Hishimonus species
Caution
Many of the insects depicted on these pages are outwardly similar and you should not use photographs as the sole means of identification. These pages form part of a scientific key which will assist a trained entomologist to identify the species accurately.
Hishimonus species
Subfamily/Tribe: Deltocephalinae: Opsiini
Distribution: Qld, NSW, Vic, WA, NT, PNG
Economic Status: The exotic Hishimonus phycitis is a vector of Little leaf disease of Brinjal (eggplant) in India and suspected to be the vector of Witches Broom of lime and other citrus crops in the Middle East. None of the Australian species is known to be a vector of plant disease. The Chinese species H. diffractus was first recorded in Australia by Fletcher & Dai (2013) based on material in collections dating back to 1977.
Notes: The species are similar in general appearance and all bear a circular or diamond-shaped dark marking in the middle of the back when the wings are folded. The presence of H. diffractus in Australia was not detected for almost 30 years with specimens having been misidentified as H. passiflorae in collections.
| *Hishimonus phycitis (Distant 1908) |
[Image: James Zahniser website] |
Hishimonus passiflorae (Evans 1941) The passionvine hopper |
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| Hishimonus diffractus Dai, Fletcher & Zhang 2013 |  |
