Genus Isodelphax Fennah, 1963

[Back to Higher classification of Delphacidae]

Family Delphacidae Leach, 1815

Subfamily Delphacinae Leach, 1815

Tribe Delphacini Leach, 1815

Genus Isodelphax Fennah, 1963: 16.

Type species (in original combination): Liburnia basivitta Van Duzee, 1909: 202.

Distribution

North America, especially eastern.

Recognized species

There are 4 species now in this genus:

Isodelphax basivitta(Van Duzee, 1909) [Metcalf 1943: 409] – Florida, Louisiana and Texas north to Ontario, New York and New Hampshire, west to Missouri and Colorado; reported also in California (reported USA: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MN, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI; CAN: AB, MN, ON, QC).
= Liburnia basivitta Van Duzee, 1909: 202.
= Megamelus basivitta (Van Duzee, 1909); comb. by Crawford 1914: 626.
= Delphacodes basivitta (Van Duzee, 1909); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 27.
= Isodelphax basivitta (Van Duzee, 1909); comb. by Fennah 1963a: 16.

Isodelphax montezumae (Muir & Giffard, 1924) [Metcalf 1943: 470] – USA: KY; Mexico (Federal District)
= Delphacodes montezumae Muir & Giffard, 1924: 27.
= Isodelphax montezumae (Muir & Giffard, 1924); comb. by Bartlett et al. 2014: 118.

Isodelphax nigridorsum (Crawford, 1914) [Metcalf 1943: 471] – USA: CO, CT, DC, MD, ME, MI, NC, NJ, NM, NY, OH, VA, WI; CAN: AB, LB, ON, QC, SK, YK.
= Megamelus nigridorsum Crawford, 1914: 620.
= Liburnia nigridorsum (Crawford, 1914); comb. by Van Duzee, 1916: 84.
= Delphacodes nigridorsum (Crawford, 1914); comb. by Metcalf, 1928: 182.
= Isodelphax nigridorsum (Crawford, 1914); comb. by Bartlett et al. 2014: 118.
= Delphacodes dentipennis Beamer, 1948b; syn. by Bartlett et al. 2014: 118.

Isodelphax plenatra Beamer, 1948c – USA: AZ, NM, UT
= Delphacodes plenatra Beamer, 1948c: 114-115.
= Isodelphax plenatra (Beamer, 1948c); comb. by Bartlett et al. 2014: 118.

Plant associations

None?

Parasites

Alysson melleus Say (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) according to Krombein 1979  p. 1685.

Economic importance

Limited.  A common species in the eastern USA, but not reported on crops, except incidentally.

Recognition

Dark bodied in both male and female (although brachypters may be paler).  Not the absence of a dark spot on the wings at the apex of the clavus (in lateral view, you would see it near midlength of the wing where the wings meet); and notice that the first antennal segment is dark.  In the genitalia the shape of the parameres (widely spreading with a large point at the basal angle) is highly distinctive.  The carinae of the thorax and head are not as distinctly pale as they would be in Delphacodes puella (a common eastern species).

Isodelphax basivitta (Photos by Kimberley Shropshire, Department of Entomology, University of Delaware)

Online resources

Isodelphax on…

Bugguide
FLOW
EOL
Discover Life
3I Interactive Keys and Taxonomic Databases (Dmitry Dmitriev)
GBIF
Hemipterans of North Carolina.
Les Hemipteres du Quebec.
BOLD.
revolvy.
PBase (Tom Murry).
Texas Planthoppers.
Symbiota Scan.
iNaturalist.

Online Photos

Bugs (Pictures from Earth) (not sure that the ID is right for this image)

Flickr (search for Isodelphax)

Molecular resources

(still incomplete)

Genbank has data from Urban et al. (2010), but at this time (31 Aug. 2018) nothing else; BOLD has sequence data for Isodelphax basivitta.

Selected References

Barber, H. G. 1914a. Insects of Florida. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 33: 526-535.

Bartlett, C. R. and J. L. Bowman. 2004. Preliminary inventory of the planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee, U.S.A. Entomological News 114: 246-254.

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.

Beamer, R. H. 1948b. Some new species of Delphacodes (continued) (Homoptera-Fulgoridae-Delphacinae). Part IV. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 21: 96‑110.

Beamer, R. H. 1948c. Some new species of Delphacodes (continued) (Homoptera-Fulgoridae-Delphacinae). Part V. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 21: 111‑119.

Britton, W. E. 1920a. Check-list of the insects of Connecticut. Bulletin of the Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey 31.  397 pp.  (see p. 53).

Crawford, D. L. 1914a. 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, plus 6 plates.

DuBose, W. P. 1960. The genus Delphacodes Fieber in North Carolina (Homoptera: Delphacidae). Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 76: 36‑63.

Fennah, R. G. 1963. New genera of Delphacidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society, London (B) 32: 15-16. [not a good scan]

Giri, M. K. and P. H. Freytag. 1983. Some delphacid planthoppers of Kentucky. Transactions of the Kentucky Academy of Science 44: 161-163.

Giri, M. K., P. H. Freytag and K. V. Yeargan. 1985. Field Studies of delphacid planthopper populations (Homoptera: Delphacidae) with notes on their dryinid parasites (Hymenoptera: Dryinidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 58: 69-74.

Gonzon, A. T., Jr., C. R. Bartlett and J. L. Bowman. 2007 (dated 2006). Planthopper (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) diversity in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 132: 243-260.

Heaton, R. R. 1934a. An annotated list of the Fulgoridae (Homoptera) of Indiana. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society. 29: 107-115.

Kennedy, A. C., C. R. Bartlett and S. W. Wilson. 2012. An annotated checklist of the delphacid planthoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) of Florida with the description of three new species and the new genus Meristopsis. Florida Entomologist 95(2): 394-420.

Krombein, K. V. 1979. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America north of Mexico, vol. 2. Apocrita (Aculeata). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC. Pp. i-xvi + 1199-2209.

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

Leonard, M. D. 1928a. “Families Cercopidae, Membracidae, and Cicadellidae.” In A list of the insects of New York with a list of the spiders and certain other allied groups. Memoir. Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station 101: 1-1121. (see p. 181)

Maw, H.E.L., R. G. Foottit and K.G.A. Hamilton. 2000. Checklist of the Hemiptera of Canada and Alaska, NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Canada.

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: 139-230. (p. 172, fig. 699).

Metcalf, Z. P. 1928a. “Fulgoridae.” In: A list of the insects of New York. Memoir. Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station 101:176-182. (p. 181)

Metcalf, Z. P. 1943. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 3, Araeopidae (Delphacidae). Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. [p. 409]

Moore, G. A. 1950a. Catalogus des hémiptères de la province de Québec. Le Naturaliste Canadien 77: 233-271.

Moore, G. A. 1950b. Check-list of Hemiptera of the province of Quebec. Contributions de l’Institut de Biologie de l’Université de Montréal. 26: 1-49.

Muir, F.A.G. and W. M. Giffard. 1924a. Studies in North American Delphacidae. Bulletin of the Experiment Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association, Entomological series no. 15: 1-53.

Osborn, H. 1921a. Homoptera of Florida. Florida Entomologist 5(1): 1-19.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1909a. Observation of some Hemiptera taken in Florida in the spring of 1908. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 9: 149-230.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1916a.Check list of Hemiptera (excepting the Aphididae, Aleurodidae and Coccidae) of America North of Mexico. New York Entomological Society, New York. 111 pp. (p. 84).

Van Duzee, E. P. 1917b. Catalogue of the Hemiptera of America North of Mexico (excepting the Aphididae, Coccidae and Aleurodidae). University of California Publications, Technical Bulletins, vol. 2. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. i-xiv, 1-902. (see P. 776)

Wallner, A. and C. Dietrich. 2004. Importance of monitoring terrestrial arthropod biodiversity in Illinois ecosystems, with special reference to Auchenorrhyncha. In: Illinois Department of Natural Resources (ed.). Critical trends assessment program 2003-2004 report. Springfield and Champaign, Illinois. Pp. 43-61. pdf [listed]

Wilson, S. W. 1992. The Delphacidae of Yukon Territory, Canada (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Insecta Mundi 6: 79‑100.

Wilson, S. W. 1997. Delphacid planthoppers (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae) of the Yukon. Pp. 377-385. In: H. V. Danks and J. A. Downes (eds.). Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods), Ottawa, Canada.

Wilson, S. W. and J. E. McPherson. 1980a. Keys to the planthoppers, or Fulgoroidea, of Illinois (Homoptera). Transactions of the Illinois Academy of Science 73(2): 1‑61.

Wilson, S. W. and J. E. McPherson. 1980b. The distribution of the Fulgoroidea of the eastern United States (Homoptera). Transactions of the Illinois Academy of Science 73(4): 7‑20.

Wilson, S. W. and J. E. McPherson. 1980c. A list of the Fulgoroidea (Homoptera) of southern Illinois. Great Lakes Entomologist 13(1): 25-30.

Wilson, S. W., J. L. Smith and P. D. Calvert. 1993. Planthoppers of a Missouri tallgrass prairie (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 66: 75‑80.

Wray, D. L. 1967. Insects of North Carolina, Third supplement. North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Raleigh, North Carolina.