Fieberiellini Wagner, 1951

Zahniser, James N. & Dietrich, Chris H., 2013, A review of the tribes of Deltocephalinae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 45, pp. 1-211 : 85-88

Fieberiellini Wagner, 1951

Fig. 25

Type genus: Fieberiella Signoret, 1880 .

= Synophropsini Ribaut, 1952 .

Diagnosis

Fieberiellini are medium sized, tawny to brown leafhoppers. They can be identified by the forewing lacking an appendix, forewings not overlapping, connective T-shaped and with a distinct stem, style

linear or not broadly bilobed basally, and female sternite VIII not concealed and folded beneath sternite VII and movably articulated with sternite VII*.

*Sternite VIII is almost always folded beneath and concealed by sternite VII in Deltocephalinae and is often membranous or reduced; thus, when the pygofer and ovipositor are in their resting positions, sternite VII appears to be the one immediately basad of the genital capsule. Meyer-Arndt & Remane (1992b) pointed out the unique configuration in Fieberiellini but identified the entire structure (comprising sternites VII and VIII) as sternite VII.

Description

HEAD. Head subequal to or wider than pronotum. Discal portion of crown glabrous with radial or longitudinal striae. Anterior margin of head shagreen or with numerous transverse striations or carinae. Frontoclypeus not tumid; texture shagreen. Clypellus widening apically; apex following or slightly surpassing normal curve of gena. Lorum subequal to or wider than clypellus near base. Antennal bases near middle or posteroventral (lower) corners of eyes. Antennae short, less than 1.5 x width of head. Gena obtusely incised laterally; with fine erect seta beside laterofrontal suture. Antennal ledge weakly developed (carinate or weakly carinate). Ocelli present, close to eyes, on anterior margin of head.

THORAX. Pronotum lateral margin carinate; lateral margin shorter than basal width of eye.

WINGS. Forewing macropterous; appendix absent or reduced; with 3 anteapical cells; veins not raised; without reflexed costal veins; A1-A2 crossvein present or absent.

LEGS. Profemur with AM1 seta only or with one or more additional proximal setae; intercalary row with one row of five or more fine setae; row AV with relatively long macrosetae. Protibia dorsal surface rounded, convex. Metafemur apex macrosetae 2+2+1. Metatarsomere I not expanded apically; plantar setae simple, tapered.

MALE GENITALIA. Valve articulated with pygofer; lateral margin short, articulating with pygofer at a point. Pygofer basolateral membranous cleft present; macrosetae well differentiated into several rows. Subgenital plates free from each other; articulated with valve; macrosetae irregularly arranged, uniseriate laterally, with two lateral rows of macrosetae, or with some irregularly arranged macrosetae near lateral margin. Style linear, median anterior lobe not pronounced. Basal processes of the aedeagus/ connective absent or reduced. Aedeagus with single shaft and gonopore. Connective anterior arms widely divergent, T -shaped, with darkly pigmented ventromedial ridge contrasting with more lightly pigmented dorsolateral areas; stem well-developed; articulated with aedeagus. Segment X sclerotized dorsally and laterally; sometimes large; sometimes with long ventrally directed processes.

FEMALE GENITALIA. Pygofer with numerous macrosetae. Ovipositor not protruding far beyond pygofer apex. Sternite VIII not concealed and folded beneath sternite VII, movably articulated with sternite VII. First valvula convex; dorsal sculpturing pattern strigate; sculpturing reaching dorsal margin; without distinctly delimited ventroapical sculpturing. Second valvula abruptly broadened medially or subapically; without dorsal median tooth; teeth on apical 1/3 or more; teeth large, regularly shaped or small, regularly or irregularly shaped.

Geography and ecology

Distribution: endemic to the Palearctic region and adventive in the Nearctic region ( Fieberiella florii Stål, 1864 in North America). Fieberiellini are most diverse in the southern Palearctic region, especially the Mediterranean subregion, and have host plants in a number of different families as documented by Meyer-Arndt & Remane (1992b).

Remarks

Fieberiellini contains 10 genera and 48 valid species. Meyer-Arndt & Remane (1992a, b) produced a detailed revision of the tribe in which they illustrated the species, documented host plants and geographic ranges, clarified the morphological characterization and circumscription of the tribe, and proposed phylogenetic relationships among the genera. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that Fieberiellini is a relatively early diverging lineage of Deltocephalinae , and retains plesiomorphic characteristics of the male genitalia. It appears to be related to the monotypic Neotropical tribe Luheriini , with which it shares some morphological characteristics. However, the divergent 28S rDNA sequence of Luheria constricta and difficulty in amplifying some regions have confounded an exact and confident phylogenetic placement of the group. Fieberiella florii is adventive in North America and is a vector of the western strain of North American aster yellows, Western and Eastern X-disease of peach, and Western X-disease yellow leaf roll strain. Cechenotettix quadrinotatus (Mulsant & Rey, 1855) is a vector of yellow decline of Lavandula .

Phycotettix was listed in Fieberiellini by Oman et al. (1990). It was not treated by Meyer-Arndt & Remane (1992a, b) and is removed from the tribe here and placed in Athysanini . It does not possess any of the characters that define the tribe.

Selected references

Meyer-Arndt & Remane (1992a, b), Dmitriev (2003).

Included genera

Cechenotettix Ribaut, 1942

Docotettix Ribaut, 1948

Dohukia Meyer-Arndt & Remane, 1992

Ericotettix Lindberg, 1960

Fieberiella Signoret, 1880

Habrostis Dubovsky, 1966

Heliotettix Rodrigues, 1968

Parafieberiella Dlabola, 1974

Placotettix Ribaut, 1942

Synophropsis Haupt, 1926

Figures

Fig. 25. Fieberiellini. A–C, J. Fieberiella florii (Stål, 1864). D–I. Placotettix taeniatifrons (Kirschbaum, 1868). A–I. Standard views (see Materials & Methods). F. Plates shown slightly obliquely and valve shown separated from plates. J. ♀ sternites VI-VIII (s6-s8).