Hoppers of North Carolina

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

Family (Alpha):

CICADELLIDAE Members:	NC Records
Agalliopsis novella - No Common Name

Taxonomy

Family: CICADELLIDAE

Subfamily: Megophthalminae

Tribe: Agalliini

Subgenus: Agalliopsis

Taxonomic Author: (Say, 1830)

Identification

Online Photographs: BugGuide, GBIF iNaturalist
Description: Generally light brown or yellowish-green to nearly black in color, but can be extremely variable; males are usually darker than females. In NC, individuals have tended to have a mostly blackish body, with dark wings and a dark pronotum; this is reported by Oman (1970) as a frequently found color form. Some individuals have a mostly black scutellum and pronotum while others show more yellow; in these paler individuals, there is a median stripe on the pronotum. The legs and head/face are usually a bold yellow, contrasting with the blackish body, but can be a brownish color too in some specimens. There are six black dots on the yellow face: two above each eye and one below the upper two dots, near the center of the face. Some of the wing venation is also yellow, and the underside of the abdomen is a blackish yellow. Females have a pregenital sternite that is deeply concave, with a deep U-shaped emargination from the base. Male genitalia description is as follows: "valve short, emarginate posteriorly; plates semi-tubular, bluntly rounded at apexes, and scarcely covering the opening of the large genital chamber" (DeLong 1948), distinctive and characteristic of this species; essentially, the male visual genitalia is short and squat without any notable emarginations. Adult males are 3.3- 3.5 mm long while females are 3.75- 4.0 mm. (Oman 1970)

Distribution in North Carolina

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

Distribution: Found throughout much of eastern North America, west to the Great Plains at least (Oman 1970)

Abundance: Recorded from the mountains and Piedmont where it seems to be uncommon but can be locally common; probably more abundant in the right habitat.

Seasonal Occurrence

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

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: This species has been found in open mixed hardwood forest as well as grassy, montane meadows

Plant Associates: Potato, Clover; common on herbaceous vegetation. A. novella has been known to transmit the Potato yellow dwarf virus (Nucleorhabdovirus) and therefore can affect potato crops. In addition, it is considered to be the most important vectors of clover club leaf virus and one of the most important vectors of wound tumor virus in the country. It is the only species of Agalliopsis that is a vector (A. novella).

Behavior: Can be attracted at night with a light.

Comment: Agalliopsis ancistra and novella can be challenging to differentiate from one another; therefore, it is helpful to have a picture of the underside with a view of the genitalia. Ancistra is slightly larger and paler, with ancistra typically a greenish color while novella is darker, either blackish on top of yellowish-green or dark brown overall (some extreme individuals of ancistra however can be quite dark, complicating matters). Note that the face of ancistra tends to be orange or ferruginous while the face of novella tends to be yellow or brown. The pregenital sternite (sternum VII) in both ancistra and novella is also quite similar, being deeply concave. Female coloration of novella and ancistra can be similar, though ancistra females are typically marked less with fuscous and tend to be more tawny than cinereous; male ancistra usually do not show the extreme fuscous coloration found in some males of novella. (Oman 1970)

Status: Native

Global and State Rank:

Species Photo Gallery for Agalliopsis novella No Common Name
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Rob Van Epps Mecklenburg Co. Comment: Caught sweeping
	Photo by: Rob Van Epps Mecklenburg Co. Comment: Caught sweeping	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172255182
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Yancey Co. Comment: 3.6 mm, came to light at night
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Yancey Co. Comment: 3.6 mm, came to light at night	Photo by: Erich Hofmann New Hanover Co. Comment:
	Photo by: Erich Hofmann New Hanover Co. Comment:	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/116495090
	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/78418099	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn Polk Co. Comment: male, 3.4 mm
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn Polk Co. Comment: male, 3.4 mm	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn Polk Co. Comment: male, mm
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Wake Co. Comment: mixed hardwood forest habitat	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Wake Co. Comment: mixed hardwood forest edge
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Wake Co. Comment: mixed hardwood forest edge	Photo by: Paul Scharf Warren Co. Comment: Attracted to UV Light
	Photo by: Paul Scharf Warren Co. Comment: Attracted to UV Light	Photo by: Brian Bockhahn Guilford Co. Comment:
	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46253874	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46253874
	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46253874	Photo by: Rob Van Epps Mecklenburg Co. Comment: Attracted to UV light. Yard near woods.
	Photo by: Rob Van Epps Mecklenburg Co. Comment: Caught sweeping in weedy woodland edge.	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Yancey Co. Comment: forest edge with small lawn and meadow nearby
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Yancey Co. Comment: forest edge with small lawn and meadow nearby	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Yancey Co. Comment: forest edge with small lawn and meadow nearby
	Photo by: Randy L Emmitt Orange Co. Comment: uv light	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Wake Co. Comment: near mixed hardwood forest habitat
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Wake Co. Comment: near mixed hardwood forest habitat	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Wake Co. Comment: near mixed hardwood forest habitat
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy, open area surrounded by forest	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy, open area surrounded by forest
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy, open area surrounded by forest	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy, open area surrounded by forest
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy, open area surrounded by forest	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy, open area surrounded by forest

Agalliopsis novella - No Common Name

Species Photo Gallery for Agalliopsis novella No Common Name