Carystoterpa fingens
Species of true bug
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carystoterpa fingens, commonly known as the variegated spittlebug, is a spittlebug of the family Aphrophoridae.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand.
| Carystoterpa fingens | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Auchenorrhyncha |
| Family: | Aphrophoridae |
| Genus: | Carystoterpa |
| Species: | C. fingens |
| Binomial name | |
| Carystoterpa fingens (Walker, 1851) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Taxonomy
C. fingens was first described by Francis Walker in 1851 using a specimen collected by William Colenso and was originally named Ptyelus fingens.[2] In 1966 John William Evans placed this species in the genus Carystoterpa.[3] The lectotype specimen, assumed to have been collected in the Auckland vicinity by Colenso, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[1]
Description
Walker originally described this species as follows:
Yellow, shining: head and chest flat: head concave along the hind border, more convex in front where it has a slight notch on each side; its length less than half its breadth; face convex, almost oval, with a punctured middle stripe, on each side of which are nine shallow oblique cross ridges; epistoma slightly keeled : mouth tawny, reaching to the middle hips; maxillae ferruginous; chest punctured, slightly impressed across in front, with a pitchy stripe extending on each side from the eye to the base of the forewing; abdomen tawny; tips of the feet pitchy : fore-wings whitish, pale tawny towards the hind border, with an undulating ferruginous stripe, which extends through the disk from the base to the tip; hind-wings colourless; veins pale yellow. Length of the body 2 lines; of the wings 6 lines.[2]
C. fingens is very variable in appearance.[1]
Distribution
Habitat
This species tends to inhabit coastal localities.[1]
Hosts
The adults of this species feed on a variety of plant species[1] including species in the genus Hieracium[6] and grape leaves (Vitis vinifera Sauvignon blanc).[7] Individuals of C. fingens fed on all four potential host plants studied in a controlled experiment, including Hebe pubescens, Arthropodium cirratum, Dietes bicolor and Brassica oleracea.[8]
