''Oncometopia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

s found in North and South America. The genus was erected by

Carl Stål Carl Stål (21 March 1833 – 13 June 1878) was a Swedish people, Swedish entomologist specialising in Hemiptera. He was born at Karlberg Castle, Stockholm on 21 March 1833 and died at Frösundavik near Stockholm on 13 June 1878. He was the son ...

in 1869.>

Description

''Oncometopia'' range from 9.4 mm to 15.0 mm in length. The head is moderately produced with a median length almost always less than the interocular width. The anterior margin of the head is rounded dorsally and the crown is rounded to the face without a carina in between. The

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

are each roughly equidistant from the median line of the crown and the adjacent anterior eye angle (alternatively, they may be slightly closer to the latter). The disc usually has short sparse pubescence (hairs). The antennal ledges each have longitudinal fovea and are carinate dorsally, and the anterior margins are oblique. The clypeus is strongly convex (except in female ''O. fuscipennis'') and its dorsomedial surface is coarsely granular. The

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

has the pronotal disc punctate and usually rugose. The proepimeron is wider than long. The posterior portion of the scutellum is almost always without transverse striae. The forewing is coriaceous (leathery) and has an apical membrane. The veins are distinct. The surface is often punctate. The claval veins are parallel, approximate, contiguous or fused near their midlength. The hindwing generally resembles that of the related genus ''

Phera '' Phera'' (English language:''The Return'') is a 1988 Bengali drama film directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta based on a story of Bengali novelist Narendranath Mitra. It was entered into the 38th Berlin International Film Festival, competition sect ...

''. The tibiae of the forelegs are not or only slightly dilated apically. The hindlegs have the first tarsomeres varying from shorter than to longer than the combined length of second and third tarsomeres.

Selected species

*'' Oncometopia facialis'' *'' Oncometopia hamiltoni'' *'' Oncometopia alpha'' *'' Oncometopia clarior'' *'' Oncometopia nigricans'' *''

Oncometopia orbona ''Oncometopia orbona'', the broad-headed sharpshooter, is a species of sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were import ...

'' - broad-headed sharpshooter

Economic importance

The species ''O. orbona'' is one of the two primary natural vectors of ''

Xylella fastidiosa ''Xylella fastidiosa'' is an aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium of the genus ''Xylella''. It is a plant pathogen, that grows in the water transport tissues of plants ( xylem vessels) and is transmitted exclusively by xylem sap-feeding insects suc ...

'' subsp. ''multiplex'', which causes phony peach disease. Similarly, ''O. facialis'' is a vector of ''X. fastidiosa'' subsp. ''pauca'', which causes

citrus variegated chlorosis ''Xylella fastidiosa'' is an aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium of the genus ''Xylella''. It is a plant pathogen, that grows in the water transport tissues of plants ( xylem vessels) and is transmitted exclusively by xylem sap-feeding insects such ...

Description

Selected species

Economic importance

References

Further reading