Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
= Ceresa alta Walker, 1851
= Thelia constans Walker, 1851
Explanation of Names
Stictocephala alta (Walker, 1851)
Identification
Habitus identical to Stictocephala bisonia.
Range
Unknown, but treated as North American in distribution. Considered by de Andrade (1997, 2008) to be from the Eastern United States, but this cannot be realistically confirmed.
Deitz & Wallace (2012) report the species from throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada. These records can likely be attributed to S. bisonia or other Ceresini.
Remarks
A highly ambiguous species. Described from a female specimen of unknown provenance; it matches the habitus of Stictocephala bisonia Kopp & Yonke, 1977 and was considered a senior synonym of the species by de Andrade (1997). However, this synonymy was rejected by Dietrich et al. (1999): "We believe this synonymy is insufficiently justified in light of the need to examine the male genitalia to reliably identify many species of the tribe Ceresini. The holotype of Ceresa alta Walker is of ambiguous identity, being a female specimen from an unspecified locality. On the other hand, the identity of the male holotype of S. bisonia Kopp and Yonke is definitive, and this type is accompanied by 45 paratypes (males and females), all from Columbia, Missouri, USA." de Andrade (2008) revisited the issue and stated: "although the synonymy of C. alta with S. bisonia stays unsolved, the placement of C. alta in Stictocephala is at least correct."
Print References
de Andrade, G.S. (1997) Stictocephala alta (Walker, 1851) sp. rev., comb. n., the correct name for the "Buffalo treehopper", with S. bisonia Kopp & Yonke, 1977 as a new synonym, and notes on Hadrophallus bubalus (Fabricius, 1794) comb. n. (Homoptera: Membracidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 123(4), 289–295.
de Andrade G.S. (2008) On the synonymy of
Stictocephala alta (Walker) and
Thelia constans Walker (Hemiptera: Membracidae).
Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 25: 148-149. (
Full text)
Deitz, L. L., & Wallace, M. S. (2012). Richness of the Nearctic treehopper fauna (Hemiptera: Aetalionidae and Membracidae). Zootaxa, 3423(1), 1-26.
Dietrich, C.H., Rothschild, M.J. & Deitz, L.L. (1999) Checklist and host plants of the treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae) of North Carolina. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 101,(2), 242–262.
