Hoppers of North Carolina

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

Family (Alpha):

MEMBRACIDAE Members:	NC Records
Ophiderma salamandra - No Common Name

Taxonomy

Family: MEMBRACIDAE	Subfamily: Smiliinae
Taxonomic Author: Fairmaire, 1846

Identification

Online Photographs: BugGuide, GBIF iNaturalist
Description: A large robust brown species, very pubescent with short, black, bristly hairs. The head is broader than long and is yellow and very hairy. The eyes are large and brown, and the ocelli are red and prominent. Females have a reddish-brown to black pronotum with mottling. There is an indistinct transverse band near the rear. Males are smaller and darker than females, having a mostly black pronotum with small whitish bands; the bands on the lateral margin have some white mottling on the inside of the band. The forewings are smoky hyaline with prominent dark veins and a black smudge to the wing tip. The underside of the head and thorax are dark and the abdomen is yellowish; the legs are blackish. Adult males are 6.8-7.5 mm, females are 7.4-8.8 mm. (Kopp, 1973)

Distribution in North Carolina

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

Out of State Record(s)

Distribution: Eastern and central North America

Abundance: Uncommon to locally common across the state. Seasonal distribution: 18 April-31 August (CTNC)

Seasonal Occurrence

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

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Where oaks are present.

Plant Associates: Quercus falcata, Q. nigra, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. rubra, Q. stellata, Q. velutina (CTNC)

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: O. salamandra may [typically] be distinguished from other Ophiderma species by the spotted color pattern on the pronotum, but more importantly by how robust this species is. All other Ophiderma in the eastern U.S. are slimmer than O. salamandra. (M. Rothschild, pers. comment)

Status: Native

Global and State Rank:

See also Habitat Account for General Oak-Hickory Forests

Species Photo Gallery for Ophiderma salamandra No Common Name
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 6.8 mm male on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 6.8 mm male on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 6.8 mm male on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 6.7 mm male on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separately
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 6.7 mm male on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separately	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 6.7 mm male on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separately
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_treehopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_treehopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: unid_treehopper	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 7.8 mm female, on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 7.8 mm female, on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 7 mm female, on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 7 mm female, on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 7 mm female, on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 7.8 mm female, on Willow Oak, Quercus phellos, stuck in Tanglefoot on a tree band, others of both sexes nearby to be submitted separatelyrn	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42625364
	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42625364	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42625364
	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42625364	Photo by: Margarita Lankford Orange Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42625364
	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Yancey Co. Comment: came to CFL, UV light combo, cove forest edge with small lawn and meadow nearby	Photo by: Ken Kneidel Yancey Co. Comment: came to CFL, UV light combo, cove forest edge with small lawn and meadow nearby
	Photo by: Matthew S. Wallace Out Of State Co. Comment: female	Photo by: Matthew S. Wallace Out Of State Co. Comment: male

Ophiderma salamandra - No Common Name

Species Photo Gallery for Ophiderma salamandra No Common Name