''Dictyophara europaea'', is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

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 environment ...

s belonging to the subgenus ''Dictyophara (Dictyophara)'': in the family

Dictyopharidae Dictyopharidae is a family (biology), family of planthoppers, related to the Fulgoridae. The family comprises nearly 760 species in more than 150 genera which are grouped into two subfamilies, Dictyopharinae and Orgeriinae. Description Like all ...

, and tribe

Dictyopharini Dictyopharinae is a subfamily of dictyopharid planthoppers in the family Dictyopharidae. There more than 100 genera and 500 described species in Dictyopharinae. Tribes and genera Dictyopharinae contains 13 extant tribes: Aluntiini Authority: E ...

Etymology

The scientific genus name Dictyophara derives from the Greek (dictyon: net and phorein: wear) and can be translated "who wears a net". The common name ''European lantern fly'' is actually derived from a species ('' Fulgora laternaria'') belonging to another family (

Fulgoridae 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 t ...

Subspecies

*''Dictyophara europaea rosea'' Costa, 1862

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe, in North Africa and in the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

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Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

Habitat

These insects occurs in dry grasslands and warm open areas.

Description

Dictyopharidae - Dictyophara europaea var

''Dictyophara europaea'' can reach a body length of about . These planthoppers have an ovoidal light green body and a conical head extended forward with two strong longitudinal keels and a middle keel converging to the tip. Also the pronotum shows a middle keel and two lateral keels. The forewings are about the same size as the hind wings. Wings are transparent (hyaline) with rich green veining. The distal part of the fore wings has a network formed by the veins. The larvae are similar to the

imago In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the ''imaginal'' stage ("imaginal" being "imago" in adjective form), the stage in wh ...

in color, shape and head shape. The rarer subspecies ''Dictyophara europaea rosea'' shows a pinkish body.

Biology

Adults can be found from June to October. These insects live among herbaceous plants feeding on sap. The eggs are deposited by the female in the soil and thereby individually covered with earth by special structures of the ovipositor. These planthoppers can communicate with conspecifics by vibration signals. This species is

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

and

polyphagous Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...

. The main recorded host plants belong to the family of

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

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Achillea millefolium ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Growing to tall, it is characterized by small whitish flowers, a tall stem of fernlike leaves, and a pungent odor. The plan ...

'', ''

Crepis foetida ''Crepis foetida '' is a European species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae with the common name stinking hawksbeard. It is widespread across much of Europe and Siberia, as well as being sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in t ...

'', '' Sonchus asper''),

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

('' Agropyron repens'', '' Setaria viridis''),

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae ( ) is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus '' Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, maki ...

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Amaranthus retroflexus ''Amaranthus retroflexus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae with several common names, including red-root amaranth, redroot pigweed, red-rooted pigweed, common amaranth, pigweed amaranth, and common tumbleweed. Outside ...

''),

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (, buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family (biology), family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 spec ...

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Clematis vitalba ''Clematis vitalba'' (also known as old man's beard and traveller's joy) is a shrub of the family Ranunculaceae. Description ''Clematis vitalba'' is a climbing shrub with branched, grooved Plant stem, stems, deciduous leaves, and scented green ...

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Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family or veronica family, is a large, diverse family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as Antirrhinum, snapdragon and Digitalis, foxglove. It is unrelated ...

('' Linaria vulgaris'').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10471789 Dictyopharidae Hemiptera of Africa Hemiptera of Asia Hemiptera of Europe Insects described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus