[Back to North American Flatidae]

Family Flatidae Spinola, 1839

Subfamily Flatinae Spinola, 1839

Tribe Flatini Spinola, 1839

Genus Hesperophantia Kirkaldy, 1904b.

Type species (in original combination): Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862c.

Synonyms:

•  Carthaea Stål, 1862c (nec Walker 1858) (Type species Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862c); unavailable (preoccupied) replaced by Hesperophantia Kirkaldy, 1904b: 279.
• Carthaeella Strand, 1928 (Type species Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862c) (replacement name for unavailable Carthaea Stål, 1862c); syn. by Neave 1939: 593.

Distribution:

Neotropical (Central and Northern South America).  Reported from California in error.

Recognized species

There appear to be 6 species currently assigned to this genus (from Metcalf 1957: 223; same listed on FLOW):

1 Hesperophantia acuminata (Melichar, 1902) [Metcalf 1957: 225] (see also Medler 1994: 216) – French Guiana, Surinam, Colombia
= Carthaea acuminata Melichar, 1902: 32.
= Hesperophantia acuminata (Melichar, 1902); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
2 Hesperophantia caudata (Stål, 1862) [Metcalf 1957: 225] (see also Medler 1994: 217) – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
= Poeciloptera caudata Stål, 1862: 11.
= Carthaea caudata (Stål, 1862); comb. by Stål, 1862: 68.
= Hesperophantia caudata (Stål, 1862); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
3 Hesperophantia championi (Fowler, 1900) [Metcalf 1957: 225] (see also Medler 1993: 435) – Panama, Guatemala
= Flata championi Fowler, 1900: 51.
= Carthaea championi (Fowler, 1900); comb. by Melichar 1902: 31.
= Hesperophantia championi (Fowler, 1900); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
4 Hesperophantia folium (Gmelin, 1789) [Metcalf 1957: 226] – Surinam, Brazil (Espírito Santo, Rio De Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Caterina)
= Fulgora folium Gmelin, 1789: 2092 (new name for Cicada foliumambulans De Geer, 1773).
= Poeciloptera folium (Gmelin, 1789); comb. by Schaum 1850: 72. 
= Hesperophantia folium (Gmelin, 1789); comb. by Metcalf 1957: 226.
5 Hesperophantia rectangularis (Melichar, 1902) [Metcalf 1957: 228] – Brazil (Santa Caterina), Guyana (as British Guiana)
= Carthaea rectangularis Melichar, 1902: 31.
= Hesperophantia rectangularis (Melichar, 1902); comb. by Kirkaldy 1904 (by implication).
6 Hesperophantia ricanioides (Spinola, 1839) [Metcalf 1957: 228] – Mexico, also California apparently in error.
= Poeciloptera ricanioides Spinola, 1839: 442.
= Bladina (?) ricanioides (Spinola, 1839); comb. by Fowler 1900: 69.
= Carthaea (?) ricanioides (Spinola, 1839); comb. by Van Duzee, 1916: 82.

Economic Importance:

Limited.

Plant associations:

None. (See e.g., FLOW,  which will list any found host records in the literature).

Hosts from Wilson et al. 1994; plant names from USDA PLANTS or Tropicos.

Recognition:

Unclear.   This genus is evidently polyphyletic; the type species is unfamiliar to me.  I have seen photos of the type specimen of ricanioides, and it resembles a grey Flatormenis, but the tail is not the same.  I have seen a specimen putatively of championi, which is quite different from ricanioides.

Websites:

This genus is not present on Bugguide.

FLOW.
EOL.
GBIF.
Discover life.

Collecting

[?]

Molecular resources: 

There are no data for this genus on Genbank; or on Barcode of Life.

Selected references:

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.

Fowler, W. W. 1900. Order Rhynchota. Suborder Hemiptera-Homoptera. (Continued). Key to the genera of the subfamily Flatinae with descriptions of the new species. Biologia Centrali-Americana 1: 49-56.

Gmelin, J. F. 1789a. Insecta Hemiptera. In Caroli a Linné. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Impensis G. E. Beer, Lipsiae [Leipzig, Germany]. 1 (4):1517-2224.

Kirkaldy, G. W. 1904c. Bibliographical and nomenclatorial notes on the Hemiptera. No. 3. The Entomologist 37: 279-283.

Medler, J. T. 1993. Types of Flatidae (Homoptera) XVIII. Lectotype designations for Fowler and Melichar type specimens in the Museum of Natura History in Vienna, with 2 new genera and a new species. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien Serie B Botanik and Zoologie 94-95(B): 433-450.

Medler, J. T. 1994. Types of Flatidae (Homoptera) in the Stockholm Museum with lectotype designations. Part 2. Entomologica Scandinavica 25(2): 215-225.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1938a. The Fulgorina of Barro Colorado and other parts of Panama. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College 82: 277-423. [noted, tribal placement p. 392]

Metcalf, Z. P. 1957. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 13, Flatidae and Hypochthonellidae. North Carolina State College, Raleigh, North Carolina. Pp. 1-565.

Melichar. L. 1902. Monographie der Acanaloniiden und Flatiden (Homoptera) (Fortsetzung). Annalen des k.k Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums. Wien 17: 1-253.

Melichar, L. 1923a. Homptera, fam. Acanaloniidae, Flatidae et Ricaniidae. Genera Insectorum. Bruxelles 182: 1-185.

Spinola, M. 1839a. Essai sur les Fulgorelles, sous-tribu de la tribu des Cicadaires, ordre des Rhyngotes. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 8: 133-337.

Spinola, M. 1839b. Essai sur les Fulgorelles, sous-tribu de la tribu des Cicadaires, ordre des Rhyngotes. (Suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 8: 339-454.

Stål, C. 1862e. Bidrag till Rio Janeiro-traktens Hemipterfauna II. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 3(6): 1-75. [pdf is only Fulgoroid portion]

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.