[Back to North American Fulgoridae]

Family Fulgoridae Latreille, 1807

Subfamily Poiocerinae Haupt, 1929

Tribe Poiocerini Haupt, 1929

Subtribe Calyptoproctina Metcalf, 1938: 345

Genus Cyrpoptus Stål, 1862: 304.

Type species (in original combination): Cyrpoptus suavis Stål, 1862: 305.

Synonyms

•  Pelidnopepla Stål, 1869: 88; status (subgenus) by O’Brien 1985: 661.
•  Tomintus Stål, 1864: 49; status (subgenus) by O’Brien 1985: 661.

Distribution

US (especially south) and Central America.

Recognized species

This genus has 11 species, of which 5 are found north of Mexico. [Se Metcalf 1947: 73]

Cyrpoptus belfragei Stål, 1869 – USA: AL, DE, FL, GA, IL, KS, LA, MD, MO, MS, MT?, NC, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA; Belize, Costa Rica?, Cuba?, Mexico (Campeche, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Yucatán); Honduras
Cyrpoptus dubius Kramer, 1978: 327 – Mexico (Oaxaca)
Cyrpoptus ferruginosus Stål, 1869: 223 – Mexico (Morelos)
Cyrpoptus metcalfi Ball, 1933 – USA: AZ, CA, NV; Belize, Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Sonora)
Cyrpoptus obscurus Metcalf, 1938: 352 – Brazil, Panama
Cyrpoptus obtusus (Valdes Ragues, 1910) – Cuba
= Calyptoproctus obtusus Valdes Ragues, 1910: 442.
= Cyrpoptus obtusus (Valdes Ragues, 1910), comb. by Osborn 1926: 354, Myers 1928: 24.
Cyrpoptus pudicus (Stål, 1861) – USA: AZ, TX; Mexico (Campeche, Chiapas, Michoacán, Morales, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Yucatán, Uxmal), Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras.
= Calyptoproctus pudicus Stål, 1861a: 149.
= Tomintus pudicus (Stål, 1861); comb. by Stål 1864: 49.
= Cyrpoptus nubeculosus Stål, 1869: 240: syn. by O’Brien 1985: 661.
= Cyrpoptus pudicus (Stål, 1861); comb. by O’Brien 1985: 661.
Cyrpoptus reineckei Van Duzee, 1909: 185– USA: AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TX
Cyrpoptus ruficrus Kramer, 1978: 310  – Cuba
Cyrpoptus suavis Stål, 1862: 305 – Mexico (Chiapas, Guerrero, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Veracruz), Belize, Guatamala, Costa Rica, Panama
Cyrpoptus vanduzeei Ball, 1933 – USA: AZ, NM, TX; Mexico (Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Sinaloa)

Economic Importance

Limited.

Plant associations

• Cyrpoptus belfragei – Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees (weeping lovegrass, Poaceae), Muhlenbergia reverchonii Vasey & Scribn. (seep muhly), Piptochaetium avenaceum (L.) Parodi (blackseed speargrass); Pinus sp. (pine, Pinaceae)
• Cyrpoptus metcalfi – Pluchea sericea (Nutt.) Coville (arrowweed, Asteraceae), Prosopis (mesquite, Fabaceae), Strombocarpa odorata Torr. and Pluchea sericea (Nutt.).
• Cyrpoptus obtusus – wild tobacco, Glircidia sp., “guama” and “mogote de la bandera.”
• Cyrpoptus reineckei – Panicum repens L. (torpedo grass), Muhlenbergia filipes M.A. Curtis (gulfhairawn muhly, as Muhlenbergia capillaris var. filipes), Andropogon glaucopsis Elliott (purple bluestem), Andropogon gyrans Ashe (Elliott’s bluestem), Andropogon virginicus L. (broomsedge bluestem), Spartina bakeri Merr. (sand cordgrass), Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees, Deschampsia flexuosa (L.) Trin. (wavy hairgrass), Melilotus alba L., Flaveria linearis Lag., Baccharis halimifolia L., Lima beans, snap beans, and cotton.
• Cyrpoptus ruficrus – “On needles of long-leafed cuban pine”
• Cyrpoptus vanduzeei – Muhlenbergia porteri Scribn. ex Beal (bush muhly, mesquite grass), Prosopis glandulosa Torr. (honey mesquite)

Host from Wheeler & Wilson (2005, 2010), Wilson et al. (1994); plant names from USDA PLANTS or Tropicos.

Recognition

Head not strongly produced, head with eyes equal or broader than pronotum but not exceeding the width of closed forewings; blunt spur on posterior margin of the head behind eye overlapping margin of pronotum.

This genus was revised by Kramer (1978), although additional synonymies were made by O’Brien (1985)

Here is Kramer’s (1978: 305) key (modified; without figure references, until I add his figures to this page)

1. Pronotal carina behind the inner margin of each eye strongly developed and nearly reaching posterior margin in dorsal view (distribution: Panama) – C. obscurus 

1.’ Pronotal carina behind theinner margin of each eye essentially absent or only weakly developed in dorsal view – 2

2. Crown and thoracic dorsum mottled with fuscus or black, or legs with joint of femur and tibiae reddish (distribution: Cuba) – 3

2.’ Crown and thoracic dorsum not so marked, legs not or rarely reddish as above (distribution: mainland America) – 4

3. Crown and thoracic dorsum mottled with black or fuscus, costal margin of forewing slightly concave near middle, joint of femur and tibia with ground color stramineous. – C.  obtusus (Valdes Ragues)

3.’ Crown and thoracic dorsum with at most fine lighter and darker reticulate markings, costal margin of forewing not concave near middle, joint of femur and tibia with ground color reddish – C. ruficrus Kramer

4. Forewing with distal midline solidly darkened from apex to or almost to opaque basal portion – 5

4.’ Forewing with distal midline not darkened, darkened only half distance to opaque basal portion, or darkened irregularly and more extensively – 6

5. Forewing distinctly narrowed subapically, its distal margin slightly sinuate – C.  suavis Stål

5.’ Forewing not distinctly narrowed subapically, its distal margin not sinuate – C.  belfragei Stål

6. Forewing with the distal portion not darkened, or lightly marked with dominant marking consisting of a dark stripe on the midline (fig. 38)– 7

6.’ Forewing with distal portion extensively darkened; or if lightly marked, dominant marking not dark stripe on the midline (fig. 48)- 8

Cyrpoptus vanduzeei forewing (Fig. 48) from Kramer 1978

7. Crown distinctly produced at the middle (fig. 30), opaque basal portion of forewing with a faint transverse band (fig. 28), smaller species — males 11-12 mm, females 12-13.5 mm – C. metcalfi Ball (in part)

7.’ Crown not produced at the middle (figs. 39, 41), opaque basal portion of forewing not banded (fig. 48), larger species — males 13-14 mm, females 14.5-16.5 mm – C. ferruginosus Stål

8. The midline of crown darkened to form wide stripe or longitudinal band (fig. 49), coronal length at middle 2x or less length next to eyes – C. vanduzeei Ball

8.’ The midline of the crown not so darkened or if vaguely as above, then coronal length at middle about 2.5x length next to eyes – 9

9. Forewing extensively darkened distally, with distinct transparent oblique vitta from the costal margin in apical portion reaching to or beyond midline ((figs. 56, 57; distribution: SC, FL, and Gulf States) – C. reineckei Van D.

9.’ Forewing extensively darkened distally or not, without transparent vitta as above or vitta only vaguely indicated and not reaching to or beyond midline (distribution: S Texas, western states, and Mexico) – 10

10. Face in lateral view with convexity near middle or in full view with a low irregular transverse ridge across the middle; forewing with opaque basal portion palest at middle or entire forewing but little darkened – C. metcalfi Ball (in part)

10.’ Face in lateral or full view essentially smooth across the middle; forewing not as above – 11

11. Head in lateral view produced anteriorly for about 1.5x width of the eye; forewing with fewer hyaline areas – C. dubius Kramer

11.’  Head in lateral view produced anteriorly for about Ix width of the eye; forewing with more hyaline areas – C. pudicus (Stål) (as C. nubeculosus Stål)

Cyrpoptus belfragei

Online resources

BugGuide. 
Discover Life,
Hemipterans of North Carolina (link to C. belfragei).
Online photos > Flicker: Cyrpoptus.
iNaturalist.
FLOW.
EOL.
GBIF.
BOLD.
GenBank.
3i.
Hoppers of North Carolina. (link to C. belfragei)

Collecting

Cyrpoptus is most readily collected sweeping or beating host plants.  Wheeler & Wilson (2005) collected planthoppers holding a white enamel pan at the base of a grass, striking the crown with an ax handle and collecting dislodged planthoppers.  I have collected nymphs sweeping ‘clumpy’ grasses.

Molecular resources

Genbank has several genes for Cyrpoptus suavis; Barcode of life has data for Cyrpoptus belfragei, C. metcalfi, C. pudicus, C. reineckei, C. vanduzeei.

Selected references

Ball, E. D. 1933. Notes on the Fulgoridae with some new species. Psyche 40: 145-150.

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.

Dozier, H. L. 1928 [dated 1922 or 1926]. The Fulgoridae or planthoppers of Mississippi, including those of possible occurrence. Technical Bulletin of the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station 14: 1-152.

Haupt, H. 1929b. Neueinteilung der Homoptera-Cicadina nach phylogenetisch zu wertenden Merkmalen. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systemetik, Okologie und Geographie der Tiere. Jena 58: 173-286.

Kramer, J. P. 1978. Taxonomic study of the American planthopper genus Cyrpoptus (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Fulgoridae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 91(1): 303-335.

Latreille, P. A. 1807. Sectio secunda. Familia quarta. Cicadariae. Cicadaires. Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum secundum ordinem naturalem in familias disposita, iconibus exemplisque plurimis explicata 3: 1-258.

Metcalf, Z. P. 1938. The Fulgorina of Barro Colorado and other parts of Panama. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College 82: 277-423.  (p. 352)

Metcalf, Z. P. 1947. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV Fulgoroidea. Part 9 Fulgoridae. Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. (p. 73)

Myers, J. G. 1928. Notes on Cuban Fulgoroid Homoptera. Studies on Cuban Insects 1928: 11-31.

O’Brien, L. B. 1985. New synonymies and combinations in New World Fulgoroidea (Achilidae, Delphacidae, Flatidae, Fulgoridae: Homoptera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 78(5): 657-662.

Osborn, H. 1926c. Faunistic and ecological notes on Cuban Homoptera. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 19: 335-366.

Porion, T. 1994. Fulgoridae I: catalogue illustre de la faune americaine. Sciences Nat, Venette.

Stål, C. 1861a. Miscellanea hemopterologica. Entomologische Zeitung. Herausgegeben von dem entomologischen Vereine zu Stettin 22: 129-153.

Stål, C. 1862a. Novae vel minus cognitae Homopterorum formae et species. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 6: 303-315.

Stål, C. 1864a. Hemiptera mexicana enumeravit speciesque novas descripsit. (Continuatio). Entomologische Zeitung 25: 49-86.

Stål, C. 1869a. Hemiptera Fabriciana. Fabricianska Hemipterarter, efter de Köpenhamn och Kiel förvarade typexemplaren granskade och beskrifne. 2. Handlingar. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien 8(1): 1-130.

Stål, C. 1869b. Analecta hemipterologica. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 13: 225-242.

Urban J. M. and J. R. Cryan. 2009. Entomologically famous, evolutionarily unexplored: The first phylogeny of the lanternfly family Fulgoridae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 50: 471-484.

Valdés Ragués, P. 1910. Classification Gundlach de Hemipteros Cubanos, Conforme a los Ejemplares que Existen en el Museo del Instituto de 2a. Enseéñanza de la Habana. Anales de la Academia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales de la Habana 46: 425-446.

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.

Wilson, S. W. and A. G. Wheeler, Jr. 2005. An African grass, Eragrostis curvula (Poaceae), planted in the southern United States recruits rarely collected native planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Dictyopharidae, Fulgoridae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 113(3-4): 174-204.

Wilson, S. W. and A. G. Wheeler, Jr. 2010. Planthopper (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) diversity of weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula), an introduced host of little known, rarely collected native species. Entomologica Americana 116(3/4): 98–106.

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.