Fulgoridae Explained

The family Fulgoridae is a large group of hemipteran insects, especially abundant and diverse in the tropics, containing over 125 genera worldwide. They are mostly of moderate to large size, many with a superficial resemblance to Lepidoptera due to their brilliant and varied coloration. Various genera and species (especially the genera Fulgora and Pyrops) are sometimes referred to as lanternflies or lanthorn flies, but neither do their heads emit light, nor are they even distantly related to flies.

The head of some species is produced into a hollow process, resembling a snout, which is sometimes inflated and nearly as large as the body of the insect, sometimes elongated, narrow and apically upturned. It was believed, mainly on the authority of Maria Sibylla Merian, that this process, the so-called lantern, was luminous at night in the living insect. Carl Linnaeus adopted the statement without question and coined a number of specific names, such as laternaria, phosphorea and candelaria to illustrate the supposed fact, and thus propagated the myth.

Taxonomy

Metcalf in 1938,^[1] as amended in 1947,^[2] recognized five subfamilies (Amyclinae, Aphaeninae, Fulgorinae, Phenacinae, and Poiocerinae) and twelve tribes in the Fulgoridae. By 1963 Lallemand had divided the Fulgoridae into eight subfamilies (Amyclinae, Aphaeninae, Enchophorinae, Fulgorinae, Phenacinae, Poiocerinae, Xosopharinae and Zanninae) and eleven tribes.^[3] This classification was generally accepted.^[4]

However, 21st century molecular analysis has called into question the organization of Fulgoridae, and suggests that the subfamily Zanninae may not belong in Fulgoridae.^{[5] [6]}

Subfamilies and selected genera

The NCBI^[7] and the Hemiptera Database currently include to the following sub-families and genera (lists complete if subfamily not linked):

Notes:

• Laternaria is a nomen nudum of Pyrops
• Pyrilla Stål, 1859 is now placed in the Lophopidae
• The type species of genus Apossoda, A. togoensis Schmidt, 1911 is now placed as Pyrgoteles togoensis (Schmidt, 1911)^[8]

Notes and References

1. Metcalf, Zeno Payne. 1938. The Fulgorina of Barro Colorado and other parts of Panama. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 82. 5. 277 - 423.
2. Book: Metcalf, Zeno Payne. 1947. Fulgoridae. General catalogue of the Hemiptera, Fascicle IV Fulgoroidea, Part 9. Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith College.
3. Lallemand, Victor. 1963. Revision des Fulgoridae (Homoptera). Deuxième Partie. Faunes Asiatique et Australienne. Mémoires de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique . 2nd series. 75. 1 - 99. and the material there cited.
4. Liang, Ai-Ping. 1995. Taxonomic changes in oriental Fulgoroidea (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha). Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 103. 2. 162 - 164. 25010151.
5. Urban, Julie M.. 2008. A Phylogenetic Investigation of the Planthopper Superfamily Fulgoroidea (Insecta: Hemiptera) with Emphasis on the Family Fulgoridae. Ph.D. thesis. Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany.
6. Urban, Julie M. . Cryan, Jason R.. 2009. Entomologically famous, evolutionarily unexplored: the first phylogeny of the lanternfly family Fulgoridae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea). Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. 50. 3. 471 - 484. 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.12.004. 19118634. 2009MolPE..50..471U .
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?lin=s&p=has_linkout&id=38096 NCBI Taxonomy browser: Fulgoridae (retrieved 14 November 2017)
8. http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2011/details/species/id/7497349 Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (retrieved 26 June 2018)