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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Hoppers (Auchenorrhyncha) » Planthoppers (Fulgoromorpha) » Fulgoroidea » Flatid Planthoppers (Flatidae) » Flatinae » Siphantini » Siphanta » Torpedo Bug (Siphanta acuta)

Species Siphanta acuta - Torpedo Bug

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Life Cycle · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

rose thorn-shaped plant/treehopper? - Siphanta acuta

Issid planthopper nymph - Siphanta acuta

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 Fulgoromorpha (Planthoppers)

Superfamily Fulgoroidea

Family Flatidae (Flatid Planthoppers)

Subfamily Flatinae

Tribe Siphantini

Genus Siphanta

Species acuta (Torpedo Bug)

Other Common Names

Green Planthopper (in Australia, New Zealand)(1)

Explanation of Names

Siphanta acuta (Walker 1851)

acutus = 'sharp' (refers to the pointed wingtips); the common name refers to the leaping ability of nymphs (mature nymphs can leap as far as 60 cm)

Size

adult wingspan ~25 mm; nymph body to 5 mm (Mau & Kessing 1993)

Identification

Adult: green and triangular, with pink eyes and pointed head; forewings have many veins and cross veins, mimicking a leaf, and cover the body like the sides of a sloping roof when the insect is at rest

Nymph: first two instars are light green, relatively flat, with waxy filaments on posterior abdominal segments, and covered with white powder or dust; later instars lose their powdery coating, develop markings of red, black, and green, and change their ground color three times; the waxy abdominal filaments are significantly reduced

Range

established in CA(2); native to Australia, adventive elsewhere (New Zealand, Hawaii, S. Africa)

Season

yr round in CA

Life Cycle

eggs are laid on stems or leaves in a dome-shaped masses of >100 eggs glued together and partially covered by a dark, semi-transparent cement produced by the female; eggs hatch in 10-20 days; 5 nymphal instars; adults live for ~2 months (Mau & Kessing 1993)

Click on thumbnail to view the life cycle:

Eggs:

Remarks

earliest NA record: CA 1983(3)

not considered a pest in CA; considered a pest of banana, citrus, coffee, guava, macadamia, and many ornamentals in HI

Internet References

Fact sheet by Mau & Kessing (1993)

Works Cited

1.	Bourgoin T. (2017) FLOW (Fulgoromorpha Lists on the Web): a world knowledge base dedicated to Fulgoromorpha. Version 8.

2.	Bartlett C.R. and contributors (2017-) Planthoppers of North America

3.	Short-horned bugs (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha) introduced to North America

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 25 February, 2006 - 6:19pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, v belov, Abigail Parker, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 20 August, 2017 - 3:35pm

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