[Return to North American Issidae]
Family Issidae Spinola, 1839
Subfamily incertae sedis
[Higher taxonomy revised by Wang et al. 2016; formerly placed in Issinae, Issini, subtribe Hysteropterina; see also Gnezdilov 2016]
Genus Traxus Metcalf, 1923: 189.
Type species (in original combination): Traxus fulvus Metcalf, 1923.
Synonyms
None.
Distribution
Texas and Mexico.
Recognized species
There are two species currently assigned to this genus. [see Metcalf 1958: 214]
- Traxus kasparyani Gnezdilov & O’Brien, 2008 – Mexico (Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas)
- Traxus fulvus Metcalf, 1923: 189 – USA: TX; Mexico (Hidalgo, Tamaulipas)
Economic Importance
Limited – this genus is uncommon.
Plant associations
None.
Hosts from Wilson et al. 1994; plant names from USDA PLANTS or Tropicos.
Recognition
Hind wings absent or rudimentary, body rounded in dorsal view, wings strongly reticulate; mesonotum with lateral carinae elevated (vs. Paralixes) clypeus receeding from frons in lateral view (Paralixes)
Traxus fulvus
Traxus fulvus images from Metcalf 1923
Head lateral view Traxus kasparyani (left, 7; paratype) and Traxus fulvus (From Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2008)
Terminalia of Traxus kasparyani (from Gnezdilov & O’Brien 2008)
Online resources
Bugguide.
iNaturalist.
FLOW.
EOL.
GBIF.
BOLD.
GenBank.
3i.
Discover Life.
Collecting
Adults are evidently taken sweeping or beating.
Molecular resources
The genus is on Barcode of life with no data, on Genbank there are several genes for T. fulvus.
Selected reference
Caldwell, J. S. 1945. Notes on Issidae from Mexico (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 38: 89-120.
Doering, K. C. 1938. A contribution to the taxonomy of the subfamily Issinae in America north of Mexico (Fulgoroidea: Homoptera. Part II). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 25(20): 447-575.
Gnezdilov, V. M. 2016. Notes on the phylogenetic relationships of planthoppers of the family Issidae (Hemiptera, Fulgoroidea) of the Western Palaearctic fauna, with descriptions of two new genera. Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 95(2): 362-382.
Gnezdilov, V. M. and L. B. O’Brien. 2006. Generic changes in United States Issini (Hemiptera, Fulgoroidea, Issidae). Insecta Mundi 20(3-4): 217-225.
Gnezdilov, V. M. and L. B. O’Brien. 2008. New taxa and combinations in Neotropical Issidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea). Insecta Mundi 31: 1-26.
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(3): 139-230, plus 32 plates. [here]
Metcalf, Z. P. 1958. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV, Fulgoroidea, Part 15, Issidae. Waverly Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland. [p. 214]
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.
Wang, M. L., Y. L. Zhang and T. Bourgoin. 2016. Planthopper family Issidae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha): Linking molecular phylogeny with classification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 105: 224-234.
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.
