Genus Nothodelphax Fennah, 1963

[back to Higher Classification of Delphacidae]
[back to A checklist of New World delphacid species]

Family Delphacidae Leach, 1815

Subfamily Delphacinae Leach, 1815

Tribe Delphacini Leach, 1815

Genus Nothodelphax Fennah, 1963: 15

Synonyms.

= Tyrphodelphax Vilbaste, 1968 synonym of Nothodelphax Fennah, 1963 by Anufriev & Averkin 1982: 137.
= Northodelphax Fennah, missp. by Bland 1998: 297.

Type species (in original combination): Liburnia foveata Van Duzee, 1897: 257.

Distribution

Mostly a northern genus, widespread throughout the Holarctic region; some species circumboreal.  Two species are distributed into the New World tropics, one species from temperate South America.

Recognized species

There are 18 species and two subspecies described species in this genus.  Some species of Nothodelphax are incompletely described and can be challenging to recognize. A revision of this genus is needed and some published distribution records require confirmation.

1 Nothodelphax albocarinata (Stal, 1858: 357) – Widespread; northern Europe (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia (Amur, North European Russia), Sweden, Switzerland), East Palaearctic; Asia, North America (USA: Alaska, Illinois, Kansas; Canada: Labrador, Manitoba, Nunavut, Yukon); Mongolia (early European records of this species may be N. distincta)
= Delphax albocarinata Stål, 1858: 357.
= Liburnia albocarinata (Stål, 1858); comb. by Sahlberg 1871: 426.
= Delphacodes albocarinata (Stål, 1858); comb. by China 1938b: 197.
= Calligypona albocarinata (Stål, 1858); comb. by Ossiannilsson 1946: 57.
= Delphacodes hyalina Beamer, 1946d: 141.
= Muirodelphax albocarinata (Stål, 1858); comb. by Wagner 1963: 175.
= Tyrphodelphax albocarinatus (Stål, 1858); comb. by Vilbaste 1968: 70; 1971: 187.
= Nothodelphax albocarinata (Stål, 1858); comb. by Anufriev & Averkin 1982: 137.
= Nothodelphax albocarinatus (Stål, 1858); emendation by Wilson 1992: 85-86.
= Delphacodes hyalina Beamer, 1946d; syn. by Wilson 1992: 85-86.
= Delphacodes palliata Metcalf, 1943 (According to Fauna Europea, apparently ref. to Wagner 1963)

Nothodelphax albocarinata intermedia (Sahlberg, 1871) [Fauna Europea lists this as syn. with N. albocarinata (Stal)]
= Liburnia intermedia Sahlberg, 1871
= Delphacodes albocarinata intermedia (Sahlberg, 1871)

2 Nothodelphax atlanticus (China, 1958: 5) – Chile
Nothodelphax atlanticus nigrescens Fennah, 1965 – Chile (Isla Wellington)

3 Nothodelphax consimilis (Van Duzee, 1897: 249) – USA: Arizona, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon: Canada: Alberta, British Columbia
= Liburnia consimilis Van Duzee, 1897: 249.
= Megamelus consimilis (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Crawford 1914: 617.
= Delphacodes consimilis (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 21.
= Nothodelphax consimilis (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Fennah 1965d: 254.

4 Nothodelphax distincta (Flor, 1861: 36) – Northern and Central Europe (Austria, Czech Republic[?], Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia (East European Russia; Perm), Sweden, Switzerland )
= Delphax distinctus Flor, 1861

5 Nothodelphax eburneocarinatus (Anufriev, 1979) – USA: Alaska; Canada: Nunavut, Yukon; Mongolia; Russia inc. Yakut, Tuva (Magadan, Kamchatka Regions, and Primor’ye Territory; Amur, Chita, Irkutsk, Krasnodar, Tuva, Yakutskiya).
= Tyrphodelphax eburneocarinatus Anufriev, 1979: 295-297.
= Tyrphodelphax eburneocarinata Anufriev, 1979; emendation by Anufriev & Averkin 1982: 137.
= Nothodelphax eburneocarinata (Anufriev, 1979); comb. by Anufriev & Averkin 1982: 137; Emeljanov 1982: 90.

6 Nothodelphax foveata (Van Duzee, 1897: 257) – USA: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio; Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan; Mexico.
= Liburnia foveata Van Duzee, 1897: 257.
= Megamelus foveatus (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Crawford 1914: 629.
= Delphacodes foveata (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 22 (subspp. foveata by implication).
= Nothodelphax foveata (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Fennah 1963a: 15 (designated Type species of Nothodelphax).
= Nothodelphax foveatus (Van Duzee, 1897); unjustified emendation by Hamilton 2002: 43

Nothodelphax foveata subfoveata (Muir and Giffard, 1924) – Mexico
= Delphacodes foveata subfoveata Muir & Giffard, 1924.
= Nothodelphax foveata subfoveata (Muir & Giffard, 1924); comb. by implication Fennah 1963a: 15.

7 Nothodelphax gillettei (Van Duzee, 1897: 258) – USA: California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming; Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan.
= Liburnia gillettei Van Duzee, 1897: 258.
= Megamelus gillettei (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Crawford 1914: 616.
= Delphacodes gillettei (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 22.
= Nothodelphax gillettei (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Fennah 1965d: 254.

8 Nothodelphax glacia Wilson, 1992 – Canada: Manitoba, Yukon

9 Nothodelphax guentheri (Diabola, 1966) – Canada: Alberta?, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan?, Yukon?; Mongolia, Russia inc, Taymyr Autonomous District (Altay Territory), Siberia (Krasnoyarsk)
= Koswigianella (sic) güntheri Dlabola, 1966: 444-445.
= Kosswigianella guentheri Dlabola, 1966; emendation by Nast 1972: 62.
= Tyrphodelphax privigna Emeljanov, 1972: 217-218.
= Nothodelphax guentheri (Dlabola, 1966); comb. by Emeljanov 1982: 90.
= Tyrphodelphax privigna Emeljanov, 1972; syn. by Emeljanov 1982: 90.

10 Nothodelphax latifrons Emeljanov 1989 – Mongolia

11 Nothodelphax lineatipes (Van Duzee, 1897: 255) – USA: Arizona, California, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington; Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan
= Liburnia lineatipes Van Duzee, 1897: 255.
= M[egamelus] lineatipes (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Crawford 1914: 629, 630.
= Delphacodes lineatipes (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 21.
= Calligypona lineatipes (Van Duzee, 1897); comb by Kontkanen 1958: 143.
= Nothodelphax lineatipes (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Fennah 1965d: 254.

12 Nothodelphax neocclusa (Muir and Giffard, 1924) – USA: California, Colorado; Canada: British Columbia
= Delphacodes neocclusa Muir & Giffard, 1924.
= Nothodelphax neocclusa (Muir & Giffard, 1924); comb. by Fennah 1965d: 254.

13 Nothodelphax occlusa (Van Duzee, 1897: 256) – USA: California, Colorado, Nevada; Canada: British Columbia; Mexico
= Liburnia occlusa Van Duzee, 1897: 256.
= Megamelus occlusus (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Crawford 1914: 619.
= Delphacodes occlusa (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 21.
= Delphacodes occlusus (Van Duzee, 1897); unjustified emendation by Moore 1950a, b.
= Nothodelphax occlusa (Van Duzee, 1897); comb. by Fennah 1965d: 254.

14 Nothodelphax serrata (Beamer, 1948a)
= Delphacodes serrata Beamer, 1948a: 6-8.
= Nothodelphax serrata (Beamer, 1948a); comb. by Bartlett et al. 2014: 131.

15 Nothodelphax slossonae (Ball, 1903: 231) – USA: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi; Canada: Ontario; Belize, Bermuda, Cuba, Puerto Rico
= Liburnia slossoni Ball, 1903; 231.
= Megamelus slossoni (Ball, 1903); comb. by Crawford 1914: 631.
= Stenocranus breviceps Dozier, 1922: 76.
= Chloriona slossoni (Ball, 1903); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 8.
= Sogata breviceps (Dozier, 1922); comb. by Muir & Giffard 1924: 12.
= Liburnia breviceps (Dozier, 1922); comb. by Metcalf 1943: 353.
= Chloriona slossonae (Ball, 1903); emendation by Caldwell & Martorell 1951: 160-161 (not listed as new).
= Nothodelphax slossonae (Ball, 1903); comb. by Wilson & Hilburn 1991: 416 (as N. slossoni).
= Liburnia breviceps (Dozier, 1922); syn. by Metcalf 1923: 148; Beamer 1946b: 87; see also Hamilton 2006: 497, Kennedy et al. 2012: 405.

16 Nothodelphax tshaunica (Anufriev, 1979) – Canada: Yukon; Russia (Chukchi Autonomous District, Magadan Region)
= Tyrphodelphax tshaunicus Anufriev, 1979: 297.
= Nothodelphax tshaunica (Anufriev, 1979); comb. by Anufriev & Averkin 1982: 137.

17 Nothodelphax umbrata Emeljanov, 1982 – Canada: Yukon; Mongolia, Russia (Magadan, Kamchatka Regions and Yakut Autonomous Republic)

18 Nothodelphax venusta (Beamer, 1948) – USA: Texas
= Delphacodes venusta Beamer, 1948c: 115.
= Nothodelphax venusta (Beamer, 1948c); comb. by Hamilton 2002a: 22.
= Nothodelphax venustus (Beamer, 1948c); unjustified emendation by Hamilton, 2002b: 44-45.

Economic importance: Limited. While some species are common, none are reported from economic plants.

Plant associations

So far, all reported hosts are sedges or rushes (I have not checked Nickle 2003).

Nothodelphax albocarinatus – Carex limosa L. (Mud sedge), Eriophorum sp.
Nothodelphax atlanticus – Marsippospermum sp. (Poales, Juncaceae) (Fennah 1965: 254).
Nothodelphax consimilis –Scirpus microcarpus J. Presl & C. Presl (panicled bulrush).
Nothodelphax distincta – Eriophorum vaginatum L. (tussock cottongrass; in bogs).
Nothodelphax occlusa –  Juncus effusus L. (Common Rush; Juncaceae)
Nothodelphax slossonae – Eleocharis quadrangulata (Michx.) Roem. & Schult. (squarestem spikerush).

Hosts from Fennah 1965, Wilson et al. 1994, Wheeler et al. 1916 and FLOW.  Plant names according to The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov).

Parasites/Predators

Nothodelphax distincta – Halictophagus silwoodensis Waloff, 1981 (Strepsiptera: Halictophagidae)(Bland 1998)

Recognition

Species often sexually dimorphic with females paler than males.  Some species (e.g., N. consimilis) quite common in both long and short winged forms.  Males of some species uniformly dark (e.g., N. consimilis, N. lineatipes) others much paler (N. foveata).  Females can not usually be identified with certainty; males usually require dissection – the best recognition features require examination of the aedeagus.  Superficially, Nothodelphax is quite similar to Javesella, but differ most obviously in the genitalia, esp. the shape of the parameres and that the processes of abdominal segment 10 (anal segment) are widely separated in caudal view (as opposed to close together in Javesella).  Wilson (1988, 1992) characterized the genus has lacking teeth on the spur – this is not quite so, the spur is thin and tends to curl when dry, sometimes hiding the fine teeth along the posterior margin.

Genus description from Anufriev and Emeljanov 1988:

“Macrocoryphe about as long as wide. Eumetope with slightly convex lateral margins, twice or somewhat more longer than wide, mat, finely shagreened. Carinae on head, pronotum and scutellum distinct. Lateral carinae of disc of pronotum not reaching posterior margin of pronotum, slanting outwards posteriorly and disappearing. In brachypters, fore wings shorter (sometimes much shorter) than abdomen, rounded or rather sharply truncate posteriorly. Posttibial spur without lateral denticles. Male. Anal tube with well developed teeth. Pygofer with well expressed edging laterally and deep excisions dorsally and ventrally. Styli becoming thinner to apex, with a knob at base of free part; degree of their divergence varying; their location in live specimens also not fixed strictly; their apices may converge or diverge in certain limits. Bridge of pygofer with vertical carina. Shaft of aedeagus nearly straight, with asymmetrical arrangement of denticles; gonopore ventral, subapical, also not quite symmetrical.”

There are no keys to the North American species of Nothodelphax, except for Alaska (Wilson 1988).

I think it is likely – but not certain that Nothodelphax consimilis is a western species and eastern records are in error; conversely, N. lineatipes is eastern (possibly with both species in the midwest).

Nothodelphax albocarinatus  (Thanks to Matt Bowser, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Soldotna, Alaska, for the opportunity to examine and photograph specimens of this species).

Nothodelphax consimilis – male

Nothodelphax consimilis – female

Nothodelphax foveata – male

Nothodelphax foveata – male

Nothodelphax foveata – female

Nothodelphax gillettei

Nothodelphax lineatipes – male

Nothodelphax lineatipes (male, brachypter)

Nothodelphax lineatipes – female

Nothodelphax occlusa – male

Nothodelphax occlusa – female

Nothodelphax slossonae – male

Nothodelphax venusta – male

Nothodelphax venusta – female

Online resources

Nothodelphax on…

BOLD.
EOL
FLOW
Discover Life
Bugguide
Gernot Kunz Kunzweb Gallery (not yet)
Leafhopper, Planthopper & Psyllid Vectors of Plant Disease (none)
3I Interactive Keys and Taxonomic Databases (Dmitry Dmitriev)
Les Hemipteres du Quebec (photos of N. Lineatipes)
Hemipterans of North Carolina (3 species listed, link is to N. lineatipes)
Nothodelphax distincta (on British Bugs)

Web Images

Fickr (search=Nothodelphax)

Molecular resources

At this time, Genbank has 4 species (Nothodelphax gillettei, N. lineatipes, N. neocclusa and N. slossonae from Urban et al. 2010).  Bold has barcode data for 10 species (excluding ‘sp.’, a misspelling and a jr synonym).

Selected References

Anufriev, G. A. 1979. Notes on the genus Tyrphodelphax Vilbaste, 1968 with descriptions of two new Asiatic species. Reichenbachia 17(34): 295-301.

Anufriev, G. A. and A. M. Averkin. 1982. On delphacids of the Komsomolsky Reserve (Khabarovsk region USSR) (Insecta, Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Delphacidae). Faunistische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden 9(6): 95-100.

Anufriev, G. A. and A. M. Averkin. 1982. Cicadinea of the family Delphacidae (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha) from the Sokhondo Reserve (Transbaicalia). Insects of Mongolia 8: 123-139. [in Russian] [Tyrphodelphax Vilbaste, 1968]

Anufriev, G. A. and A. F. Emeljanov. 1988. Volume II: Homoptera and Heteroptera. In: P. A. Lehr (ed.). Keys to the Insects of the Far East of the USSR in Six Volumes, Transliteration of the Russian title: Opredelitel’ nasekomykh Dal’nego Vostoka SSSR v shesti tomakh. Vol. 2. Ravnokrylye i poluzhestkokrylye. Nauka, Leningrad. 496 pp [index paginated separately, 10 pp].

Gunthart, H. and R. Muhlethaler. 2002. Provisorische Checklist der Zikaden der Schweiz (Insecta: Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha). Denisia 04, zugleich Kataloge des OO. Landesmuseums, Neue Folge, 176: 329-338.

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. [Transferred Delphacodes venusta to Nothodelphax].

Hamilton, K.G.A. 2006. The planthopper genus Stenocranus in Canada: Implications for classification of Delphacidae (Hemiptera). Canadian Entomologist 138: 493-503.

Holzinger, W. 1996a. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Zikaden Osterreichs (Ins.: Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha). Carinthia II 186/106: 501-517.

Holzinger, W. E., I. Kammerlander and H. Nickel. 2003. Fulgoromorpha, Cicadomorpha excluding Cicadellidae. Volume 1. The Auchenorrhyncha of Central Europe. Brill Academic Publishing, Leiden, Netherlands.

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: 394-420.

Kontkanen, P. 1958. Notes on some Fulgorids collected in Canada by Professor Håkon Linberg during the summer of 1956 (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Annales Entomologici Fennici 24: 141-145.

Le Quesne, W. J. 1960.  Hemiptera (Fulgoromorpha). Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects II (3): 1-68.

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

Maw, H.E.L., R.G. Foottit, K.G.A. Hamilton and G.G.E. Scudder. 2000. Checklist of the Hemiptera of Canada and Alaska. NRC Research Press, Ottawa. read online: http://www.ccebook.org/preview/0660181657/Checklist-of-the-hemiptera-of-Canada-and-Alaska

Metcalf, Z. P. 1943. General catalogue of the Hemiptera. Fasc. IV. Fulgoroidea, Part 3. Araeopidae (Delphacidae), Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. 552 pp.

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.

Nast, J. 1972. Palaearctic Auchenorrhyncha (Homoptera). An annotated check list. Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw. 550 pp.

Nast, J. 1987. The Auchenorrhyncha (Homoptera) of Europe. Annales Zoologici Warszawa 40: 535-661.

Nickel, H. 2003. The Leafhoppers and Planthoppers of Germany (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha), Patterns and strategies in a highly diverse group of phytophagous insects , Pensoft Series Faunistica 28, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Ossiannilsson, F. 1946. Halvvingar. Hemiptera. Stritar Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha. Svensk insektfauna 7: 1-150.

Ossiannilsson, F, 1978. The Auchenorrhyncha (Homoptera of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Part 1: Introduction, infraorder Fulgoromorpha. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 7 (1): 1-222.

Remane, R. and W. Della Giustina. 1993. La faune de France des Delphacidae (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha) IV. Recoltes de 1992. Cahier des Naturalistes, Bulletin 48: 11-24. 1993

Remane, R. and W. Frohlich. 1994. Beitrage zur Chorologie einiger Zikaden-Arten (Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha) in der Westpalaarktis. Marburger Entomologische Publikationen 2(8): 131-188.

Remane, R. and W. Frohlich. 1994. Vorlaufige, kritische Artenliste der im Gebiet der Bundesrepublik Deutschland nachgewiesenen Taxa der Insekten-Gruppe der Zikaden (Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha). Marburger Entomologische Publikationen 2(8): 189-232.

Sahlberg, J. R. 1871. Öfversigt af Finlands och den Skandinaviska hälfons Cicadariae. I. Notiser ur Sällskapets pro Fauna et Flora Fennica Förhandlingar (N.S.) 9 (12): 1-506. [Liburnia intermedia Sahlberg, 1871]

Stål, C. 1858. Nya svenska Homoptera. Ofversigt af Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar 15: 355-358.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1897. A preliminary review of the North American Delphacidae. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 5: 225-261.

Vilbaste, J. 1968. K faune tsikadovykh Primorskogo Kraia [On the Cicadine fauna of the Primosk region]. Zooloogia ja Botaanika Instituut (Eesti NSV Teaduste Akadeemia) [Institute of Zoology and Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR]. Valgus, Tallinn, Estonia. 179 pp. [in Russian]

Vilbaste, J. 1971. Eesti Tirdid. Homoptera-Cicadinea I. (Tettigometridae, Cixiidae, Delphacidae, Achilidae, Issidae, Cicadidae, Aphrophoridae, Membracidae). Kirjastus “Valgus”, Tallinn, 1-284.

Wagner, W. 1963 [dated 1962]. Dynamische Taxionomie, angewandt auf die Delphaciden Mitteleuropas. Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut 60: 111-189. [Delphacodes palliata Metcalf, 1943, etc.]

Wheeler A. G., E. R. Hoebeke and C. R. Bartlett. 2016. Juncus effusus (Juncaceae) as a host plant of Nothodelphax occlusa (Van Duzee) (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae) in the Pacific Northwest. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 118(4): 629-635.

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: 412 419.

Wilson, S. W. 1988. Delphacidae of Alaska (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs 12: 335-343.

Wilson, S. W. 1992. The Delphacidae of Yukon Territory, Canada (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Insecta Mundi 6(2): 79-100.