Genus Liburniella Crawford, 1914

[Back to Higher classification of Delphacidae]

Family Delphacidae Leach, 1815

Subfamily Delphacinae Leach, 1815

Tribe Delphacini Leach, 1815

Genus Liburniella Crawford, 1914: 585.

Type species (in original combination):  Delphax ornata Stål, 1862

Distribution

Mostly eastern North America.

Recognized species

There is a single recognized species in the genus:

Liburniella ornata (Stål, 1862) [Metcalf 1943: 109] – widely distributed from Florida to Ontario (west to Nebraska and Missouri), in eastern North America, but also reported from Bermuda, California, and British Columbia. Report of this species from Ecuador is in error. [USA: AL, AR, CA, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV; CAN: BC, ON, QC; Bermuda (Reported in error: Ecuador)]

Some are now calling this species the ‘ornate planthopper’.

Economic importance

Limited, although this species may be abundant.

Plant associations

Reported from the sedge Rhynchospora globularis, but probably polyphagous on sedges and maybe grasses.

Parasite

Gonatopus americanus (Perkins, 1905) (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae); see Giri et al. (1985: 73); Pseudogonotopus freytagi Olmi (Buntin 1989) (also Dryinidae).

Recognition

This species is abundant and highly distinctive.  The rounded ‘areolet’ (formed because the submedian carinae of the vertex are absent) is a unique feature of the genus.  Could be mistaken for Stobaera because of the patterned wings similar to that genus, but Stobaera has flattened antennae.  Genitalia have unusual upcurved processes on segment 10 and unusual genital armature.

Liburniella ornata also has no teeth on the trailing margin of the calcar, which lead some workers (e.g., Muir, 1926) to conclude (in error) it was in Tropidocephalini.

Live images

Thanks to Stephen Cresswell for use of this image (from here)

Liburniella ornata by Stephen Creswell from American Insects (used by permission)

The nymph of this species appears to be the above, this one parasitized by a dryinid (photo borrowed from Planthoppers of North Carolina)

Liburniella ornata
(All photos below by Kimberley Shropshire, University of Delaware)

Short-winged forms (below) are uncommon in this species.

Online Resources

BOLD.
FLOW.
Bugguide.
iNaturalist.
Hoppers of North Carolina.
Discover Life.
American Insects.

Molecular resources

Both GenBank and BOLD provides molecular data for this genus (although surprisingly limited on Genbank for such a common species).

Selected references

Barringer, L. E. and C. R. Bartlett. 2018. Pennsylvania planthoppers (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoroidea): relative abundance and incidental catch using novel trapping methods. Insecta Mundi 0661: 1–31.

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(5): 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.

Benton E. P. & McCreadie J. W. 2009. A preliminary survey of the planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) of coastal Alabama. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 111(2): 354-360.

Bickley, W. E. and T. R. Seek. 1975. Insects in four Maryland Marshes. University of Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station Miscellaneous Publication 870: 1-27.

Britton, W. E. 1923. Guide to the insects of Connecticut. Part IV. The Hemiptera or sucking insects of Connecticut. Bulletin. State of Connecticut. State Geological and Natural History Survey 34:1-807. Fig(s).: 1-169. Plate(s): 1-20.(see p. 52).

Brues, C. T., A. L. Melander and F. M. Carpenter. 1954. Classification of Insects. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Anatomy at Harvard College. No. 108. 917 pp. (see. p. 148). (see p. 113 in 1932 version).

Buntin, G. D. 1989. Dryinid (Hymenoptera: Dryinidae) parasites of leafhoppers and planthoppers (Homoptera) in forage-type bermudagrass. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 62(4): 602-606. [reports a dryinid parasite of Liburniella ornata]

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.

Dowell, R.V., R.J. Gill, D.R. Jeske, and M.S. Hoddle. 2016. Exotic terrestrial macro-invertebrate invaders in California from 1700 to 2015: an analysis of records. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63: 63-157. [link]

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(1): 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(3/4): 243-260.

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

Johnson, C. W. 1927a. “Order Homoptera.” In The insect fauna with reference to the flora and other biological features. In Biological survey of the Mount Desert Region conducted by William Proctor. Vol./pp.: 1:1-247. [A list of species; see pp. 33-38.]

Lago, P. K. and S. Testa III. 2000. The terrestrial Hemiptera and auchenorrhynchous Homoptera of Point Clear Island and surrounding marshlands, Hancock County, Mississippi. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences 45(3): 186-195.

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. (e.g. p. 172)

Metcalf, Z. P. 1943. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 3, Araeopidae (Delphacidae). Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. (see p. 109).

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.

Nixon, P. L. and J. E. McPherson. 1977. An annotated list of the phytophagous insects collected on immature black walnut trees in southern Illinois. Great Lakes Entomologist 10: 211-222.

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

Procter, W. 1946a. The insect fauna with references to methods of capture, food plants, the flora and other biological features. In Biological survey of the Mount Desert Region [Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. Salisbury Cove, Maine]. Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology . Philadelphia. Vol./pp.: 7:1-566. Fig(s).: 1-11.[see beginning p. 83]

Van Duzee, E. P. 1894. A list of the Hemiptera of Buffalo and Vicinity. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Science 5(4): 167-204. (see p. 191)

Van Duzee, E. P. 1897. A Preliminary Review of the North American Delphacidae. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 5(5): 225-261.(see p. 247).

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. [from Google books] (see p. 772).

Weber, B. C. and S. W. Wilson. 1981. Seasonal and vertical distributions of planthoppers (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea) within a black walnut plantation. Great Lakes Entomologist 14(2): 71-75.

Wilson, M. R. and D. J. Hilburn. 1991. Annotated list of the Auchenorrhynchous Homoptera (Insecta) of Bermuda. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 84(4): 412-419.

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

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

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

Wilson, S. W. and J. E. McPherson. 1980. A list of host plants of the Illinois Acanaloniidae and Flatidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science 73(4):21-29.

Wilson, S. W. and R. J. Gill. 1985. The first record of the Delphacid Liburniella ornata in California (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Pan Pacific Entomologist 61(1): 48-49.