Subfamily Typhlocybinae: Tribe Empoascini
The Vegetable Leafhopper
Austroasca viridigrisea (Paoli)
The Empoascini can most readily be identified by the single curved vein running around the apical portion of the hindwing. This is usually easy to see through the tegmen as a loop near the apex of the hindwing. Australia's empoascines are frequently common and some species are important pests. Austroasca viridigrisea, the vegetable leafhopper, is a serious pest of leafy vegetables. The New Zealand fauna includes two species of the endemic genus Matatua plus two introductions from the Northern Hemisphere [update: 12.ii.2001].
Typhlocybines are parenchyma feeders (also known as cell rupture feeding) which means that they cause damage by causing chlorotic speckling and leaf fall to their hosts. Members of the Empoascini sometimes feed on the cells around the vascular tissue causing collapse of the leaf veins. This has far greater impact on leaves, particularly for leafy vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce.
The species are often difficult to differentiate, even when the structures of the male genitalia are examined. Lower (1952) provided an effective key to the Australian species of Austroasca.
- Species of Empoascini known to occur in Australia
- Link to keys for New Zealand Empoascini
- Species of Empoascini known to occur in eastern Indonesia
- Species of Empoascini known to occur in New Guinea
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- Restart key
Species of Empoascini known to occur in Australia
Many undescribed species of Typhlocybinae are known to occur in Australia. ABRS funding has allowed taxonomic research on this subfamily to be undertaken and this list will therefore be updated as the descriptions of the new species are published.
Genus Amrasca GhauriAmrasca Ghauri 1967: 159 |
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Amrasca terraereginae (Paoli), the Australian cotton leafhopper Empoasca terraereginae Paoli 1936:
13 Known hosts: Gossypium (Malvaceae) (Paoli 1936) |
Qld, NSW |
Genus Austroasca LowerAustroasca Lower 1952: 202 Note: Evans (1966) synonymised this genus with Empoasca Walsh but Ghauri (1967) regarded the two species as being separate. This was accepted by Evans (1977) but neither Ghauri (1967) nor Evans (1977) listed the species with their reinstated combinations which didn't appear in a publication until Day & Fletcher (1994). |
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Austroasca alfalfae (Evans), the lucerne leafhopper Empoasca alfalfae Evans 1940:
12 Known hosts: Medicago sativa (Fabaceae) (Evans 1940), Cassia spp. (Caesalpiniaceae), Carya illinoinensis (pecan) (Juglandaceae), Gossypium hirsutum (cotton) (Malvaceae), Mangifera indica (mango) (Juglandaceae) (ASCU collection records) [update: 8.ix.2004] |
Qld, NSW, NT, WA [WA update: 8.ix.2004; NT update: 9.ix.2005] |
Austroasca bractigera Lower Austroasca bractigera Lower 1952: 215 Known hosts: Toona australis (Meliaceae) (Day and Fletcher 1994) |
NSW, NT [NT update: 1.iii.2012] |
Austroasca histrionicula (Kirkaldy) Cicadula histrionicula Kirkaldy 1906: 361 Known hosts: Sida subspicata (Malvaceae) (Evans 1942c) |
Qld, NSW, NT [NSW, NT updates: 1.iii.2012] |
Austroasca infulata Lower Austroasca infulata Lower 1953: 33 Known hosts: Atriplex nummularia (Chenopodiaceae) (Lower 1953) |
SA |
Austroasca malvae (Evans) Empoasca malvae Evans 1942c:
49 Known hosts: Malva parviflora (Malvaceae) (Evans 1942c) |
Qld, NSW [NSW update: 1.iii.2012] |
Austroasca merredinensis Lower Austroasca merredinensis Lower 1952: 213 [update: image added 13.iv.2007] |
WA, NSW, Vic [Vic update: 6.iii.2012] |
Austroasca viridigrisea (Paoli), the vegetable leafhopper Empoasca viridigrisea Paoli 1936:
12 Known hosts: beans (Fabaceae), carrots (Apiaceae), potato, tomato (Solanaceae), lettuce (Asteraceae), other vegetables and a wide range of other herbaceous plants |
Qld, NSW, ACT, [NT, SA, Tas update: 6.iii.2012] |
Genus Dayus MahmoodDayus Mahmood 1967: 39 |
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Dayus euryphaessus (Kirkaldy) Cicadula euryphaessa Kirkaldy 1907: 68 Known hosts: Saccharum officinale (Poaceae) (Kirkaldy 1907) |
Qld, Fiji, Niue I. |
Genus Dialecticopteryx KirkaldyDialecticopteryx Kirkaldy 1907: 71 Note: Dworakowska & Sohi (1978) recognised two subgenera by combining Akotettix Matsumura as a subgenus of Dialecticopteryx. |
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Dialecticopteryx australica Kirkaldy, the fig leafhopper Dialecticopteryx australica Kirkaldy 1907: 71 |
Qld, NSW [NSW update: 7.iii.2012] |
Genus Distantasca DworakowskaDistantasca Dworakowska 1972c: 25 |
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Distantasca smithi (Fletcher & Donaldson) Empoasca smithi Fletcher and Donaldson 1992: 183 Known hosts: Citrus (Rutaceae) (Fletcher and Donaldson 1992) |
Qld, NSW, Vic [Vic update: 8.iii.2012] |
Genus Dunioa DworakowskaDunioa Dworakowska 1995: 135 |
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Dunioa picturata (Evans) Empoasca picturata Evans 1966:
266 |
NT |
Genus Homa DistantHoma Distant 1908b: 400 |
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Homa haematoptila (Kirkaldy) Eupteryx haematoptilus Kirkaldy 1906: 362 |
Qld, Sri Lanka |
Genus Kybos FieberKybos Fieber 1866: 508 Note: Dworakowska (1976) considered this as a subgenus of Empoasca but Nast (1972), Le Quesne & Payne (1981) and, more recently, Mühlethaler et al. (2009) have treated it as a genus in its own right. |
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Empoasca lindbergi Linnavuori 1951: 60 Known hosts: Betula (Betulaceae) |
Europe, NSW, Vic, NZ [update: Vic added 30.viii.2010] |