Genus Monorachis Uhler 1901

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Family Cixiidae Spinola, 1839

Subfamily Cixiinae Spinola, 1839

Tribe Pintaliini Metcalf, 1938

Genus Monorachis Uhler 1901

Type species (in original combination):

Monorachis sordulentus Uhler, 1901.

Synonyms: None.

Distribution:

Southeastern and southcentral US and Mexico.

Recognized species

There are 3 species in this genus:

1. Monorachis saltans Emeljanov 2001:67 – Mexico (Tamaulipas)
2. Monorachis sordulentus Uhler, 1901 [Metcalf 1936: 131] – USA: FL, GA, IL, KS, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN; Mexico (Veracruz)
3. Monorachis volans Emeljanov 2001:67 – Mexico (Veracruz)

Economic Importance:

Limited, members of this genus are infrequently encountered..

Plant associations:

None published; collecting record from Andropogon sp. (Poaceae).

Recognition:

Monorachis sordulentus (Photos by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

The only brachypterous cixiid in the US.   Hind tibiae with spines, posterior margin of vertex quadrately or roundly incised; mesonotum with three longitudinal carinae, forewings at rest vertical in position with distal portions (when macropterous) broadly appressed; mesonotum convex in lateral view (vs. Pintalia); apical cells of forewing comparatively broad; frons with midlength and greatest width subequal.  Macropters are less common than brachypters.

Emeljanov (2001) characterized the genus as “The genus Monorachis Uhler is closely related to the genus Pintalia Stal, from which it differs in the thick, large lateral carinae of metope (Fig. 3). absence of marginal convexity of peripheral vein after claval apex (Fig. 1 ), and dilation of wrinkled peripheral vein between ends of veins Cui and Cu2 (Fig. 1).”

(figures provided below)

Online Resources

3i.
EOL.
Bugguide. (I suspect the images of Monorachis are misidentified)
Discover Life.
FLOW.
Hoppers of North Carolina.
Kunzweb Gallery.
American Insects. (Genus not present)
BOLD.

Collecting

I collected a series in Tennessee sweeping a wet, grassy depression at the edge of a woodlands.

Molecular resources: 

As of this writing (July 2018), there are no molecular data for this genus on Barcode of Life or Genbank.

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. 2001. Two new species of the genus Monorachis Uhler from Mexico and some new replacement names in Cixiidae (Homoptera: Cixiidae). Zoosystematica Rossica 10(1): 67-70.

Holzinger, W. E., A. F. Emeljanov and I. Kammerlander. 2002. The family Cixiidae Spinola, 1839 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) – a Review. Denisia 4: 113-138. [systematics of genus].

Kramer, J. P. 1983. Taxonomic study of the planthopper family Cixiidae in the United States (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 109: 1-57.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1936a. Fascicle IV. Fulgoroidea. Part 2. Cixiidae. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera (Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts) 4(2): 1-269. [see p. 131]

Metcalf, Z. P. 1938a. The Fulgorina of Barro Colorado and other parts of Panama. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College 82: 277-423.  [from http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org]

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.

Uhler, P. R. 1901a. Some new genera and species of North American Hemiptera. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 4: 507-515.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1908d. Studies in North American Fulgoridae. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1907: 467-498. [see p. 484]

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.