Hishimonus phycitis (Distant, 1908)

Bella, Salvatore, Aguiar, António M. F., Kunz, Gernot, Miralles-Núñez, Adrià, Foster, Stuart, Sánchez-García, Iñigo, Wilson, Michael R. & D’Urso, Vera, 2022, Discovery of Hishimonus diffractus Dai, Fletcher & Zhang, 2013 (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) in Europe, with remarks on previously recorded species of the genus, Zootaxa 5159 (4), pp. 558-570 : 565

Hishimonus phycitis (Distant, 1908)

(= Eutettix lugubris Distant, 1918 ; H. orientalis Emeljanov, 1969 )

Origin. Eastern Asia; described from India and Sri Lanka.

Distribution. China, India, Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and in the United Arab Emirates.

Host plant. Polyphagous species, on the following plants are possible oviposition and nymphal development: Amaranthus tricolor (Amaranthaceae) , Lepidium sativum (Brassicaceae) , Gossypium arboreum (Malvaceae) , Sesamum indicum (Pedaliaceae) , Ziziphus spina-christii (Rhamnaceae) , Citrus aurantifolia , C. sinensis , C. paradisi , C. limetta , C. reticulata (e.g. mandarin, tangerine), C. limon , C. aurantium , C. jambhiri , C. volkameriana (Rutaceae) , and Solanum melongena , Withania somnifera (Solanaceae) . It can also feed on: Daucus carota var. sativa (Apiaceae) , Raphanus sativus (Brassicaceae) , Citrullus lanatus (Cucurbitaceae) , Crotalaria juncea , Cyamopsis tetragonoloba , Medicago sativa , Sesbania cannabina , Vigna aconitifolia (Fabaceae) , Saccharum officinarum (Poaceae) , and Solanum lycopersicum (Solanaceae) ( Jeger et al. 2017).

Remarks. H. phycitis is very similar to H. paraphycitis Du & Dai, 2019 ( China) , but it can be identified by the circularly expanded aedeagal shaft apices ( Du & Dai 2019).. Due its capacity to transmit phytoplasma diseases, H. phycitis is considered as a potential threat and is currently regulated by Council Directive 2000/29/EC and is regarded as ‘Union quarantine pest’ by the European Food Safety Authority ( Jeger et al. 2017; EFSA 2021).