Froghoppers (Family Cercopidae)

Sugarcane froghopper
Euryaulax carnifex (Fabricius)

The froghoppers are not well represented in Australia, although there are some distinctive species both in size and colour. The most common and widespread species is Petyllis deprivata, a medium sized brown species covered with golden hairs, while the orange and black Euryaulax carnifex is common in Northern Australia. There are no true cercopids in New Zealand.

The fauna from New Guinea and eastern Indonesia is very rich with a number of speciose genera of large colourful insects. Only one of these, Megastethodon urvillei, is known from Australia.

Species of Cercopidae known to occur in Australia

Genus Aufidus Stål

Aufidus Stål 1863: 594
Notoscarta Breddin 1902: 58, synonymised by Jacobi 1921: 32
Aufidellus Kirkaldy 1906: 381, synonymised by Distant 1908a: 97

Aufidus lucidus Jacobi

Aufidus lucidus Jacobi 1928: 49

Qld

Aufidus trifasciatus Stål

Aufidus trifasciatus Stål 1863: 594

Qld, Mysol

Genus Aufiterna Kirkaldy

Aufiterna Kirkaldy 1906: 382

Aufiterna kirkaldyi (Jacobi)

Aufiterna ptyeloides Kirkaldy 1906: 382
Aufidus ptyeloides (Kirkaldy), Jacobi 1921: 50, preoccupied by Aufidus ptyeloides (Breddin)
Aufidus kirkaldyi Jacobi 1921: 50, nom. nov. for Aufidus ptyeloides Kirkaldy
Aufiterna ptyeloides Kirkaldy, Evans 1966: 313 (invalid, ICZN Art. 59.3)

Note: Jacobi (1921) synonymised Aufiterna with Aufidus thereby creating homonymy between Aufiterna ptyeloides Kirkaldy and Notoscarta ptyeloides Breddin which had previously been placed in Aufidus. He therefore created the new name Aufidus kirkaldyi Jacobi for A. ptyeloides Kirkaldy. Evans (1966: 313), in rejecting the generic synonymy, reverted to the original combination although ICZN Art. 59.3 states that a junior secondary homonym replaced before 1961 is permanently invalid.

Qld

Genus Euryaulax Kirkaldy

Euryaulax Kirkaldy 1906: 380
Eoscarta sensu Distant 1908a, synonymised by Lallemand 1949: 78

Note: Evans (1966) failed to recognise Lallemand's (1949) synonymy of Eoscarta as defined by Distant (1908a) with Euryaulax and listed the species below as Eoscarta. Liang (1996) redefined Eoscarta in Asia and excluded the Australian species from the genus. Liang & Fletcher (2002) reverted to Lallemand's recognition of Euryaulax for the following species and formally excluded Eoscarta Breddin from the Australian fauna. [update: 12.iv.2010] The genus was revised by Liang, et al. (2012).

Euryaulax angustifasciatus Liang et al.

Euryaulax angustifasciatus Liang, Combéfis & Jiang 2012: 159

[update: added 12.iv.2012]

WA, NT

Euryaulax arctofasciata Lallemand

Euryaulax arctofasciata Lallemand 1949: 79

Note: This species was synonymised (as artofasciata) with E. carnifex by Evans (1966) but reinstated by Liang, et al. (2012) [update: 12.iv.2012]

Euryaulax carnifex (Fabricius), the sugarcane froghopper

Cercopis carnifex Fabricius 1775: 688
Triecphora inconstans Walker 1851: 673, synonymised by Lallemand 1912: 116
Triecphora maculata Walker 1851: 673, synonymised by Evans 1966: 313?
Euryaulax carnifex (Fabricius), Lallemand 1949: 97
Euryaulax callitettigoides Kirkaldy 1906: 381, synonymised by Distant 1908a: 97
Eoscarta carnifex (Fabricius), Evans 1966: 313.
Euryaulax carnifex (Fabricius), Liang and Fletcher 2002: 43

Note: Metcalf (1961) listed Triecphora maculata Walker as a valid species of Eoscarta but Evans (1966) listed this name as a synonym of Eoscarta carnifex without comment although his synonymy of E. arctofasciata was noted as a new synonym. The origin of the synonymy of Walker's name is therefore obscure but is here credited to Evans (1966) as the earliest publication found to list the synonymy.

E. carnifex is a known minor pest of sugarcane (Magarey, et al. 1988).

Qld, WA, NT, NSW, New Guinea

[NT, NSW updates: 12.iv.2012]

Euryaulax kirkaldyi Liang et al.

Euryaulax kirkaldyi Liang, Combéfis & Jiang 2012: 161

[update: added 12.iv.2012]

Euryaulax longiprocessus Liang et al.

Euryaulax longiprocesses Liang, Combéfis & Jiang 2012: 162

[update: added 12.iv.2012]

NT, WA

Euryaulax vacuolus (Jacobi)

Eoscarta vacuola Jacobi 1928: 49
Pseudaufidus vacuola (Jacobi), Blöte 1957: 24
Euryaulax vacuolus (Jacobi), Lallemand 1949: 52

[update: image added 30.vi.2006]

Qld, NT

[NT update: 12.iv.2012]

Genus Megastethodon Schmidt

Megastethodon Schmidt 1910: 59

Megastethodon australis (Butler)

Cercopis urvillei Walker 1858a: 170 (misidentification)
Cosmoscarta australis Butler 1874: 251, nom. nov. for Cercopis urvillei Walker
Megastethedon australis (Butler), Lallemand 1912: 145

Note: This species was recorded from Australia, as Cercopis urvillei, by Walker (1858a) who misidentified the Australian species. This species is apparently restricted to New Guinea.
[update: 22.iv.2010]

"Australia", New Guinea

Megastethodon urvillei (Le P. & S.)

Cercopis urvillei Le Peletier and Serville 1825: 605
Megastethedon urvillei (Le P. & S.), Schmidt 1911: 68

[update 18.i.2002: Original combination added]

Qld, PNG, Indonesia (Aru Is., Maluku)

Genus Petyllis Kirkaldy

Petyllis Kirkaldy 1906: 382

Petyllis deprivata (Walker)

Monecphora deprivata Walker 1858a: 179
Petyllis australiensis Kirkaldy 1906: 382, synonymised by Evans 1966: 314
Haematoscarta flavifrons Schmidt 1925: 40, synonymised by Evans 1966: 314
Petyllis deprivata (Walker), Evans 1966: 314

Note: This species has been collected in WA from Bossiaea (Fabaceae), Lomandra (Dasypogonaceae), Macrozamia (Zamiaceae), Adenanthos (Myrtaceae) (Moir et al. 2003)

NSW, Qld, Vic, WA
[WA update: 12.ix.2003]

Genus Tonnoiria Lallemand

Tonnoiria Lallemand 1954: 501

Tonnoiria chinai (Hacker)

Eoscarta chinai Hacker 1926: 244
Tonnoiria chinae (Hacker), Evans 1966: 315

Qld

Tonnoiria tasmaniae Lallemand

Tonnoiria tasmaniae Lallemand 1954: 501

Note: Evans (1966) used the name T. tasmaniana but Lallemand's (1954) original spelling was T. tasmaniae.

NSW, ACT, Qld,
Tas, Vic