species with sometimes a median light stripe … 5
5. (4) Nasal process viewed from above centrally compressed; lateral carinae sinuate; frontal tablet narrow … 6
5’. Nasal process viewed from above not compressed; lateral carinae not sinuate; frontal tablet broader… 9
6. (5) Nasal process bulbous, very long; length of postclypeus not quite twice greater than width of nasal process just anterior to apex of frons; lateral carinae of frons converging considerably posteriorly to apex of frons … 7
6.’ Nasal process not bulbous, postclypeus only about one-fourth or one-third longer than width of process at apex of frons; lateral carinae of frons converging just before apex … 8
7. (6) Nasal process distinctly bulbous, and rugged; lateral carinae of frons converging considerably before apex at about base of apical fifth; blackish – brown color; legs yellow, streaked with brown… Bruchomorpha nodosa Doering
7’. Nasal process not so bulbous, lateral carinae converging at about base of apical seventh or eighth; reddish in color… Bruchomorpha rosea Doering
8. (6) Ventral margin of postclypeus deeply concave; nasal process slightly bulbous, with a distinct slant; a uniform dark species with only a trace of a median tannish or bronze stripe on head and thorax … Bruchomorpha oculata Newman
8’. Ventral margin of postclypeus only slightly concave, reddish-brown in color; nasal process not inflated at tip, more truncate across apex; body black with dorsal yellow stripe fading out on abdomen … Bruchomorpha abrupta Ball
9. (5) Large species, black with a contrasting yellow dorsal stripe extending to apex of abdomen … Bruchomorpha extensa Ball
9’. Smaller species, median dorsal stripe if present bronze, or reddish -tan and ending before the abdomen … 10
10. (9) With yellow legs … Bruchomorpha keidensia Doering
10’. With black legs … 11
11. (10) With ventral margin of postclypeus distinctly concave; light or rusty stripe on head, thorax and somewhat less across tegmina… Bruchomorpha bunni Doering
11’. With ventral margin of postclypeus straighter; the light median dorsal band only on head and thorax … 12
12. (11) Median dorsal light band narrow, usually only on frons and vertex; body with lateral margins parallel; venation not so distinct…. Bruchomorpha minima Metcalf
12’. Median light band broad, distinct, the same width entirely to end of pronotum; venation very distinct … Bruchomorpha tenebrosa Doering
13. (1) Nasal process short, but very broad, so that the length of the postclypeus is one-half or less than width of process across apex; genitalia with thecal flaps distinctly pointed … 14
13’. Nasal process short but not so broad; postclypeus in length approximately equal to process across apex; genitalia with thecal flap rounded posteriorly or truncate; nervures of tegmina pale or yellow … 16
14. (13) Spotted species with ground color light mottled with fuscous or brown; tegmina coarsely reticulate … 15
14’. A large uniform, iridescent black species; ventilation [sic., venation] obscure… Bruchomorpha tristis Stal
15. (14) Slender insect … Bruchomorpha rugosa Metcalf
15’. Robust insect … Bruchomorpha decorata Metcalf
16. (13) Small species, being 2 mm. or less in length; black in color or with three white stripes; frons perpendicular to body so that nasal process across apex is equal to or less than length of postclypeus; anteclypeus long, equaling postclypeus in length … 17
16’. Larger species, females at least over 2 mm. in length; either reddish-brown in color or black with yellow stripe down middle; postclypeus equaling or slightly longer than width of nasal process across apex; anteclypeus shorter than postclypeus … 18
17. (16) Frontal tablet very broad, two-thirds as wide as long; body black, legs yellow and fuscous … Bruchomorpha mormo Kirkaldy
17’. Frontal tablet elongate, not as wide as long, species with three stripes … Bruchomorpha triunata Ball
18. (16) Uniform reddish-brown color in females and males, with a dark lateral area on each tegmen, and a conspicuous dark spot on apex of postclypeus…Bruchomorpha jocosa Stal
18’. Uniform black species with a broad dorsal light stripe either on head alone, head and thorax both, or extending also on abdomen; legs yellow … 19
19. (18) Shining black, dorsal light stripe extending to tip of abdomen or on it; ventral margin of postclypeus rounded; length of postclypeus about three-fourths the width of nasal process and equal to length of anteclypeus… Bruchomorpha dorsata Fitch
19’. Dull black, dorsal light stripe extending merely on head or thorax; ventral margin of postclypeus slightly concave; postclypeus as long as or longer than width of nasal process and at least twice longer than anteclypeus… Bruchomorpha pallidipes Stal
Collecting
Most often taken sweeping grasses.
Molecular resources:
Data for 8 species in this genus appears on Barcode of Life; Genbank has limited data for Bruchomorpha jocosa, B. oculata, and B. sp.
Selected references:
Amyot, C. J. B. and J. G. A. Serville. 1843a. Deuxieme partie. Homopteres. Homoptera Latr. Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Hemipteres [plates are here]. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris. P.: i-lxxvi, 1-676. Plate(s): 1-12. [Describes the known genera and species, many new; see pp. 455-588 and pls. 9-12].
Ball, E. D. 1935. 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.
Caldwell, J. S. 1945. Notes on Issidae from Mexico (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 38: 89-120.
Freitas, A.S. de, C.H. Dietrich, and D. M. Takiya. 2020. Five new species of Caliscelidae (Insecta, Hemiptera) from Mexico and Panama, with additional redescriptions of little-known species. European Journal of Taxonomy 717: 27-69. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.717.1097.
Doering, K. C. 1939 [1940a]. A contribution to the taxonomy of the subfamily Issinae in America north of Mexico (Fulgoroidea: Homoptera. Part III. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 26(2): 83-167.
Emeljanov, A. F. 1999. Notes on delimitation of families of the Issidae group with description of a new species of Caliscelidae belonging to a new genus and tribe (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea). Zoosystematica Rossica 8(1): 61-72.
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.
Freitas, A.S. de, C.H. Dietrich, and D. M. Takiya. 2020. Five new species of Caliscelidae (Insecta, Hemiptera) from Mexico and Panama, with additional redescriptions of little-known species. European Journal of Taxonomy 717: 27-69. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.717.1097.
Kirkaldy, G. W. 1907. Leafhoppers. Hemiptera Homoptera. Bulletin. Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association Experiment Station. Division of Entomology. 4: 60-66.
Kirkaldy, G. W. 1913. On some new species of leafhoppers. Part 1. Bulletin. Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association Experiment Station. Division of Entomology. 12: 7-27.
Melichar, L. 1906. Monographie der Issiden. (Homoptera). Abhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königliche Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 3: 1-327.
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(3): 139-230. [see http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/jncas/]
Metcalf, Z. P. 1958. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 15, Issidae. Waverly Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland.
Newman, E. 1838. Entomological notes. Entomological Magazine 5: 372-402.
Provancher, L. 1889. Deuxième sous-ordre les Homoptères. In Petite Faune Entomologique du Canada, précédée d’un Traité elémentaire d’Entomologie 3: 207-292.
Schmidt, E. 1927. Neue Zikaden-Gattungen und Arten. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 91: 147-160.
Stål, C. 1862a. Novae vel minus cognitae Homopterorum formae et species. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 6: 303-315.
Van Duzee, E. P. 1912b. Synonymy of the Provancher collection of Hemiptera. Canadian Entomologist 44: 317-329.
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.
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. and J. E. McPherson. 1981. Descriptions of the immature stages of Bruchomorpha oculata with notes on Laboratory rearing. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 74: 341-344