''Issus coleoptratus'' is a species of

planthopper A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, a group exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environmen ...

belonging to the family Issidae.

Distribution and habitat

This common species can be found in the western

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

, in the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

, and in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. These insects live on shrubbery and on foliage of various woody plants and common deciduous trees and in mixed forests (forest edges and parks).British Bugs
/ref>P.F. Whitehead & R.S. Ke

/ref>

Description

''Issus coleoptratus'' can reach a length of . The coloration of these planthoppers can vary from light brown and olive to nearly black. The head, including the eyes, is narrower than the pronotum. The forehead is usually dark brown to black in the upper third, with lighter spots. In the lower area it is greenish, yellowish or brownish. The leathery wings usually show a huge number of dark brown cross-veins with a dark brown discal spot and some evidence of banding. The forewing veins of males and females differs (

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

), as they are effaced distally in the female, while in males they are throughout prominent. This species is very similar to the much rarer '' Issus muscaeformis''.

Biology

These insects are unable to fly, unlike most members of their

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

. They feed on the

phloem Phloem (, ) is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis and known as ''photosynthates'', in particular the sugar sucrose, to the rest of the plant. This transport process is c ...

of different trees, such as lime trees (''Tilia'' species), oaks (''Quercus'' species),

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...

s (''Acer'' species),

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

es (''Betula'' species), elms (''Ulmus'' species) and

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

s (''Corylus'' species). There is only one generation per year. Adults can be found from May to mid October, depending on location. The larvae overwinter on

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

(''Hedera'' species),

privet A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees, native to Europe, north Africa, Asia, many introduced and nat ...

(''Ligustrum'' species),

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arc ...

(''Juniperus'' species) and ''

Taxus ''Taxus'' is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of , with trunk girth averaging . They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat ...

'' species. Like all

s, the nymphs of this insect have a small,

gear A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic ...

-like structure on the base of each of their hind legs. These gears have teeth that intermesh, keeping the legs synchronized when the insect jumps, preventing it from spiraling. This is the first planthopper species in which the function of these gears was described, though their existence had been known for decades. The insects shed this gear before moulting into adults. This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature
By Joseph Stromberg, smithsonianmag.com, September 12, 2013.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1280969 Hemiptera of Europe Issidae Insects described in 1781 Articles containing video clips