Nephotettix bipunctata (Fabricius)

Metcalf, Z. P., 1946, Homoptera, Fulgoroidea and Jassoidea of Guam, Insects of Guam II, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 189, pp. 105-148 : 126-128

6. Nephotettix bipunctata (Fabricius) (fig. 14, a, b).

Cicada bipunctata Fabricius , Syst. Rhyng. 78, 1803.

Pediopsis apicalis de Motschulsky , Etud. Ent. 8: 110, 1859.

Pediopsis nigromaculatus de Motschulsky , Etud. Ent. 8: 111, 1859.

Thamnotettix nigropicta Stal , Ofv. K. Vet.-Akad. Forh. 27: 740, 1870.

Selenocephalus cincticeps Uhler , U. S. Nat. Mus., Proc. 19: 292, 1896.

Crown short, and broad, about twice as broad as its median length, somewhat conically produced in front of the eyes; postclypeus with the dorsal margin about twice as long as the clypeal suture; the lateral margins slightly curved; anteclypeus about 1.5 times as long as its width on the clypeal border; juga small, extending dorsad slightly beyond the clypeal suture. Pronotum about three times as broad as its median length; anterior margin broadly curved, not projecting in front of interior-posterior angles of the compound eyes, not separated from the anterior-lateral borders; posterior margin shallowly sinuate, broadly curved into the posterior-lateral margin. Mesonotum broad and flat, with a distinct posterior impressed line. Tegmina usually coriaceous with the venation indistinct.

Female genitalia: last ventral segment nearly twice as long as the penultimate on the median line; posterior margin broadly, triangularly incised; the margins of the incision shallowly sinuate; the lateral angles roundly produced;· median area quadrately notched with the anterior margin of the notch produced in a broad triangular tooth. Male genitalia: with the valve broadly triangular, nearly twice as broad as its median length; the genital plates broadly triangular, longer than the pygofer, their apices somewhat rounded and upturned; the inner margin slightly sinuate and overlapping on the apical third; posterior-lateral margin with a series of about eight elongate stout spines; pygofer shorter than the subgenital plate, each with a cluster of thick, short, stout spines on the apical margin and a single elongate spine; tenth segment elongate, eleventh segment short, not as long as broad; anal style elongate, conical, about three times as long as its basal width.

Color so variable that it is difficult to describe. The lighter specimens have the basal two thirds of the tegmina and the central field of the pronotum bright green, with the crown, the anterior, and the anterior-lateral margins of the pronotum, and the mesonotum, face,and entire venter buff with the face with a few, usually six, narrow, light brown arcs and the apical third of the tegmina milky subhyaline. The darker specimens, usually males,have the posterior areas of the pronotum and the basal two thirds of the tegmina bright green;the anterior margin of the pronotum and the mesonotum usually light green. The crown ha_ sa broad subapical blackish fascia and a narrow basal fascia. The apical ·third of the tegmina is blackish fuscous; the commisural margin is usually narrowly, sometimes broadly marked with blackish; the claval suture is usually narrowly bordered, sometimes broadly bordered with blackish fuscous to the anterior third where the colors spread out as a large blackish fuscous spot on the disk of the corium. The face and the entire venter except the legs are entirely blackish except the narrow posterior borders of the abdominal segments and the borders of the genital plates which are ochraceous orange in color. Between these two extremes are all sorts of variations.

Inarajan , May 7, 14, June 8, July 25, on rice, Swezey ; Piti , Sept. 1, on rice, Swezey .

This species has a wide distribution in the tropical and warm temperate regions of the eastern hemisphere having been recorded in North Africa from Morocco to Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and in southern Africa from Tanganyika to Natal and South Africa including Madagascar. From Africa, it ranges east to Ceylon and India, to the East Indies and Queensland, and north through Indo-China, Siam, China, Formosa, Ryukyu Islands to Japan.

As indicated by the synonymy, this species has been described no less than five different times. Most recent authors have kept apicalis de Motschulsky separated from bipunctata Fabricius on the basis of differences in color. However, an examination of a fairly long series in the present collection, and long series from other collections from the Oriental region has showed that there are no structural characters which can be used to separate these two forms. The color characters blend into each other in a continuous series, from those that are light green in color with the face of the male marked with a series of brown arcs, to those that have the tegmina heavily marked with black along the commisural margin and along the claval suture with a large blackish spot confluent on the basal third of the corium, the apical third of the tegmina entirely blackish fuscous, and the face completely black or with a small area of greenish yellow in the center. It is doubtful, therefore, whether these two forms should be kept separated even as color varieties.