Overview of spittlebugs of the family Cercopidae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha) from Mexico, with keys to genera and species

Abstract

The Cercopidae family constitute the largest group of xylem sap-sucking insects. Several species are important pests of sugar cane and grasses. In America there are 460 species and 65 subspecies in 60 genera. In Mexico, the total number of species is unknown and there is no inventory of specimens in the collections or taxonomic keys. In the present research, we study entomological collections to trace the distribution of genera and species and constructed taxonomic keys for their identification, based on external morphology and male genitalia. The Cercopidae of the country included 3 recognized tribes, Neaenini Fennah, 1968, Ischnorhinini Schmidt, 1920 and Tomaspidini Schmidt, 1922, in addition to the recently proposed Microsarganini Hamilton, 2016. We reported 39 described species, 1 subspecies and 1 undescribed, belonging to 10 genera. The most diverse genera were Ocoaxo Fennah with 16 species and Prosapia Fennah with 8. Aeneolamia Fennah includes 3 species and 1 subspecies, Iphirhina Fennah and Neaenus Fowler 3 species each, Microsargane Fowler and Olcotomaspis Lallemand 2 species each, and Mahanarva Distant, Huaina Fennah and Zulia Fennah 1 species each. This is the first complete compilation of the Cercopidae recorded for Mexico.

More than 80 years without new taxa: analysis of morphological variation among members of Mexican Aeneolamia Fennah (Hemiptera, Cercopidae) support a new species in the genus

“… aff. albofasciata in Armendáriz-Toledano et al (2022) represent a new species, described here as Aeneolamia danpecki Castro, Armendáriz, Utrera, sp. nov. Morphological differences in male genitalia (Fig.…”

“…In the Neotropical region, 60 genera of Cercopidae are integrated into the subfamily Ischnorhininae ( Carvalho and Webb 2005 ; Paladini et al 2015 ; Armendáriz-Toledano et al 2022 ). One of the most important taxa in this subfamily, due to its economic impact as pests in sugarcane and pastures, is the genus Aeneolamia Fennah, 1949, whose members promote considerable losses in crop yields in the countries they inhabit ( Urich 1913 ; Williams 1921 ; Guagliumi 1962 ; Oomen 1975 ; De la Cruz-Llanas et al 2005 ; Gómez 2007 ).…”

“…However, it was later assigned by the same authors to the genus Gervasiella Paladini & Cavichioli, 2015, based on a cladistic analysis of morphological characters ( Paladini and Cavichioli 2015 ). Currently, Aeneolamia includes eight species and 32 described subspecies widely distributed in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago ( Carvalho and Webb 2005 ; Armendáriz-Toledano et al 2022 ). In a cladistics framework based on morphological characters, Aeneolamia is supported as a sister clade of Isozulia Fennah, 1953, and together as the sister group of Prosapia Fennah, 1949, within the tribe Tomaspidini ( Paladini et al 2015 ).…”

“… albofasciata nueva especie”, UCV, deposited in CEAM ) for its morphological similarities to A. albofasciata ( Armendáriz-Toledano et al 2022 ). Members of Aeneolamia display intra- and interspecific variation in tegmina color, both within and among localities, placing great importance on male genitalia characters as reliable species identifiers, because they are conservative within the species ( Fennah 1949 ; Paladini and Cavichioli 2013 ).…”

“… danpecki sp. nov. and provide a complete dichotomous key to the Mexican species of Aeneolamia , replacing the partial key of Armendáriz-Toledano et al (2022) .…”