[Back to Higher classification of Delphacidae]

Family Delphacidae Leach, 1815

Subfamily Delphacinae Leach, 1815

Tribe Delphacini Leach, 1815

Genus Harmalia Fennah, 1969

Type species: Sogata thoracica Distant, 1916

Synonym:

= Paracorbulo Tian & Ding, 1980 is a synonym of Harmalia by Yang, 1989: 198.

Note: Harmalia was recently subsumed under Opiconsiva Distant, 1917 by Huang et al. 2017; the Opiconsiva page reflects this change.  Corbulo Fennah, 1965 is a synonym of Opiconsiva Distant, 1917 (by Asche 1988).

Distribution

Indo-Malayan, Pacific, Australian, Indomalayan and African regions; one species adventive into the USA.

Recognized species

(Distribution records may be incomplete):

Harmalia (sans Opiconsiva and Corbulo)  represented by 14 species and one subspecies as follows (Harmalia brunnia was listed on FLOW, I have not found the origin of this combination)

Harmalia anacharsis Fennah, 1969 – USA: Florida (adventive); China (Guangdong), New Caledonia, India, Indonesia, Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu Islands), Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam
Harmalia brunnia (Muir, 1917) – Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu Islands), Taiwan, Philippines (Luzon), Malaysia (Amboyna)
= Sardia brunnia Muir, 1917
= Harmalia brunnia (Muir, 1917); comb by … ? (listed in this combination by Hayashi & Fujinuma 2016: 333; not sure by the annotation whether H. commelinae Yang, 1989 may be a jr synonym),
Harmalia clavata (Tian & Ding, 1980) – China (Fujian)
= Paracorbulo clavata Tian & Ding, 1980.
= Harmalia clavata (Tian & Ding, 1980); new combination by implication Yang, 1989: 198.
Harmalia commelinae Yang, 1989: 206 – Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu Islands), Philippines (Luzon), Taiwan
Harmalia cordata Yang, 1989 – Bangladesh, Indonesia (Jawa), Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu Islands), Philippines (Luzon), Taiwan, Thailand
Harmalia heitensis (Matsumura & Ishihara, 1945) – Japan, Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu Islands), Philippines (Luzon), Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam, China
= Sogata heitensis Matsumura & Ishihara 1945: 66.
= Harmalia heitensis (Matsumura & Ishihara 1945); comb. by Fennah 1975: 105.
= Matutinus aculeatus Yang, 1989: 183.
= Harmalia aculeatus (Yang, 1989); comb. by Ding 2006: 558.
= Harmalia aculeatus (Yang, 1989); syn by Fujinuma, 2013.
Harmalia heitensis otho Fennah, 1975 – Sri Lanka
Harmalia obscura Ding, 2006 – China
Harmalia ostorius (Kirkaldy, 1907) – Australia: Queensland
= Delphax ostorius Kirkaldy 1907: 153
= Chloriona ostorius (Kirkaldy 1907), comb. by Metcalf 1943: 324.
= Harmalia ostorius (Kirkaldy), comb. by Fennah 1969: 39.
Harmalia sanguinalis (Ding and Tian 1980) – China (Guangdong)
Harmalia separata Yang, 1989 – Taiwan
Harmalia sirokata (Matsumura & Ishihara, 1945) – China, Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku), Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu Islands), South Korea, Taiwan
= Sogata Sirokata Matsumura & Ishihara 1945: 64.
= Chloriona (Sogatella) sirokata (Matsumura & Ishihara 1945); comb. by Fennah, 1956: 472.
= Paracorbulo sirokata (Matsumura & Ishihara 1945); comb. by Tian & Ding, 1980: 316.
= Opiconsiva sirokata (Matsumura & Ishihara 1945); comb. by Kwon, 1982: 6.
= Harmalia sirokata (Matsumura & Ishihara 1945); comb. by Yang, 1989: 204
= Opiconsiva anufrievi Kwon, 1982; syn by Fujinuma, 2013: 337.
= Opiconsiva gayasana Kwon, 1982: 6.
= Harmalia gayasana (Kwon, 1982); comb. by Ding et al. 1990; syn by Fujinuma, 2013: 337.
Harmalia tarasco Fennah, 1975 – Sri Lanka
Harmalia thoracica (Distant, 1916) [Metcalf 1943: 520] – Sri Lanka, India
= Sogata thoracica Distant, 1916
= Delphacodes thoracica (Distant); comb. by Muir, 1919: 8
= Harmalia thoracica (Distant) comb. by Fennah 1969: 39 (Type species of genus Harmalia))
Harmalia tiphys Fennah, 1971 – Micronesia, Caroline Is., Palau Island, Sri Lanka

Economic importance:

Harmalia anacharsis, H. heitensis and H. sirokata have both been reported from rice, but their expected economic importance is low.  Harmalia anacharsis was introduced into Florida and was found breeding on Amazon swordplant (Echinodorus paniculatus Micheli, Alismataceae) (It is unclear whether this species continues to persist in Florida).

Plant associations

Harmalia anacharsis, H. heitensis and H. sirokata have been reported from rice, but that is unlikely to be their primary host.
Harmalia anacharsis was found on Amazon swordplant (Echinodorus paniculatus Micheli, Alismataceae). in Florida.
Harmalia sirokata has also been reported from Echinochloa crusgalli (barnyard grass), Phragmites communis (common reed, Poaceae), and Persicaria thunbergii (Polygonaceae).
Harmalia commelinae is known from Commelina diffusa (climbing dayflower; Commelinaceae).

Harmalia heitensis – Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R. Br. ex DC. (Amaranthaceae); Commelina diffusa Burm. f. (Commelinaceae)
Harmalia sirokata – Commelina diffusa Burm. f. (Commelinales, Commelinaceae), Persicaria biconvexa (Hayata) Nemoto, Persicaria thunbergii (Siebold & Zucc.) H. Gross (Caryophyllales, Polygonaceae)

From Holdom et al. 1989, Yang 1989,  Wilson et al. 1994, Gnaneswaran 2013, Fujinuma 2013  and see FLOW.

Recognition

Keys to local faunas are found in Yang (1989) and Ding (2006). Two species in this genus are included in the key to species on rice in Dupo and Barrion (2009).  Species occurring in Japan recently revised by Fujinama (2013).

Common species, dark to pale with distinct carina on head; dorsal portion of pygofer expanded, usually greatly, often with apex of expansion inflected down or medially; Opiconsiva has a diagnostic structure on the dorsum of their aedeagus (which is often short, straight and tubular)

Harmalia anacharsis (Photos by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

Harmalia ostorius

Harmalia tiphys

Harmalia sirokata from Fujinama 2013

Harmalia heitensis from Fujinama (2013)

Harmalia commelinae from Fujinama 2013

Harmalia cordata from Fujinama 2013

Molecular resources

Genbank has bits and pieces of Harmalia  and Opiconsiva, including Histine3, 28S and 18s for Harmalia ostorius here.  Bold does 1 species of Harmalia and Opiconsiva.

Selected References

Asche, M. 1988. Delphacidae from Cote d’Ivoire (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea). Revue Francaise d’Entomologie (Nouvelle Serie) 10(2): 151-231.

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.

Ding, J. H. 2006. Fauna Sinica Insecta Vol. 45 Homoptera Delphacidae. Science Press, Beijing, China.

Ding, J., F. Zhang and C. Hu. 1990. New and little known planthopper of the family Delphacidae from northeast China. Journal of Nanjing Agricultural University [Nanjing Nongye Daxue Xuebao] 13(2): 46-49.

Distant, W. L. 1917. Rhychota. Part ii: Suborder Homoptera. The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Indian Ocean in 1905, under the leadership of Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner, M. A. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Second series. Zoology 17: 273-322 [301].

Dupo, A.L.B. and A. T. Barrion. 2009.Taxonomy and general biology of delphacid planthoppers in rice agroecosytems. Pp 3-156 In: K.L. Heong and B. Hardy, (eds). Planthoppers: new threats to the sustainability of intensive rice production systems in Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines.

Fennah, R. G. 1969. Fulgoroidea (Homoptera) from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands. Pacific Insects Monograph 21:1-116.

Fennah, R. G. 1971. Homoptera: Fulgoroidea Supplement. Insects Micronesia 6(8): 563-609.

Fennah, R. G. 1975. Homoptera: Delphacidae from Ceylon. Entomologica Scandinavica (Supplement) 4: 79-136. [poor photocopy]

Fujinuma, S. S. 2013. A taxonomic study of the genera Harmalia and Opiconsiva (Homoptera, Delphacidae) from Japan. Japanese Journal Of Systematic Entomology 19(2): 335-350.

Gnaneswaran, R. 2013. A Review of the Genus Harmalia Fennah 1969 (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) recorded from Sri Lanka with the description of Harmalia heitensis otho Fennah 1975. Pp. 287-296. In: Chopra A. K. & Khanna D. R. 2013. Animal Diversity and their Conservation, Biotech Books.

Hayashi, M. and S. Fujinuma. 2016. Part Fulgoromorpha. In: Entomological Society of Japan 2016 – Catalogue of the insects of Japan. Volume 4 Paraneoptera (Psocodea, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera), 4. Editorial Committee of Catalogue of the Insects of Japan. p. 323-355.

Holdom, D. G., P. S. Taylor, R. J. Mackay-Wood, M. E. Ramos and R. S. Soper. 1989. Field studies on rice planthoppers (Hom., Delphacidae) and their natural enemies in Indonesia. Journal of Applied Entomology 107(2): 118-129.

Huang, Yi-Xin, Li-Fang Zheng, C. R. Bartlett and Dao-Zheng Qin.  2017. Resolving phylogenetic relationships of Delphacini and Tropidocephalini (Hemiptera: Delphacidae: Delphacinae) as inferred from four genetic loci. Scientific Reports 7(1): 3319. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03624-w.

Kwon, Y. J. 1982. New and little known planthoppers of the Family Delphacidae (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha). Korean Journal of Entomology 12: 1-11.

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

Matsumura S. and T. Ishihara. 1945. Species novae vel cognitae Araeopidarum imperii japonici (Hemiptera). Mushi 16: 59-82.

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

Metcalf, Z. P. 1946. Homoptera. Fulgoroidea and Jassoidea of Guam. Bulletin Bernice P. Bishop Museum 189: 105-148 [111].

Muir, F. A. G. 1917. Homopterous notes. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. Honolulu 3: 311-338 [328].

Tian, Li-Xin,  Jin-Hua Ding and Chung-Lin Kuoh. 1980. A new genus and three new species of Delphacidae from China (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Entomotaxonomia II(4): 315-319.

Vanthournout, B., V. Vandomme and F. Hendrick. 2014. Sex ratio bias caused by endosymbiont infection in the dwarf spider Oedothorax retusus. The Journal of Arachnology 42(1): 24-33. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24365278. [Phylogenetic position of Cardinium endosymbiont of Hamalia sirokata, in relation to other Cardinum available on GenBank]

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.

Wooten, C. M., S. W. Wilson and J. H. Tsai. 1993. Descriptions of nymphs of the planthopper Harmalia anacharsis Fennah, a species new to the United States (Homoptera: Delphacidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 101(4): 567-573.

Yang, C. T. 1989. Delphacidae of Taiwan II (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). NSC Special Publications 6: 1-334.