Hoppers of North Carolina

Hoppers of North Carolina:
Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, Treehoppers, and Planthoppers

Family (Alpha):

MEMBRACIDAE Members:	NC Records
Cyrtolobus parvulus - No Common Name

No image for this species.

Taxonomy

Family: MEMBRACIDAE	Subfamily: Smiliinae
Taxonomic Author: Woodruff 1924

Identification

Online Photographs: BugGuide, GBIF
Description: Females are brown and red with a mottled pattern, having prominent white markings. The face is a yellow testaceous color with some small brown punctures. The pronotum is coarsely and roughly punctured and there is a prominent crest. There is a transverse band across the pronotum, a pale anterior spot, and a pale mid-dorsal spot. There also exists a narrow black line that curves up and forward near the mid-dorsal spot; a black branch sometimes runs forward from the lower anterior corner of the mid-dorsal white spot to the anterior white spot. The underside of the body is a brick-red color, and the forewings are clear hyaline with flavous veins. The legs are a dingy red color with some black marks. Males are like the female but smaller and with a lower pronotal crest. The male's pattern is similar to that of the females, but males have a reddish face, sometimes with black markings near the eyes. The brown mottling seen in the female lacks on the male; males sometimes have pinkish markins, and the dark red of the pronotum varies in males from black to pale red. The underside of the body and the abdominal segments are black, genital segments are reddish. The forewings are yellowish, sometimes dark at the tip, and the legs are reddish with some black parts. Adults males are 4.5 mm long, while females are 5 mm. (Kopp)

Distribution in North Carolina

County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.

Distribution: Eastern and central United States (Kopp)

Abundance: Several records from the lower Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Seasonal distribution: 23 May-17 June (CTNC)

Seasonal Occurrence

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Habitats and Life History

Habitats:

Plant Associates: Quercus sp.

Behavior: To listen to the male courtship call for this genus, listen here. These courtship calls are not audible to the human ear, and the calls here are produced by recording the substrate vibrations that the treehoppers use to communicate through the plants themselves. The recorded call is then amplified so that it is now audible to human ears. Research has shown that treehoppers use vibrations to attract mates, to announce the discovery of a good feeding site, or to alert a defending mother to the approach of a predator (T.IM).

Comment:

Status: Native

Global and State Rank:

Cyrtolobus parvulus - No Common Name