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Family Tropiduchidae Stål, 1866

Subfamily Elicinae Melichar, 1915

Tribe Elicini Melichar, 1915

= Gaetuliini Fennah, 1978 (sensu Gnezdilov 2007)

(Note: Historically part of Issidae [e.g., Fennah 1954]; subsequently transferred to Nogodinidae [Fennah 1984], then to Tropiduchidae [Gnezdilov 2007]).

Genus Dictyonissus Uhler, 1876

Type species (in original combination): Dictyonissus griphus Uhler, 1876.

Synonyms

none.

Distribution

Western USA and Mexico.

Recognized species

There are two species recognized in the genus (see Metcalf 1958: 315):

Dictyonissus griphus Uhler, 1876 USA: CA, TX; Mexico (Nuevo León)
Dictyonissus nigropilosus Doering, 1938 USA: TX; Mexico (Tamaulipas)

Economic Importance

Limited.

Known host plants

None reported

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

Recognition

The genus was revised by Doering 1938: 498.

Dictyonissus can be recognized among the Gaetuliini by the forewings covering the abdomen (vs. Danepteryx or Osbornia); wing elongate, costal margin nearly straight, forewings clear, hispid (and green at least for D. griphus); vertex obtusely produced for a distance nearly equal to the width of the eye; hind tibiae with 3 lateral spines.

Key from Doering 1938: 498.

la. Tegmina and body sparsely covered with pitch black, long, stiff hairs; anterior margin of vertex distinctly angulate at the middle … D. nigropilosus (Doering 1938: 499)

lb. Tegmina and body sparsely covered with light hairs; anterior margin of vertex evenly rounding … D. griphus (Doering 1938: 498)

Online resources

Bugguide.
Discover Life.
FLOW.
iNaturalist.
EOL.
GenBank.
BOLD.
3i (Dmitry Dmitriev).

Collecting

Dictyonissus is collected by inspecting likely host plants or sweeping.

Molecular resources

As of this writing, Dictyonissus has COI data on Genbank and 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.

Bliven, B. P. 1966. New genera and species of Issidae. Occidental Entomologist 1: 103-107.

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.

Fennah, R. G. 1954. The Higher classification of the family Issidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea) with descriptions of new species. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 105(19): 455-474.

Fennah, R. G. 1984. Revisionary notes on the classification of the Nogodinidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea), with descriptions of a new genus and a new species. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 120: 81-86.

Gnezdilov, V. M. 2007. On the systematic positions of the Bladinini Kirkaldy, Tonginae Kirkaldy, and Trienopinae Fennah (Homoptera, Fulgoroidea). Zoosystematica Rossica 15: 293-297.

Kirkaldy, G. W. 1907. Leafhoppers supplement (Hemiptera). Bulletin of the Experiment Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association, Entomological Series 3:1-186, plus 20 plates.

Kirkaldy, G. W. 1908. A brief note on three (two new) California fulgoroid Hemiptera. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 2: 22-23.

Melichar, L. 1906. Monographie der Issiden. (Homoptera). Abhandlungen der K. K. Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 3: 1-327.

Melichar, L. 1915. Monographie der Lophopinen. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 13: 337-385 [379].

Metcalf, Z. P. 1958. General catalogue of the Homoptera. Fasc. IV. Fulgoroidea, Part 15. Issidae. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. 561 pp.

O’Brien, L. B. 1988. Taxonomic changes in North American Issidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 81: 865-869.

Stål, C. 1866. Hemiptera Homoptera Latr. Hemiptera Africana vol. 3-4. Officina Norstedtiana, Stockholm, Sweden. 200 + 276 pp.

Uhler, P. R. 1889. New genera and species of American Homoptera. Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Sciences 1: 33-44.

Van Duzee, E. P. 1914a. A preliminary list of Hemiptera of San Diego County, California. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 2: 1-57.

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. (p. 746)

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.