Hannelore Hoch

First evidence of acoustic communication in the pear psyllid Cacopsylla pyri L. (Hemiptera: Psyllidae)

AbstractnA number of species of the family Psyllidae, commonly called jumping plant lice, are economically important as vectors of pathogenic phytoplasmas in fruit crops. Pear psyllids of the species Cacopsylla pyri (L. 1758) (Psyllidae) are the most damaging pest of pear trees in Europe. These phloem feeding insects transmit pear decline, a disease caused by the phytopathogenic bacterium Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri. Knowledge of the signals used for intraspecific communication, especially during mating behavior, is essential to design ecological control strategies against this vector insect. Here, we report the first recordings of acoustic signals emitted by male and female C. pyri. We also observed the establishment of an acoustic duet between an interacting couple prior to mating. Furthermore, we found potentially sound producing stridulatory organs in male and female individuals of C. pyri. The acoustic signals recorded are described and presented. Possible stridulatory organs are depicted as scanning electron microscopy pictures. The implications of these findings for potential applications in pest control are discussed.

Root Communities in Lava Tubes

Plant roots are an important component of underground food webs in mesocaverns, lava tubes, and solution caves. Trees such as Metrosideros , Eucalyptus , Ficus , and Brachychiton are adapted to send their roots through porous rock to get water and nutrients. These trees are primary producers, photosynthesizing and sending energy in the form of carbohydrates into their roots. Surface species that live on and around roots may venture deep underground along roots, but most are not able to survive deep in caves and become food for predators and scavengers. In some groups, including the planthopper family Cixiidae and the moth family Noctuidae, new species have evolved traits that allow them to spend their entire life cycle underground. Besides these primary consumers (herbivores), tree root communities in caves include carnivores, detritivores, decomposers, and fungivores. Many of these animals are obligate cave species (troglobites) and are generally restricted to habitats with high humidity and low air motion found in mesocaverns and the deep cave zone. Protection of troglobites in tree root communities requires more than simply protecting the caves in which they occur, it requires determining the plant species that provide the roots, and protecting these species on the surface over the cave and associated mesocaverns.

Non-sexual abdominal appendages in adult insects challenge a 300 million year old bauplan

Summary Despite their enormous diversity, the bauplan of adult winged insects (pterygotes) is remarkably conservative since the Lower Devonian: a five-segmented head, a three-segmented thorax with three pairs of walking legs and an eleven-segmented abdomen without any non-sexual appendages [1,2]. The only known exceptions are the abdominal appendages of adult male sepsid flies on the fourth segment; however, these are also used as copulatory organs and are supposedly maintained through sexual selection [3]. Here, we report a rod-like paired appendage from the third and fourth abdominal segments in adults of the Southeast-Asian Hemiptera taxon Bennini (Figure 1A,B; Supplemental information). These are fully musculated, innervated, and movable and bear highly organized sensory and secretory units. The appendages, termed LASSO (lateral abdominal sensory and secretory organs), are consistent in topology and structure in all species studied and not sexually dimorphic. The existence of these non-sexual abdominal appendages reveals the potential of the 300 million year old conserved bauplan of insects.

The New Zealand planthopper genus Semo White (Hemiptera: Cixiidae): taxonomic review, geographical distribution, and biology

The alpha-taxonomy of the New Zealand planthopper genus Semo White (Hemiptera: Cixiidae) is reviewed. Semo clypeatus is redescribed and three new species (S. transinsularis, S. west- landiae, and S. southlandiae) are described. A key to species is provided as well as information on geo- graphical distribution and biology.

New replacement name for the planthopper genus Potiguara Hoch et Ferreira, 2013 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Kinnaridae)

The Kinnaridae genus Potiguara was established by Hoch & Ferreira (2013) with the type species Potiguara troglobia Hoch et Ferreira, 2013 from Brazil. So far, this genus includes only the type species. Nevertheless, the name Potiguara is preoccupied and it was initially introduced by Machado et Brito, 2006 for an extinct genus of the fish family Pycnodontidae (with the type species Coelodus rosadoi Silva Santos, 1963 from Brazil). Thus, the genus Potiguara Hoch et Ferreira, 2013 is a junior homonym of the genus Potiguara Machado et Brito, 2006. According to Article 60 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, we propose the new replacement name Kinnapotiguara nom. nov. for Potiguara Hoch et Ferreira, 2013. Accordingly, a new combination is herein proposed for the kinnarid planthopper species currently included in this genus: Kinnapotiguara troglobia (Hoch et Ferreira, 2013) comb. nov.