Hoppers of North Carolina:
Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, Treehoppers, and Planthoppers
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Ceratagallia vulgaris - No Common Name     CICADELLIDAE Members: NC Records Public View
No image for this species.
synonym
description See here for an image of a specimen. A boldy patterned species, yellowish to dark brown in color with a vertex that has a black spot above each ocellus. There is often a dark median line on the vertex and pronotum. The head is usually wider than 1.0 mm. This is a slender Ceratagallia with the length 2.7 to 3.0 times the width across the eyes. Males have a distinctive, characteristic twisted style; the male valve is very short and often concealed by the eighth sternite. The male plates are short and broad, being wider at the apex than the base; the apexes are almost truncate. The pregenital sternite in females is half as long as wide and has an almost truncate posterior margin with a slight notch in the middle. Adults are 2.5- 3.0 mm long. (Hamilton 1998), (DeLong 1948)
distribution Widespread in central United States prairies and local in the eastern United States (Hamilton 1998)
abundance Recorded from a few counties in the Piedmont; uncommon to rare.
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habitat Grassy areas
plant associates Grasses
behavior
comments This species used to be known as C. cinerea; however, the true cinerea is a western United States species. Historical records for cinerea have been entered on this site as vulgaris. (DeLong 1948)

NOTE: It is very important to obtain accurate measurements and a detailed view of the underside of individuals in this genus, showing the shape of the subgenital plates or pregenital sternite. There are three members of this genus that have been recorded in North Carolina, and a fourth species that could possibly be found here (C. robusta whitcombi, which has been recorded in Georgia). It can be very challenging to identify members of this genus. See below for info on how to distinguish these species, taken from Hamilton 1998.

accola- males 2.3-2.6 mm long, females 2.5-3.0 mm. Males have very short subgenital plates. Female pregenital sternite indistinguishable from agricola.

agricola- males 2.6-3.1 mm long, females 2.8-3.3 mm. Adults tawny with brown markings usual for genus; coronal maculae and scutellar angles black. Some individuals can be very dark. Has long wings that extend past the abdomen. Female pregenital sternite indistinguishable from accola. Only whitcombi has male subgenital plates as long and as strongly tapered as agricola.

robusta whitcombi- males 2.3-3.0 mm long (usually 2.5-2.7 mm), females 2.5-2.8 mm. Males tawny with brown markings usual for genus; female pale, with brown veins. Only agricola has subgenital plates as long and as strongly tapered as whitcombi, but agricola has longer wings.

vulgaris- adults 2.5-3.0 mm long. Pregenital sternite half as long as wide.

status [Native:] [Introduced:] [Extirpated:]
list_type [Official:] [Provisional:]
adult_id Unmistakable and widely known Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens
Identifiable from photos showing undersides, or other specialized views [e.g., legs, face]
Identifiable only by close inspection of structural features or by DNA analysis NULL
nymph_id Unmistakable and widely known Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants
Identifiable from close inspection of specimens or by DNA analysis
Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood NULL
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tribe
subgenus Aceratagallia