Species Rhotidus teliformis (Walker, 1851)

Rhotidus teliformis (Walker), adult female.

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Ledra teliformis Walker, F. 1851. List of the Specimens of Homopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum (Natural History) Vol. 3 pp. 637-907 [826].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♀ (coll.: T. Ewing), Tasmania.
• Rhotidus cuneatus Walker, F. 1862. Characters of undescribed species of Homoptera in the collection of F.P. Pascoe, F.L.S. Journal of Entomology A 1: 303-319 [319].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH 2 ♀, Moreton Bay, Queensland.
• Rhotidus navicula Stål, C. 1865. Homoptera nova vel minus cognita. Öfversigt af Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar. Stockholm 22: 145-165 [157] [junior homonym; of R. navicula (Walker)].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) NHRM sex, quantity unknown, Moreton Bay, Queensland.
• Rhotidus leucostictus Stål, C. 1865. Homoptera nova vel minus cognita. Öfversigt af Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar. Stockholm 22: 145-165 [157].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) NHRM ♀, quantity unknown, Australia borealis.
• Rhotidus stali Kirkaldy, G.W. 1907. Leafhoppers — Supplement (Hemiptera). Bulletin of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experimental Station Entomological Series 3: 1-186 [26] [replacement name; for Rhotidus navicula (Stål)].
• Rhotidus leurensis Evans, J.W. 1937. Australian Leafhoppers (Jassoidea, Homoptera). Part 5. — Euscelidae (in part). Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1936: 51-71 [62].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM ♀ (coll.: J.W. Evans), Leura, New South Wales.
• Rhotidus insularis Evans, J.W. 1937. Australian Leafhoppers (Jassoidea, Homoptera). Part 5. — Euscelidae (in part). Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1936: 51-71 [62].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM ♀ (coll.: A.M. Lea), Launceston, Tasmania.
• Rhotidus wilsoni Evans, J.W. 1937. Australian Leafhoppers (Jassoidea, Homoptera). Part 5. — Euscelidae (in part). Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1936: 51-71 [62].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM ♀ (coll.: F.E. Wilson), Millgrove, Victoria.
• Rhotidus kirkaldyi Metcalf, Z.P. 1955. New names in the Homoptera. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 45(8): 262-267 [265] [replacement name; for Ledropsis stali Kirkaldy, homonymy created by proposed synonymy between Rhotidus and Ledropsis White by Kirkaldy (1907), not accepted by subsequent authors.].

Introduction

This is one of the largest thymbrine species and has been recorded along the eastern parts of Australia from SE Queensland to southern Tasmania.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [127] (synonymy of Rhotidus cuneatus Walker, R. leucostictus Stål, R. leurensis Evans, R. insularis Evans, R. wilsoni Evans, R. kirkaldyi Metcalf)

Generic Combinations

• Rhotidus teleformis (Walker, 1851). — Distant, W.L. 1907. Contributions to a knowledge of the Ledrinae. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Comptes-rendus) 51: 185-197 [193].

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, Qld, Tas, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Nandewar (NAN), Sydney Basin (SB), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Victorian Midlands (VM)

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder.

Diagnosis

Ferruginea, gracilis, oblanceolata, subtus testacea; pedes testacei; alae anticae subferrugineae, limpido confertim guttatae; alae posticae limpidae.
Fem. — Ferruginous, slender, oblanceolate, testaceous beneath; head and chest almost flat; head conical, as broad as the chest, shagreened, very concave along the hind border, with a slight middle ridge; its length much less than half its breadth; face minutely punctured; chest finely striated transversely; shield very convex on the fore border, with an indistinct oblique furrow on each side; scutcheon with a transverse furrow; abdomen lengthened and attenuated towards the tip; legs testaceous; wings narrow; forewings pale ferruginous, thickly covered with almost colourless and mostly confluent dots; hind-wings colourless. Length of the body 5 lines; of the wings 8 lines (Walker 1851).

General coloration various shades of brown, evenly mottled with pale brown. Face of head sharply separated from the crown for its whole width. Crown anteriorly and laterally declivous with an obscure median ridge. Length ♂ 11.8–13 mm; ♀ 12.5–16 mm (Evans 1966).

Diagnosis References

Evans, J.W. 1966. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 12: 1-347 [127]

Walker, F. 1851. List of the Specimens of Homopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum (Natural History) Vol. 3 pp. 637-907 [826]