unidentified insect 2

Gestart door DJHiker, juni 14, 2014, 12:52:42 PM

Vorige topic - Volgende topic

DJHiker

I would like to know which species this is
It concerns this sighting
http://observado.org/waarneming/view/85463404
identification uncertain Unidentified insect - Insecta indet. observed at 2013-01-25 Sri Lanka - Kurunegala
Photos:






Any clue on what kind of insect this little acrobat could be?
I estimate its size to be around 5mm.
thanks in advance David Kohl
David Kohl

Arp

It's a Somethingortheother-Hopper (in Dutch we've made it easy - we call 'm all "Cicade")

Using the links in this topic you'll also find Hopper/Cicada-ish-Thingies by surfing around a little.
Groetengedoe, Arp (wrn - JungleDragon)

Arp

Looks similar (but not quite the same) to this bug named "Caloscarta capitata" (but I'm not claiming that name would be correct!)
Groetengedoe, Arp (wrn - JungleDragon)

DJHiker

#3
My web search for (frog)hopperish things, using your links and others did not yield many images. Ik looked at other species in the Caloscarta-genus and more species in the Cercopidae fam., but no better match than Caloscarta capitata (very common in Sri Lanka), execpt for the minor  ;) detail that my hopper has a dark pronotum.
Anyway, thanks for your tentative id.
Regards,
David
David Kohl

Arp

Howdy,

I'm afraid there may be other options still  :-\

On this page you will find an image of a similar looking animal (left in image) that is named Sphenorhina melanoptera. The site seems serious enough, but I'm not 100% certain that the quality of the IDs was their main objective. Anyway, Sphenorhina melanoptera is a valid species that was previously known as Tomaspis melanoptera. It is the Cercopis melanoptera Germar 1821:pg.43, described as "Habitat in Brasilia".

Also on the COOL-site you'll find this page sporting some other more or less similar looking images:Somewhat disturbing that all those quite similar looking images/animals are from the Americas ;)

In the oldish "Genera Insectorum" vol 143: Cercopidae (Lallemand, 1912), depicted candidates might be:CLoser to home, but not quite there yet.

So, let's try it the other way around and find descriptions or photographs for all species listed for Sri Lanka.

Obviously both Caloscarta are interesting to look at, so we'll find the original description the genus Caloscarta in this PDF on the 3rd page, for capitata (as Callitettix c.) on page 153 here and for pallescens Distant, 1916 in this PDF on page 200.

Neither species is described with the darkish pronotum, but at least for capitata the dark tarsi are mentioned (v.s. "legs sanquineous" for pallescens)

I'll have to leave it at that. First quick searches for the other species/genera in the list for Sri Lanka seem to render different looking species, but not all have photographs, so more literature search would probably be needed ...

Groetengedoe, Arp (wrn - JungleDragon)

Arp

#5
Ahw, duh - read the description here: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9746318

CiteerA very variable species; the colour of the pronotum varies from red to black, and the red at the base of the tegmina is sometimes almost obliterated.
I'd say that (and the rest of it) makes capitata a very good fit :)

P.S. A few of the Cercopidae-species mentioned have been created in the database...
Groetengedoe, Arp (wrn - JungleDragon)

DJHiker

#6
Hi Arp,
I very much appreciate your generous support and guidance in solving this “case of the cheerleader bug”.
Thanks for directing me to a number of interesting new (to me) sites, some of which I have now bookmarked for possible help in future id-jobs.
In my view, the overwhelming evidence presented here justifies the sighting to be considered as ”certain”. Hope you will agree.
Tomorrow I’ll be going on a two week holiday to inland Catalunya, curious to see what kind of bugs (and other insects) I will run into over there.
Cheers,
David
David Kohl

Arp

Hi David,

Always a pleasure to puzzle and learn in the process, so thanks for the opportunity;)

Enjoy the trip and good "hunting" - I'm sure we'll see some of it here  :P
Groetengedoe, Arp (wrn - JungleDragon)