Hoppers of North Carolina

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

Family (Alpha):

CICADELLIDAE Members:	NC Records
Ossiannilssonola volans - No Common Name

Taxonomy

Family: CICADELLIDAE	Subfamily: Typhlocybinae	Tribe: Typhlocybini
Taxonomic Author: (McAtee, 1919)

Identification

Online Photographs: BugGuide, GBIF iNaturalist
Description: A strikingly-marked species, unlike anything else in the region. The head, pronotum, and scutellum are a light yellow color; the scutellum may be orange in some individuals. The forewing is light yellow with two dark brown markings that usually form two broad bands: one over the crossveins at the tip of the wings, typically at a noticeably tilt facing inwards and forming an inverted V, and the other around the middle of the clavus and slanting obliquely forward to the coastal margin. Some specimens from the Great Smoky Mountains (TN) also have a longitudinal streak down the clavus that connects these two wings bands (in this case, forming a dark X across the wings), while others from this region only had traces of this longitudinal band. The abdomen has black markings dorsally, the venter is yellow. Adults are 3.75 to 4.0 mm long. (Christian, 1953) For additional pics of this species, see: BG.

Distribution in North Carolina

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

Distribution: Transcontinental in the north, previously known as far south as the Great Smoky Mountaions National Park in Tennessee (Christian, 1953).

Abundance: Recently recorded from Mt. Mitchell, likely found elsewhere in high elevation montane regions.

Seasonal Occurrence

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

Habitats and Life History

Habitats:

Plant Associates: Prunus serotina [Ontario], Acer circinatum [British Columbia] (Hamilton, 1982); also reported from Prunus pennsylvanicus in GSMNP, TN (Christian, 1953) and American Mountain-Ash (Sorbus americana) here in North Carolina.

Behavior:

Comment: There are two strongly-banded Ossiannilssonola species in eastern North America (O. hinei is also banded but those bands are thin). O. ulmi, which feeds on elm (Ulmus americana, U. rubra, U. fulva) is known from the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. This species has a different wing pattern, with the anterior brown band transverse rather than oblique (Hamilton, 1982). There is also an (undescribed) species that feeds on Ulmus crassifolia in Texas.

Since specimens of this species from southern Appalachia in TN and now NC have a different wing pattern than individuals in the North, and there are currently no reported specimens between this region and the next closest locales in the Northeastern United States (NY & PA), it could entirely be possible that these populations represent a cryptic, undescribed species. Additional specimens would be needed to determine whether these southern populations are different.

Status: Native

Global and State Rank:

Species Photo Gallery for Ossiannilssonola volans No Common Name
	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).
	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).
	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).
	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).	Photo by: Rob Van Epps & Kevin Metcalf Yancey Co. Comment: Found on Sorbus americana (American Mountain Ash).

Ossiannilssonola volans - No Common Name

Species Photo Gallery for Ossiannilssonola volans No Common Name