Genus Caenodelphax Fennah, 1965

[Back to Higher classification of Delphacidae]

Family Delphacidae Leach, 1815

Subfamily Delphacinae Leach, 1815

Tribe Delphacini Leach, 1815

Genus Caenodelphax Fennah, 1965: 96

Type species (in original combination):  Liburnia teapae Fowler, 1905

Distribution

One widespread species in the Neotropics, Mesoamerica into the Gulf States.

Recognized species

This genus was recently revised by Kennedy & Bartlett (2014).  There is now a single species in this genus:

Caenodelphax teapae (Fowler, 1905) – USA: Florida, Texas; Caribbean (Antigua, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago); Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil (Rondônia, São Paulo) , Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico (Chiapas, Colima, Distrito Federal, Guerrero, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz), Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela; Galápagos Islands
= Liburnia teapae Fowler, 1905: 135.
= Megamelus teapae (Fowler); combination by Crawford, 1914: 618.
= Delphacodes teapae (Fowler); combination by Wolcott, 1923: 274.
= Caenodelphax teapae (Fowler); combination by Fennah, 1965: 96.
= Delphacodes philyra Fennah, 1959: 262.
= Caenodelphax teapae (Fowler); combination by Fennah, 1965: 96.
= Caenodelphax philyra (Fennah); combination by Fennah, 1965: 96.
= Caenodelphax philyra (Fennah); synonymy by Kennedy & Bartlett, 2014: 21.

Caenodelphax atridorsum (Beamer, 1947: 63) – See Flavoclypeus
Caenodelphax nigriscutellata (Beamer, 1947: 62) – See Flavoclypeus

Plant Associations

Caenodelphax teapae reported from:

Urochloa plantaginea (Link) R. Webster (plantain signalgrass)
Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. (Bermudagrass)
Paspalum notatum Flueggé (bahiagrass)
Phaseolus vulgaris L.(kidney bean)

Host information from Kennedy & Bartlett, 2014 et cit.

Caenodelphax teapae	Axonopus compressus (Sw.) P. Beauv.	broadleaf carpetgrass	Fennah 1959
	Crotalaria L.	rattlebox	Leonard 1933
	Cucurbita maxima Duchesne	winter squash	Label data
	Cymbopogon citratus (D.C. ex Nees) Stapf	lemon grass	Wolcott 1923
	Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.	Bermudagrass	Label data
	Daucus L.	carrot	Wolcott 1923
	Paspalum notatum Flueggé	bahiagrass	Label data
	Phaseolus vulgaris L.	kidney bean	Label data
	Saccharum L.	sugarcane	Wolcott 1923
	Solenostemon scutellarioides (L.) Codd	common coleus	Ballou 1936
	Urochloa plantaginea (Link) R. Webster	plantain signalgrass	Wilson 2005

Host data from Wilson (2005) and Kennedy and Bartlett (2014). Plant names from USDA Plants Database. See also FLOW.

Economic Importance

Caenodelphax teapae is a widespread pest in the Neotropics; transmits Urochloa hoja blanca virus (UHBV) in plantain signalgrass.

Recognition

This genus was recently revised by Kennedy & Bartlett (2014).

Caenodelphax teapae is an extremely common (“weedy”) species throughout much of the moist tropics, including southern Florida.

Caenodelphax was historically (i.e., Fennah, 1965) a tropical genus, but it was redefined by Hamilton (2002) to be more inclusive, but subsequently revised by Kennedy and Bartlett (2014) to include only the type species (with C. philyra a junior synonym).

Caenodelphax species typically have pale, antennae contrasting with a dark body. Caenodelphax teapae has characteristically darkened wings (with a characteristic clear patch on the leading margin.  Females are characteristically paler. Segment X of the abdomen has short, stout processes that, in lateral view, are terminally serrulate.

Caenodelphax teapae male macropter (Photos by Kimberley Shropshire or Ashley Kennedy, Dept. Entomology, University of Delaware)

Caenodelphax teapae male brachypter

Caenodelphax teapae female macropter

 

Online resources

EOL
FLOW
Discover Life
Bugguide
Gernot Kunz Kunzweb Gallery Costa Rica (I’ve provided the link, but Caenodelphax is not there surprisingly)
Leafhopper, Planthopper & Psyllid Vectors of Plant Disease (C. teapae)
3I Interactive Keys and Taxonomic Databases (Dmitry Dmitriev)

Molecular resources

Sequence data for Caenodelphax teapae is available on Genbank for 18S, 18S, CO1 and WG. There are several species listed in Caenodelphax on BOLD, some of which are unpublished combinations.

References

Ballou, C. H. 1936. Insect notes from Costa Rica in 1935. Insect Pest Survey Bulletin 16: 437-497.

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.

Bartlett, C. R. and G. Kunz. 2015. A new genus and species of delphacid planthopper (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae) from Central America with a preliminary regional species list. Zootaxa 3946(4): 510–518. [Erratum. Zootaxa 3963(4): 598-600.]

Beamer, R. H. 1947. Some new species of Delphacodes (continued) with two old ones (Homoptera: Fulgoridae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 20(2): 58-71.

Bouchard, P., K.G.A. Hamilton and T. A. Wheeler. 2002. Diversity and conservation status of prairie endemic Auchenorrhyncha (Homoptera) in alvars of the Great Lakes region. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 132: 39-56.

Caldwell, J. S. and L. F. Martorell. 1951 [dated1950]. 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.

Crawford, D. 1914. A contribution toward a monograph of the homopterous insects of the family Delphacidae of North and South America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 46: 557-640.

Fennah, R. G. 1959. Delphacidae from the Lesser Antilles (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology 8: 245-265.

Fennah, R. G. 1965. New Species of Fulgoroidea (Homoptera) from the West Indies. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society, London 117(4): 95-126.

Fennah, R. G. 1967. Fulgoroidea from the Galapagos Archipelago. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 35(4): 53-102.

Fowler, W. W. 1904. Order Rhyncota. Suborder Hemiptera-Homoptera. (Continued). Biologia Centrali-Americana; or, Contributions to the knowledge of the fauna and flora of Mexico and Central America 1: 77-124. (here)

Hamilton, K. G. A. 2002. Homoptera (Insecta) in Pacific Northwest grasslands. Part 1- New and revised taxa of leafhoppers and planthoppers (Cicadellidae and Delphacidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 99: 3-31.

Kennedy, A. C. and C. R. Bartlett. 2014. Systematics of Caenodelphax Fennah (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae) and description of the new genus Flavoclypeus. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 140: 17-65.

Kennedy, A. C. and C. R. Bartlett. 2015. An unusual morphotype of Caenodelphax teapae (Fowler) (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae). Entomological News 125(3): 224-227. 125(3): 224-227.

Leach, W. E. 1815a. Entomology. The Edinburg encyclopedia; conducted by David Brewster 9: 57-172. (family Delphacidae here)

Leonard, M. D. 1933. Notes on insect conditions in Puerto Rico for the fiscal year, July 1931 thru June 1932. Journal of the Department of Agriculture Puerto Rico 17: 97-137.

Mattio, M. F., E.B.A. Caro, M. S. Rodriguero, A. D. Dumon, V. M. Alemandri and G. Truol. 2015. Wolbachia occurrence in planthopper (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) vectors of cereal viruses in Argentina. Journal of Economic Entomology 108(4): 1526-1530. DOI: 10.1093/jee/tov140. [Wolbachia infection in Caenodelphax teapae]

Metcalf, Z. P. 1943. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 3, Araeopidae (Delphacidae). Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. 552 pp.

Wilson, S. W. 2005. Keys to the families of Fulgoromorpha with emphasis on planthoppers of potential economic importance in the southeastern United States (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). Florida Entomologist 88(4): 464-481.

Wolcott, G. N. 1923. Insectae Portoicensis. A preliminary annotated check-list of the insects of Porto Rico, with descriptions of some new species. Journal of the Department of Agriculture Porto Rico 7: 1-313.