?5he
Florida EntomoleogitB
Official Organ of the Florida Entomological Society
VOL. VI AUTUMN NUMBER No. 2
SEPTEMBER, 1922
NEW SPECIES OF CICADELLIDAE FROM THE SOUTHERN
U. S. (Homoptera)
HERBERT OSBORN
Deltocephalus limicolus, n. sp.
Dark gray with fuscous markings; numerous reticulate lines and cross
nervures on the eytra. Length, female 3.75 mm; male 3.6 mm.
Head wider than pronotum; vertex wider than long, one-half longer at
middle than next the eye, obtusely angulate; margin subangulate to front;
front broad, lateral borders curved; clypeus with sides nearly parallel;
cheeks broad and deeply sinuate. Pronotum as long as vertex, truncate
behind; scutellum small; elytral venation irregular, the clavus with numer-
ous irregular reticulations, and the anteapical cells broken by irregular
cross veinlets.
Color: Gray; vertex ivory whitish with four dots on the anterior bor-
der, two lunate spots midway and two rounded ocellate spots on the hind
border, fuscous. Pronotum fuscous with five gray stripes, the inner three
connected by cross-band near the front; scutellum with ivory spots each
side; elytral veins and veinlets mostly ivory white, the areoles mostly
fuscous, the first apical areole densely black, the others with whitish cen-
ters bordered with smoky; front pale fuscous with transverse whitish arcs
and a central whitish line; clypeus dull white with smoky borders; lorae
light yellow, with dusky margin; cheeks dull gray, legs fuscous, banded and
striped with dull white; abdomen beneath blackish, the borders of segments
and the outer part of pygofer lighter.
Genitalia: Female, last ventral segment short; hind border truncate or
slightly concave; pale whitish, bordered with fuscous; side plates conspicu-
ous. Male, valve short, transverse, broadly rounded behind; plates broad
at base, narrowing rapidly, terminating in acute thin slightly upturned tips
not attaining the tip of the pygofer.
Numerous specimens were collected at St. Petersburg, Fla., February
and March, 1921, on a creeping succulent plant growing in a tidal flat
and associated with fiddler crabs and snails. Type and paratypes in
author's collection. Superficially this species bears some resemblance to
arundineus, but the details of the color pattern are different, the body
is more robust, and there are distinct differences in the genitalia.
Deltocephalus fusconotatus, n. sp.
Ivory whitish with numerous fuscous spots on pronotum, scutellum and
base' of elytra. Length, male 3.5 mm.
THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST
Head slightly wider than pronotum; vertex as long as width between
the eyes, one-half longer at middle than at- eye, margin acute toward the
apex; front narrow, tapering gradually to base of clypeus; clypeus long,
nearly twice as long as wide, sides nearly parallel; lorae short, distant from
border of cheek; cheeks broad, distinctly sinuate beneath the eye. Pronotum
as long as vertex; scutellum acuminate at tip; claval veins merging near
base, middle anteapical cell divided by merging of veins.
Color: Light gray or ivory white; vertex bordered anteriorly with black,
except at extreme tip; the outer part of the black line enclosing the ocellus.
Pronotum with three somewhat diffuse spots, scutellum with two dots on
the base, elytra with a basal dot and a dot before and back of the merged
veins, a costal spot near the base, another before the nodal vein and the
apical cells, fuscous or blackish; face with base of front densely black, the
remainder of front with clypeus, lorae and lower part of cheek, white; a
large squarish spot below the eye, reaching antennal pit, black; thorax and
abdomen white with a black dot on the pleural pieces, a black band at apex
of femora, and black dots on the hind tibiae, and black rings on the hind
tarsi.
Genitalia: Male, valve narrow, rounded behind; plates small triangular,
about one-half the length of pygofer.
Described from a single specimen, collected at "Cameron, La., Aug.
14-28, 1903", by Prof. J. S. Hine.
This is a handsome little species, somewhat resembling arundineus, but
differing so much in the color pattern, especially on the face, that it seems
impossible to refer it to that species. There is also a distinct difference in
the male genitalia.
Lonatura notata, n. sp.
Pale straw color, with numerous black dots on pronotum, elytra and
abdomen. Length, female 4 mm; male 3.5 to 3.75 mm.
Head slightly wider than pronotum, distinctly produced, subconical;
vertex somewhat flattened, but convex, as long as width between the eyes,
nearly twice longer at the middle than next the eye; front narrowing rather
abruptly to clypeus; clypeus broad, about one-half longer than width at
base, scarcely widened at the middle; lorae elongate, the tips distant from
border of the cheek; cheeks narrow, the margin sinuate beneath the eye.
Pronotum about three-fourths as long as vertex, hind border slightly con-
cave; scutellum small, short; elytra scarcely reaching base of abdomen,
hind border truncate, leaving entire upper surface of abdomen exposed.
Color: Light straw; vertex with three pairs of faintly fuscous spots;
two dots on the anterior border, a larger spot at the lateral border, two
dots at base of scutellum, a large dot on clavus, a similar one at middle
of hind border bf elytra, and eight series of dots on the abdominal seg-
ments, a dot on anterior femora, a line on the hind femora, dots on the
hind tibiae and tarsal claws dark fuscous or black.
Genitalia: Female, last ventral segment short, concave behind, with a
central broad tooth notched at the apex; ovipositor scarcely exceeding the
pygofer. Male, valve short, rounded behind; plates small, triangular, acute
at tip, reaching half way to end of pygofer.
Described from specimens collected at St. Petersburg, Fla., March 5,
1921. Type and paratypes in author's collection. I have also' taken speci-
AUTUMN NUMBER
mens at Ocean Springs and Pascagoula, Mississippi, during February, 1921.
The species occurs in the flat-woods association on native grass, and is
probably a grass feeder. Numerous black dots on the upper surface seem
to be a distinctive character. Only short-winged forms have been noted, so
that the venation of long-winged forms, if they occur, has not been seen.
Euscelis (Athysanus) fumidus n. sp.
Somewhat like magnus but much darker, smoky black, the entire sur-
face appearing suffused with a deep brown-black color. Length, male
6.25 mm.
Head wider than pronotum, vertex short, scarcely longer on middle than
next the eye, very obtusely rounded to front, front broad, subangulate at
antennae, narrowed abruptly to clypeus; clypeus nearly twice as long as
wide, cheek broadly rounded below the eye. Pronotum distinctly transversely
striate. Posterior border shallowly concave.
Color: Dark fuscous with small obscure yellowish irrorations; vertex
lighter, yellowish with fuscous irrorations; front lighter above, darker be-
low with obscure pale arcs; clypeus nearly black; lorae and cheeks blackish
smoky, the whole irrorate with minute yellowish dots. Pronotum scutellum
and elytra blackish with minute yellowish dots. Legs blackish with spines
somewhat lighter, venter blackish with a central row of light dots.
Genitalia: Male valve small, short, obtusely angulate behind; plates
small elongate triangular, tips acute, black, with a row of lighter bristles on
the margin.
One specimen, male (type) of this peculiar species from Chester, Ga.
This has the appearance of a Phlepsius and might be considered as related
to P. latifrons but it is evidently congeneric with magnus. It is distinctly
different from this species in the absence of the white band on the pronotum
and the white costa, as well as in the intense pitchy black color. If an
extreme form of magnus it will have to be recognized as a distinct variety.
Euscelis (Athysanus) drakei, n. sp.
Related to magnus and fumidus with a yellowish band behind the mid-
dle of pronotum and four milky spots on elytra. Length 6.25 mm, 6 mm.
Head wider than pronotum. Vertex very short, margins parallel; disc
convex rounded to the front; front convex except slight depression at base,
front about as broad as long, suture below ocellus distant from eye, obtusely
angled at eye; clypeus tip scarcely wider than base; lorae rather broad, not
reaching margin of cheek; cheek broad, sinuate below eye; pronotum broad;
anterior margin broadly arcuate, hind margin slightly concave, lateral
margin flaring and sharply carinate. Elytra densely reticulate, somewhat
rugose, scarcely exceeding tip of abdomen.
Color: Smoky brown to fuscous. Vertex tawny with minute fulvous
dots; upper portion of face like vertex; front below minutely dotted with
tawny; arcs faintly indicated; cheeks darker on the margins. Pronotum
dark brown to fuscous; posterior border somewhat darker, with a broad
yellowish band behind the middle, the whole minutely sprinkled with tawny
dots. Scutellum tawny with yellow dots. Elytra smoky, minutely dotted with
fuscous; two white patches on the middle of clavus and two on the inner
anteapical cell, the anterior just below claval spot.
THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST
Genitalia: Female, last ventral segment scarcely longer than penulti-
mate; posterior border sinuous, the middle third and lateral-lobes produced;
minutely notched on middle, lateral lobes rounded.
Described from two spemines, females, (type and paratype) collected
at Gainesville, Fla., by C. J. Drake. Type in Osborn collection, Ohio State
University.
This species is very close to magnus 0. & B. but aside from the con-
spicuous transverse spots on the elytra, the costa is not white and the
female segment differs in form.
Euscelis (Athysanus) magnus var piceus, n. var.
Similar to magnus of typical form but with the coloration, except for
the white band on the pronotum and the costal border, of a deep pitchy black
and the female segment with median notch much smaller. Collected by Mr.
H. L. Dozier at Pascagoula, Miss., Aug. 8, 1921.
Mesamia nervous, n. sp.
Light yellow; vertex with an interrupted submarginal black border;
elytra with fuscous veins; five or more conspicuous cross veinlets in the
outer costal area. Length, female'4 mm.; male 3.5 mm.
Head slightly wider than pronotum; vertex nearly twice as wide as long,
rounded in front, about one-fourth longer at middle than next the eye;
distinctly angular to front; front narrowing nearly uniformly to base of
clypeus; clypeus narrow, nearly twice as wide as long, slightly widened to-
ward the tip; lorae rather narrow, with tip nearly reaching to the margin
of the cheek; cheek slightly sinuate below the eye. Pronotum two-thirds
longer than vertex, slightly concave behind; elytra with cross veinlets in
outer claval and costal cells; two cross veins.
Color: Vertex, pronotum and scutellum yellow tinged with green, vertex
with a conspicuous submarginal band interrupted at the middle behind
which is a fainter fuscous band in the female, scarcely apparent in the male;
disc of pronotum darker; elytra hyaline, the veins conspicuously dark fus-
cous or black, the cross veinlets of costa widening on the margin; api-
cal broadly blackish; beneath, face yellowish-green, a narrow black line
bordering the base of front; abdomen greenish, the segments above with
black spots or bands.
Genitalia: Female, last ventral segment about twice as long as pre-
ceding; apex broadly rounded with a faint notch at middle; male, valve
short, rounded behind; plates triangular with acute upturned tips; the disc
marked with a distinct impression paralleling the outer border.
Described from a female, (type) Sept. 27, 1921; and male, (allotype)
Sept. 9, 1921, collected by Mr. F. E. Guyton, Auburn, Alabama.
Also one female, (paratype), from Keatchie, La., June 14, 1905. This
latter differs from the type in having a less distinct second band on the
vertex, a more distinct yellow color to the pronotum, but otherwise is so
similar that it seems impossible to consider it a distinct species.
These specimens approach most nearly to Mesamia stramineus, Osb.,
but have a different shaped vertex and much more distinct venation.
AUTUMN NUMBER
ADDITIONS TO THE THYSANOPTERA OF FLORIDA. X
J. R. WATSON
54. Megalomerothrips eupatorii Watson.
Male. The female only of this species was originally described. (Fla.
Buggist, Vol. II, No. 3, Feb. 1919). We now have the male also. Much
darker in color than the female, almost jet black. Fore tarsus with a very
large, slightly curved spine, 27 interlocated bristles on the fore wing. Taken
from the burrow of a cerambycid in a dead twig of avocado, Winter Haven,
Oct., 1921. An additional female was collected by Dr. E. W. Berger in
one of his colonies of cottony cushion scale. It may be predaceous.
57. Dictyothrips floridensis Watson.
Male. Considerably lighter in color than the female. Light brown with
traces of bright red hypodermal pigment. Abdomen very slender, darker
than the thorax. In the integument on the dorsal side of segments 2-7 are
numerous large pellucid dots which occupy about 1/4 the surface. These
peculiar dots seem to be entirely absent from the females.
Larvae light yellowish brown with much red hypodermal pigment.
Described from several males and larvae.
In addition to the type locality in the Plant Introduction garden at
Miami, this species has been collected in the Plant Introduction Garden at
Brooksville by W. B. Wood and H. L. Sanford of the U. S. Horticultural
Board. In addition to the original host, Guava, it was taken on Passiflora
sp., Rubus sp., Arracacia xanthorihisa, and Prunus sp. Since it has been
found only in the Plant Introduction gardens and its nearest relative is a
native of Mexico, it would seem quite probable that this is an introduced
species.
74. Heliothrips phaceoli Hood.
Abundant on Kudzu on the Station grounds, Gainesville, June, 1921.
75. Haplothrips gowdeyi Hood.
In Bidens blossoms, Ft. Myers, March, 1922. Hitherto known only from
the West Indies.
76. Haplothrips humilis Hood.
On compositae. Ft. Myers, March, 1921. Another southern species not
hitherto found in the United States.
77. Haplothrips merrilli Watson.
This species, described from specimens taken from cocoanuts from
Cuba, (Fla. Entomologist, Vol. IV, No. 1), was found by the writer under
the cap scales of cocoanuts at Ft. Myers, March, 1922.
78. Idolothrips tuberculatus Hood.
A male of this species was beaten from basswood (Tilia americana) at
Gainesville, April 14, 1922.
(Mr. H. L. Dozier has specimens of Idolothrips armatus collected at
Prairie, Miss., June 17, 1921, and Batesburg, S. C. It is quite probable
that this species also occurs in Florida.)
79. Zygothrips floridensis n. sp.
.Color: Light yellowish brown with much purple hypodermal pigment.
Measurements: Total body length 1.2 mm.; head, length 0.20, width
0.15 mm.; prothorax, length 0.11, width 0.21 mm.; metathorax, width
0.24 mm.; abdomen, width 0.21 mm.; tube, length 0.10, width at base 0.06,
THE FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST
at apex 0.027 mm. Antennae: Segment 1, 24; 2, 44; 3, 67; 4, 56; 5, 46;
6, 40; 7, 44; 8, 27 microns; total length 0.36 mm.
Head: 1.3 longer than wide, vertex rounded, striate towards the pos-
terior margin; frons elevated; head widest just above the base; cheeks
slightly convex, bearing a few short hairs; postocular bristles short,
reaching but little past the posterior margins of the eyes. Eyes rather
large, slightly protruding; red by reflected light, black by transmitted;
non-pilose; facets large. Ocelli large, yellow, bordered with dark crescents;
situated on the elevated frons, the anterior directed forward, the posterior
pair widely separated, opposite the anterior third of the eyes from whose
margins they are well separated. Mouth-cone short, reaching about half way
across the prosternum; rounded at the tip. Antennae 1.8 times as long as
the head; dark brown except most of segment 3, basal half of 4, and the
extreme base of 5 which are a lighter, yellowish brown, segment 3 long
and narrow. All bristles very small. Sense cones somewhat larger but
colorless and inconspicuous.
Prothorax little more than half the length of the head, nearly twice as
wide as long; trapezoidal; a prominent bristle on each posterior angle.
These bristles have pale, dilated tips, all others are sharp pointed.
Pterothorax with sides nearly parallel; upper surface striated. Wings
moderately long; membrane quite markedly constricted above the middle,
colorless except for a trace of brown at the extreme base of the primaries,
fringed with comparatively few and short hairs, four interlocated ones on
the primaries. Legs rather long and slender, concolorous with the body
except the fore tibiae which are paler, fore femora not swollen, no spines
on the basal segments of the tarsi; hind tibiae each with a very thick,
heavy bristle near the end.
Abdomen rather long and slender, anterior segments with three or four
prominent bristles on each side, the median one or two sigmoid; on the
posterior segments these become curved but not sigmoid; a pair on the
ninth segment considerably longer than the tube. Tube rather wide for its
length; terminal bristles much longer than the tube. Male not seen. De-
scribed from a single female taken by Mr. Geo. B. Merrill from an unknown
shrub collected at Elfers by Mr. C. P. Sheffield, March, 1922. Type in the
author's collection.
80. Hindsiana cocois Watson.
This insect was recently (Fla. Entomologist, Vol. V, No. 4, April,
1922) described from specimens collected from cocoanuts from Cuba taken
from quarantine at Key West. Mr. Mosnette has sent us five larvae taken
from under scales of cocoanuts at Miami, and Mr. George B. Merrill has
collected a half dozen specimens from a mango from Oneco, Fla. As in the
case of the other specimens, they were associated with scale insects. The
insect is probably predaceous.
81. Cryptothrips laureli Mason (Ent. News Vol. XXXIII, No. 7).
The Bay Thrips. On all species of the genus Tamala in Central Florida-
from Frost Proof to Daytona. It probably occurs throughout Northern
Florida but seems to be absent from the bays on the lower East Coast.
Closely related to the Camphor thrips with which it was long confused.
AUTUMN NUMBER
36. Symphothrips punctatus Hood and Williams.
Oneco, Fla., July, 1922, on mango infested with scales and Septobasidium,
George B. Merrill, Coll. This species has been taken at Key West from
under the cap scales of cocoanuts from Cuba. Originally described from
Orlando.
82. Hoplanddrothrips funnebris Hood.
"Fla." Hood '17, P. 63.
83. Hindsiana cocois Watson.
Orginally described from Cuba (Fla. Entomoligst, Vol. 5, No. 4, April,
1922, P. 66). Collected from mango, Oneco, Fla., by Mr. Jno. W. Collins.
THE GREENHOUSE THRIPS OUT-OF-DOORS IN NORTH-
EASTERN GEORGIA
In August and early September the editor spent a fifteen days'
vacation in Rabun County, Georgia, mostly collecting thrips. The
most surprising capture was that of Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis,
the green house thrips, from a wild shrub growing along a
stream near Clayton. With the exception of the southern end
of Florida (about Miami) this insect, in the United States, has
never before been taken outside of greenhouses or in the imme-
diate vicinity of greenhouses during the summer. But there are
no greenhouses within many miles of Clayton and no houses
very near the place of capture. The place and circumstances of
its capture leave no doubt that it is living out of doors there the
year around and point strongly to it being a native of the re-
gion.
Rabun county is in the northeastern corner of Georgia and
this thrips was collected within seven miles of the North Carolina
line and at an altitude of about 2000 feet. The vegetation and
doubtless the climate of Rabun county is comparable to that of
Southern Ohio If this thrips can live out of doors in Rabun
county, Georgia, it should, as far as cold is concerned, be able
to do so over a large portion of the United States.
It is, of course, more common in the tropics, and it is supposed
to have been introduced into northern greenhouses on plants
brought from the tropics. Evidently its native range extends
much further north than we have hitherto suspected and, per-
haps, instead of being imported from the tropics, it originally
entered the greenhouses from some local wild host.
5he
FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST
Official Organ of The Florida Entomological Society, Gainesville,
Florida.
J. R. WATSON....---- ------ -----------.........................Editor
WILMON NEWELL--.........-.............--.--.........-- --.......Associate Editor
A. H. BEYER--....--.....................-....-- ......----.... Business Manager
Issued once every three months. Free to all members of the
Society.
Subscription price to non-members is $1.00 per year in ad-
vance; 35 cents per copy.
ENTOMOLOGY AT THE AGENTS' MEETING
The eleventh annual .conference of the county demonstration
agents was held at the University from September 7 to 14. There
were four scheduled talks on entomological subjects and much
discussion during committee meetings, laboratory and informal
conferences.
Mr. W. W. Others outlined the life history of the rust mite.
At least 90% of them complete their life cycle, from egg to egg
in nine days. Exposure to sulphur kills them in fifteen seconds.
A very live topic was that of dusting citrus trees for the con-
trol of rust mite. Mr. DeBusk spoke of the results of some
dusting done in his county in cooperation with the Experiment
Station. The control on the dusted plots was as good as on the
sprayed plots and the cost was only about one fourth that of
spraying. Mr. Kime thought it might be necessary to dust two
or three times to secure as good a control as with spraying.
Other agents spoke of the satisfactory results of dusting in their
counties. Of even more importance than the cheapness of dust-
ing as compared with spraying is the rapidity of the operation.
In large groves, even tho spraying may be started at the first
sign of danger, much damage may be done before the entire
grove can be covered. Another point which might have been
mentioned is that of safety. Much fruit was burned last year
as a result of spraying during hot weather. Mr. Others re-
ported as good results from the use of straight flowers of sulphur
as with the mixture of sulphur and lime.
Mr. Others spoke of the work done at his laboratory on the.
entomogenous fungi by Dr. Spear. He came to the conclusion
that the Red Aschersonia was spread mostly by the whitefly
crawlers. This points strongly to the conclusion that the best
AUTUMN NUMBER
time to apply the fungus is when the maximum number of crawl-
ers are out, i. e. about a week after the culmination of the June
flight of adults. The yellow aschersonia, however, should ac-
cordingly, be applied about the middle of July. The same prin-
ciple applies to the scale-infesting fungi. They should be sprayed
on the trees when the maximum number of scale crawlers are
out.
Mr. A. C. Brown spoke on sweet-potato certification.
The committee on truck crops reported the control of aphids
to be one of their most serious problems.
RELATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS TO WING
DEVELOPMENT IN APHIDS1
By ARTHUR C. MASON
The generally accepted theory of most entomologists and
experimenters on the subject is that winged forms of aphids are
produced only when the continued existence of the apterous
forms, under conditions then existing, might prove disastrous
to the species. This occurs always in the fall in cold climates
when sexual forms are produced, the males of which are usually
winged, and also at any migrating season in the case of those
species which live on two or more different host plants. There
are also many other causes attributed to these adaptive varia-
tions. Among the factors which may be potent in acting as
effective stimuli for wing formation are crowding on the host
and hence lessening of the food supply, unusually high or low
humidity, early lowering of temperature in autumn, changing
constitution of the sap of the plants by chemical means, etc.
In collecting aphids it was noted that usually both winged and
apterous forms occurred in the same colony; also, in the life
history work with Myzus persicae, that some of them would be
winged and others apterous. In several cases plant lice which
were apterous when collected would develop wings when kept in
the laboratory for a day or two. The question often arose as to
why some of these forms were winged and some apterous when
living under the same conditions, and as to whether the en-
vironment of the aphids in the breeding jars had an effect on
this. Hence a series of experiments was planned to prove or
disprove some of these theories.
'A synopsis of Part III of thesis entitled "Systematic and Biological Studies of
Some Florida Aphididae", presented by the writer in 1915 to the University of
Florida for the degree of Master of Science. This is the third and concluding paper
of the series.
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