Hoppers of North Carolina

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

Family (Alpha):

CICADELLIDAE Members:	NC Records
Oncopsis flavidorsum - No Common Name

Taxonomy

Family: CICADELLIDAE

Subfamily: Eurymelinae

Tribe: Macropsini

Subgenus: Oncopsis

Taxonomic Author: (Amyot & Serville, 1843)

Identification

Online Photographs: BugGuide, GBIF iNaturalist
Description: Males are dark, with brown to blackish-brown wings that have a pale spot along the commissure (inner edge of the wings). The venter is yellow, with the legs ferruginous and the face yellow with a bold black circular shaped mark in the center and a black band along the margin of the head. The pronotum and scutellum or yellow to ferruginous, sometimes approaching black, with fuscous speckling. and a reddish thorax and face. Females are extremely varied in color, with at least 24 (!!) distinct color forms/phases. Three forms account for about 60% of those found in females examined in collections: all yellow except for the outer third of the wings (30% of specimens); yellow along the clavi (appearing as a bold "V") and on the pronotum, scutellum, and head with brown wing bases (10%); and similar wing coloration but with an orange scutellum, pronotum, and head (21%). The other color forms are much less common: some have a dark, almost black body with varying degrees of dark markings on the wings and a yellow "V" (6%); dark with yellow clavi and blackish wings and body (3%); yellow clavi with a brown border along the claval sutures (6%); yellow clavi and thorax with a brown outer edge to the wings near the costal margins (0.5%); reddish-brown thorax and dark reddish-brown wings, darker along the claval structure bordering the yellow "V" on the clavi, with clear wing tips (2%); and reddish-brown thorax with red-brown on wings restricted primarily to the claval structures, contrasting with the yellow clavi (3%). Even though there is extreme variation in coloration of females, they almost all have yellow clavi. Adult males are 4.0-4.6 mm long, while females are 3.9-4.9 mm. Nymphs are entirely ferruginous or brown. (Hamilton 1983)

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 North America, ranging from the Northeast and southeastern Canada south into the Appalachians, as far south as North Carolina; also found in the Midwest and central Canada.

Abundance: Recorded from several counties in the northern mountains in the state, likely more abundant in this region in the right habitat. Uncommon to locally common.

Seasonal Occurrence

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

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Has been found in grassy, shrubby habitat near montane forest.

Plant Associates: Alder, including speckled alder (Alnus rugosa) and Alnus serrulata (Hamilton 1983)

Behavior:

Comment: This is the most variable Oncopsis, in terms of female coloration, in our area, but is distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other Oncopsis species in the state. The 2% color form (reddish-brown thorax and dark reddish-brown wings, darker along the claval structure bordering the yellow "V" on the clavi, with clear wing tips) may be much more common in our region than elsewhere in the country. A majority of the females in the NCSU collection from North Carolina belong to this form.

Status: Native

Global and State Rank:

See also Habitat Account for Montane Shoreline Shrub Thickets

Oncopsis flavidorsum - No Common Name

Species Photo Gallery for Oncopsis flavidorsum No Common Name

Species Photo Gallery for Oncopsis flavidorsum 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: 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: 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:
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:
	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:
	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_treehopper
	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_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:
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: An Alder and a Willow were somewhat intertwined. It was on the Willow, but i do not know which plant it was associated with. - unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: An Alder and a Willow were somewhat intertwined. It was on the Willow, but i do not know which plant it was associated with. - unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: An Alder and a Willow were somewhat intertwined. It was on the Willow, but i do not know which plant it was associated with. - unid_leafhopper	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment: An Alder and a Willow were somewhat intertwined. It was on the Willow, but i do not know which plant it was associated with. - unid_leafhopper
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: male	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: male
	Photo by: Ted Wilcox Watauga Co. Comment:	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: Kyle Kittelberger Out Of State Co. Comment: NCSU specimen; male
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Out Of State Co. Comment: NCSU specimen; male	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Out Of State Co. Comment: NCSU specimen; male
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Alleghany Co. Comment: NCSU specimens; nymph	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy and vegetated, shrubby habitat surrounded by forest; rare female color form (3%)
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy and vegetated, shrubby habitat surrounded by forest; rare female color form	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy and vegetated, shrubby habitat surrounded by forest; rare female color form
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger, Brian Bockhahn, Paul Scharf Avery Co. Comment: grassy and vegetated, shrubby habitat surrounded by forest; rare female color form