First record of three alien Auchenorrhyncha species from Europe: Acanalonia bivittata (Say, 1825), Branchana xanthota Li, 2011, and Dryadomorpha pallida Kirkaldy 1906 (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Acanaloniidae, Cicadellidae)
Author
Sanna, Francesco
0000-0003-1795-4102
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padua, Italy. sannino. sanna @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 1795 - 4102
sannino.sanna@gmail.com
Author
Poggi, Francesco
0000-0003-3567-7831
Via Madonnina 6 / B, I- 23873 Missaglia LC, Italy. erythria @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 3567 - 7831 Corresponding author
erythria@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-10-05
5194
2
273
282
journal article
158619
10.11646/zootaxa.5194.2.8
28793d99-7dbf-4392-8647-00fb339da9a2
1175-5326
7147440
BB971330-2551-42B3-AE96-A753AFE1693F
Branchana xanthota
Li, 2011
Systematics and distribution.
The leafhopper genus
Branchana
Li, 2011
belongs to the tribe
Athysanini
in the subfamily
Deltocephalinae
, with
Branchana xanthota
Li, 2011
as
type
species. Up to now the genus is monospecific.
B. xanthota
is recorded from
China
(
Li
et al
. 2011
;
Chen
et al
. 2012
) and
Japan
(
Kamitani, 2018
). In
China
the species is reported from
Guizhou
,
Hunan
, and
Sichuan
Provinces (
Li
et al.
2011
;
Chen
et al.
2012
), whose lowland areas are attributable to the Chinese Transitional Zone between the Palearctic and Oriental regions (Meregalli M., personal communication). In
Japan
it is reported from Honshu and Kyushu Islands. The species was collected by the second author in northern
Italy
(
Lombardia region
) in the summer of 2021.
Material examined
.
22 ♂♂
,
8 ♀♀
,
Italy
,
Lombardia
, prov.
Lecco
,
Maresso
,
291 m
,
45.689722
,
9.355833
,
light trap
,
5.VII.2021
,
F.Poggi
leg. (
20 ♂♂
,
5 ♀♀
in CP;
3 ♂♂
,
3 ♀♀
in
CS
)
.
2 ♂♂
,
5 ♀♀
,
Italy
,
Lombardia
, prov.
Lecco
,
Maresso
,
263 m
,
45.689722
,
9.359167
, from
Phyllostachys aurea
,
5.VII.2021
,
F.Poggi
leg. (
CP
)
.
Morphology. Adult
(
Fig. 2A
); body length of the specimens collected in
Italy
5.3–5.5 mm
in males and
5.8–6.1 mm
in females; the body is entirely pale green in live specimens, immediately changing to pale yellow when dry; head almost as wide as pronotum, its anterior margin slightly and obtusely produced, ocelli located on anterior margin of vertex, long antennae; forewings with evident veins (yellow or orange in dry specimens) and with four apical cells.
Male genitalia
; pygofer lobe with a short inner process in ventral margin near apex (
Figs 2B–C
); subgenital plates triangular with a row of macrosetae (
Fig. 2D
); style wide at base, slender and curved apically (
Fig. 2E
); aedeagus with two pairs of apical processes and subapical gonotreme (
Figs 2F–G
); connective Y-shaped (
Fig. 2F
).
A more detailed description is provided by
Li
et al
. (2011)
.
Biology and host plants.
B. xanthota
is a bamboo-feeding leafhopper. In
China
it was reported from
Qiongzhuea communis
Hsueh & Hi
and
Phyllostachys edulis
(Carrière) J.Houz.
(
Chen
et al
. 2012
), while in
Japan
from
Phyllostachys edulis
,
Phyllostachys reticulata
(Rupr.)
, and
Pleioblastus simonii
(Carrière) (
Kamitani, 2018
)
. In northern
Italy
(
Lombardia region
) it was collected both by light trap and from
Phyllostachys aurea
Carrière
(naturalized alien species), in woodland habitat in a hilly pre-alpine area; in both cases only adults were found. There are no published data on the life cycle of this species.
Remarks.
The male genital characters of the specimens collected in
Italy
match with those of the Chinese specimens, according to the description and drawings by
Li
et al
. (2011)
and
Chen
et al
. (2012)
.
This is not the case with the Japanese specimens which show some differences, according to the description and drawings by
Kamitani (2018)
, reporting the four apical processes of the aedeagus clearly shorter and not sinuous (difference also noted by the Japanese author, only for the length of the upper pair) and the apexes of the anterior arms of connective convergent and contiguous apically (not convergent and not contiguous apically in Chinese and Italian specimens). For this reason, we cannot exclude the possibility that the Japanese specimens may belong to a different still undescribed
Branchana
species
; further morphological and genetic studies would be advisable.