Hoppers of North Carolina

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

Family (Alpha):

Cicadellidae Members:	NC Records
Scaphytopius cinereus - No Common Name

Taxonomy

Family: Cicadellidae

Subfamily: Deltocephalinae

Identification

Online Photographs: BugGuide, GBIF iNaturalist
Description: The crown is yellowish with dark brown to fulvous markings that contrast with two diagonal light markings and a pale midline. The pronotum is also yellow, sometimes darker than the crown, with three noticeable longitudinal lines; the scutellum is yellow. The face is also yellow. The wings are semihyaline with a fulvous tinge, yellowish overall; there are many small dark dots and prominent white areolar dots scattered throughout (the veins and markings consist primarily of dots). The male subgenital plates are largely triangular, slightly divergent from one another. The female pregenital sternite has the lateral margins convex and the posterior margin with a small lobe on either side of a median notch. Adult males are 4.0 mm long, females are 4.5 mm; some individuals are less than 4.0 mm. (Hepner 1947) For diagrams of this species, see: Zahniser.

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: Primarily eastern and central North America

Abundance: Recorded from a couple counties in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain; probably under collected and therefore 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: Open grasslands (Hepner 1947)

Plant Associates: Grasses, in particular Andropogon scoparius, Bouteloua hirsuta, and B. curtipendula; the latter two grasses are the more common hosts. (Hepner 1947)

Behavior: Can be attracted at night with a light.

Comment: NOTE: This species resembles S. acutus but is smaller (S. acutus: 4.5-5.2 mm, S. cinereus: 4.0-4.5 mm), yellowish in color rather than orange-brown, the scutellum in cinereus is yellowish while in acutus it is orange, there is not a large contrast between the color of the face and rest of the body in cinereus since they are both yellowish, and the markings on the wings consist primarily of dots (S. acutus has dots but overall is appears uniformly colored since the base color is prominent). (Hepner 1947)

Status: Native

Global and State Rank:

See also Habitat Account for General Successional and Semi-Natural Grasslands

Species Photo Gallery for Scaphytopius cinereus No Common Name
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Out Of State Co. Comment: NCSU specimen	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Out Of State Co. Comment: NCSU specimen
	Photo by: Kyle Kittelberger Out Of State Co. Comment: NCSU specimen

Scaphytopius cinereus - No Common Name

Species Photo Gallery for Scaphytopius cinereus No Common Name