Search

Brown root rot disease on Reevesia formosana was firstly found in Chiayi County, Taiwan. The infected trees with foliage wilting, leaf discoloration, brown mycelial mat on root and basal stem, and brown mycelial networks in rotten diseased wood were observed. The infected trees wilted eventually. Phellinus noxius was identified as the causal pathogen by the symptoms and signs shown on the trees. Also, morphological and molecular identification of the fungal colony isolated from the diseased tissue was carried out. P. noxius was inoculated to 6-year-old R. formosana seedlings with P. noxius grown on the oat grain medium in the greenhouse. Inoculated seedlings were infected. The symptoms and signs shown on the seedlings were the same as in the field. The fungus was then re-isolated from the diseased tissue. This is the first report of P. noxius on the host R. formosana in Taiwan. Since R. formosana is the main food source of Formotosena seebohmi, the outbreak of brown root rot disease on R. formosana deteriorates the habitat of F. seebohmi and may threaten the population of F. seebohmi when no proper mitigation is applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hemipteran infraorder Cicadomorpha (cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers and spittlebugs) comprises more than 30,000 described extant species in 3,783 genera, 13 families and 3 superfamilies: Cicadoidea, Cercopoidea and Membracoidea. Here, we summarize and discuss data on the number of testicular follicles in 103 species belonging to 84 genera and 9 families of Cicadoidea (Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae), Cercopoidea (Aphrophoridae, Cercopidae and Ischnorhinidae) and Membracoidea (Aetalionidae, Cicadellidae, Membracidae and Myerslopiidae), as well as the number of ovarioles in 65 species belonging to 56 genera of the same families, except for Tettigarctidae, Aetalionidae, and Myerslopiidae, for which no such data were available. Almost 83% of the species and 81% of the genera studied belong to the family Cidadellidae. In general, the number of follicles in Cicadomorpha ranges from 1 to "about 100 or more" per testis, and the number of ovarioles from 3 to over 70-80 per ovary. The highest numbers are characteristic of Cicadoidea and Cercopoidea, with significantly higher values in the former superfamily. In Membracoidea, both follicle and ovariole numbers vary within markedly narrower limits. Most taxa are dominated by testes each consisting of 6 follicles, and the ovaries each consisting of 6 ovarioles. These character states are considered ancestral for Cicadomorpha, and possibly for Auchenorrhyncha as a whole.

Abstract Cicadas are usually studied regarding their importance in agriculture. However, the possibility of this group to represent a pulse of nutrients can also imply on the success of a given species in the biome. The aim of this study was to assess the level of total soluble proteins and lipids of Fidicina mannifera (Fabricius, 1803), and to determine whether the species can promote a pulse of nutrients in two vegetation classes of the Brazilian Cerrado. To assess the pulse of nutrients, it was concluded the determination of total soluble proteins and lipids from samples of males and adult females of F. mannifera, and the spatial distribution of exuviae of this species was also calculated in two vegetation classes of the Brazilian Cerrado. The amount of protein provided by each individual did not differ between males and females (p = 0.66) but females had 40% more lipids than males (p = 0.05). Regarding F. mannifera the gallery forest offered 11.75 g/ha of protein, 3.91 g/ha of lipids, and the Cerrado stricto sensu offered 4.25 g/ha of protein, and 1.41 g/ha of lipid. The male cicadas have a hollow abdomen, which houses a resonance chamber for sound production in order to attract females to mate, and females store larger amounts of lipids, mainly located in the abdominal cavity, where the body fat is directly linked to the reproductive system for the development of the ovaries and egg production after emergence. The mass occurrence of F. mannifera in the Brazilian Cerrado and the fast availability of proteins and lipids make this species a food resource that can directly impact the diet of secondary consumers and scavengers, although the amount of nutrients available by F. mannifera does not promote a pulse of nutrients in the study site.

A new genus Maculaprosbole of Tettigarctidae with a new species M. zhengi is described based on a complete fossil forewing from the Mesozoic of northeastern China. Due to its broad costal area and clavus, Maculaprosbole zhengi gen. et sp. n. can be attributed to the subfamily Cicadoprosbolinae. This genus is similar to the genera Sanmai and Hirtaprosbole in coloration pattern and forewing venation, respectively. However, it differs from Hirtaprosbole in crossvein r-m absent and apical CuA section strongly curved, running along the nodal line for a distance, and Sanmai in transverse coloration mainly focusing on the postnodal area. Herein, the prominent coloration pattern of this new taxon is discussed.

Abstract Two new genera and two new species of Tettigarctidae, Cretotettigarcta burmensis gen. et sp. nov., and Vetuprosbole parallelica gen. et sp. nov., are described and illustrated based on two well-preserved specimens from the mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar. C. burmensis is assigned to the subfamily Tettigarctinae, providing several peculiar features that are not found in the extant representatives of Tettigarctinae: apex of fore femur armed with distal conical spine; hind tibia armed with three lateral spines; ScP + R branching distinctly after MP branching; MP 3+4 connecting CuA 1 by cross vein m-cu. The other species V. parallelica is tentatively assigned to the tribe Turutanoviini of Cicadoprosbolinae. C. burmensis resembles Sunotettigarcta hirsuta from the Middle–Upper Jurassic of Daohugou beds (northeastern China) in its general characters of wing venation and pronotum, which suggests a close relationship between the Daohugou and Burmese amber biotas. It likely reveals a range shift southwards after the Daohugou palaeoecosystem collapsed during the Late Jurassic in north China. Our discovery represents the first record of amber-entombed Tettigarctidae from the Mesozoic, which greatly widens the biogeographic distribution and increases the palaeodiversity of the Mesozoic tettigarctids. It also provides new insights into the morphological diversification and early evolutionary history of tettigarctids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the family-group name Platypleurini Schmidt, 1918 and its derivatives for a group of Old World cicada species, by giving it precedence over the senior synonym Hamzaria Distant, 1905. Platypleurini was recently synonymised with Hamzini following molecular data that appeared in a dissertation. Platypleurini was used for the family group containing Platypleura from 1918 to the present day in at least 127 publications, while only four papers have applied Hamzini in the new sense (including Platypleura). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small cicada Tettigettalna josei (Boulard, 1982) was until recently only known from southern Portugal and was considered endemic to this country. Fieldwork in 2013 led to the first record of the species in Spain, expanding its known eastern range to Andalusia. The northern limits remain poorly defined but it appears that the distribution of T. josei is restricted to the south Atlantic coastline in the Iberian Peninsula, with the highest densities found in Algarve. Some notes on behaviour and genetic variation of T. josei are also given.

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Biology is the property of Instituto Internacional de Ecologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Tettigettalna mariae Quartau & Boulard 1995 is recorded for the first time in Spain. Thought to be endemic to Portugal (occurring in the southern province of Algarve), the present paper adds its distribution to southern Spain, being an Iberian endemism. The acoustic signals of the new specimens collected were recorded in different localities of Huelva province, in Andalusia during August 2012. According to their present known distribution, specimens of T. mariae tend to be sparsely distributed in small range populations in southern Iberian Peninsula, favouring wooded areas with Pinus pinea.

One new cicada genus Versicolora gen. nov. and two new species, V. ziyongi sp. nov. from China and V. bellula sp. nov. from China and Vietnam, are described. The new genus is placed in the tribe Leptopsaltriini of the subfamily Cicadinae. The relationship of this new genus to other related taxa is discussed. Versicolora ziyongi sp. nov. camouflages itself on the bark of the host-plants and gradually changes its body colour when captured. This colour-changing behaviour is recorded for the first time in Cicadoidea, which provides innovative information for ecomorphological study of this remarkable species and other cicadas that potentially exhibit this behaviour.

Citroriginini n. tribe. is formed for the Chilean cicada Citroriginis elongata n. gen., n. sp.  Males differ from other South American Tibicininae Distant, 1905a because they lack timbal organs.  The new species has fore wings that are similar in general appearance to the Nearctic Platypediini Kato, 1932 and genitalia with a superficial resemblance to the Tettigadini Distant, 1905c and the Chilean Chilecicadini Sanborn, 2014 but the new species is divergent from the both tribes in the fore wing venation, fore wing cell shape, general body proportions and male genitalia. A female exuvia is described representing the first description of a Chilean cicada exuvia.  A list of Chilean cicada species is also provided with Calliopsida cinnabarina (Berg, 1879) removed from the Chilean cicada fauna.

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has conserved the usage of the family-group name PlatypleuriniSchmidt, 1918 for a group of Old World cicadas over its senior subjective synonym HamzariaDistant, 1905. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]