Asiracini Motschulsky, 1863

Wallner, Adam M. & Bartlett, Charles R., 2019, Comparative morphology of female gonapophyses IX in Delphacidae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoromorpha) with key to tribes, Zootaxa 4564 (1), pp. 137-172 : 148

Tribe Asiracini Motschulsky

Description. Gonapophyses IX slightly curvilinear to linear, average length 1971.50 µm, width 34.55 µm; apical third ventrally concave bearing 29–58 minute, rounded teeth (more numerous on Asiraca clavicornis ). Apical third carinated; apex porrect, bluntly rounded; minute teeth on ventral side of apex; ventral membranous sheath on distal third; lateral surface of apex with slight indentation; and lateral-medial region of apex with five to eight pits ( Figs 6A, B ). Gonapophyses with diagonal surface sculpturing along ventral-lateral surface. Short membranous sheaths ventrally.

Notes. Asiracini includes 16 species in six genera (including the inadequately studied, and probably misplaced, Australian genera Kiambrama Donaldson and Notuchoides Donaldson ). The species in this tribe are widely distributed in both hemispheres, but tend to be sparse in occurrence, with host associations poorly documented. Anecdotal evidence suggests A. clavicornis is polyphagous on dicots ( Wilson et al. 1994, Nickel 2003, Holzinger et al. 2003), and A. granulipennis (Kato) has been collected on Artemisia and weedy grassland vegetation ( Liang, 1998), whereas Copicerus irroratus is presumed polyphagous, reported on Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw. , Carya sp., Junglandaceae, Oryza sativa L., and Poa sp. ( Wilson et al. 1994, Llano et al. 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Lateral view of gonapophysis IX (apex of gonapophysis in inset) for Asiracinae A) Asiraca clavicornis; B) Copicerus irroratus; C) Ugyops sp.; and D) Ugyops kellersi.