Antonae Explained

Antonae is a genus of treehoppers in the family Membracidae.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Description

Members of Antonae are about 6.9 to 10.2 millimetres in size, usually yellowish in color, often with black spots or black with yellow spots.^[4] The Pronotum is divided by a constriction. The frontal part is rounded and often has lateral spines. The rear part is rounded and relatively thick. Similarly humpbacked Membracidae belong to e.g. Ilithucia, Parantonae and Lallemandia.^[5] The genus Illithucia has at times been regarded as a synonym of Antonae (e.g. in the catalog of Membracidae ^[6]), but more recently is again considered a separate genus,^[7] and several species have been exchanged between them.

Distribution

The genus is found in the Neotropics, in northern South America, Central America and Mexico. A relatively large number of species are known from Colombia.^[8] Only recently, a species from Brazil was described for the first time.^[9] Some species occur at relatively high altitudes (3000 to 4000 m) where they are associated with plants of the genus Espeletia.^[5] However, others also occur in lowland rainforests of the lowlands (e.g. Antonae guttipes).^[10]

Ecology

The adults are mostly solitary, sometimes nymphs with adults have been found in groups under leaves or on the tops of plants. The larvae are very well camouflaged with the hairy coat of the plants. They live almost exclusively on plants of the families Asteraceae and Solanaceae, where they feed on phloem.^[8]

Species

These 14 species belong to the genus Antonae:

• Antonae bulbosa
• Antonae eva
• Antonae flaccida
• Antonae gracilicornis
• Antonae guttipes
• Antonae incrassata
• Antonae inflata
• Antonae nigerrima
• Antonae nigropunctata
• Antonae nigrovittata
• Antonae nodosa
• Antonae praegrandis
• Antonae sufflava
• Antonae tigrina

Taxonomy

Other selected affiliated species:

• For Antonae centrotoides see Ilithucia centrotoides
• For Antonae ciliata see Ilithucia ciliata
• For Antonae elegans see Ilithucia elegans
• For Antonae incornigera see Ilithucia incornigera
• For Antonae pacificata see Ilithucia pacificata
• For Antonae terminata see Ilithucia terminata

Notes and References

1. Web site: Antonae. 17 Jul 2023. Dmitriev, D.A. et al. (2022 onward) World Auchenorrhyncha Database. TaxonPages.
2. Web site: Antonae Stål, 1867. 17 Jul 2023. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. en.
3. Web site: Genus Antonae . iNaturalist. 2023-07-17. en.
4. Kopp. D.D.. Yonke. T.R.. A Taxonomic Review of the Tribe Ceresini (Homoptera: Membracidae).. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America . 11. 2. 1979. 1–98.
5. Book: Godoy. C.. Miranda. X.. Nishida. K.. Treehoppers of tropical America. Instituto national de Biodiversidad. Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica. 352. 2006. 9968-927-10-4.
6. McKamey. S.H.. Taxonomic Catalogue of the Membracoidea (exclusive of Leafhoppers).. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. 60. 1998. 1–377.
7. Sakakibara. A.M.. Revalidation of Ilithucia Stal, and descriptions of new species (Homoptera, Membracidae,Smiliinae).. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia. 19. 1. 189–200. 2002. 10.1590/S0101-81752002000100017 . free.
8. Florez-V.. C.. Wolff. M.I.. Cardona-Duque. J.. Contribution to the taxonomy of the family membracinae Rafinesque (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha) in Colombia. Zootaxa. 3910. 2015. 1–261. 10.11646/zootaxa.3910.1.1 . 25661431 .
9. Sakakibara. A.M.. Lencioni-Nieto. F.. Duas espécies novas de mambracídeos (Hemipera, Maembracidae) da Mata Atlantica do Estado de Sao paula, Brasil.. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 49. 16. 2009. 191–196. 10.1590/S0031-10492009001600001 . free.
10. Schulze. K.. Heß. M.. Schönitzer. K.. Treehoppers of Panguana (Peru), with additional faunistic remarks and 3D-SEM illustrations (Auchenorrhyncha, Membracidae).. Mitteilungen der Münchner Entomologischen Gesellschaft. 106. 2016. 39–64.