Species Graphocephala fennahi - Rhododendron Leafhopper

Classification · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Print References · Works Cited

Rhododendron Leafhopper - Graphocephala fennahi - male

Dolly Sods Graphocephala - Graphocephala fennahi

Graphocephala fennahi? - Graphocephala fennahi

Red Green Yellow Leaf Hopper Graphocephala - Graphocephala fennahi

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Auchenorrhyncha (True Hoppers)

Infraorder Cicadomorpha

Superfamily Membracoidea (Leafhoppers and Treehoppers)

Family Cicadellidae (Typical Leafhoppers)

Subfamily Cicadellinae (Sharpshooters)

Tribe Cicadellini

Genus Graphocephala

No Taxon ("Graphocephala species-group")

Species fennahi (Rhododendron Leafhopper)

Size

adults: ♂ 7.3-8.6 mm, ♀ 8.2-9.0 mm

Identification

forewings green with narrow red bands; red band on corium (outer section of wing bordering the costa) frequently greatly reduced or absent; red bands sometimes of similar width; top of head yellow; abdomen red above, pale yellow below; hindwings dark gray or blackish; male pygofers [not visible in live photos] armed with curving spines flanking the anal tube

several views of a preserved adult (Malcolm Storey)

Range

native to mountains of so. VA, w. Carolinas, and n. GA; apparently carried in the 1920s on ornamental rhododendrons to NY, PA, w. US, and Europe (UK) (Dr. Hamilton, 25.ix.2008) [now widely established in Europe(1)]; this species is liable to turn up anywhere throughout US and so. Canada

Food

all stages feed exclusively on Rhododendron spp.

Print References

Hamilton K.G.A. (1985) The Graphocephala coccinea Complex in North America (Homoptera, Auchenorryncha, Cicadellidae). Entomologische Abhandlungen 49(6): 105-11.

Works Cited

1.	Alien terrestrial arthropods of Europe Roques A., Kenis M., Lees D., Lopez-Vaamonde C., Rabitsch W., Rasplus J.-Y., Roy D., eds. 2010. BioRisk 4 Special Issue; 2 vols., 1028 pp.

Contributed by Tony DiTerlizzi on 22 January, 2005 - 8:18pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Robin McLeod, v belov
Last updated 20 October, 2011 - 6:18pm

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