The Leafhoppers (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha) Ofthe Faroe Islands
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107 The Leafhoppers (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha) ofthe Faroe Islands Lars Trolle and Per Ketil Úrtak kransað av kjálkabeinunum av tí størsta nebbafiskinum, A okkara leiðum eru froðusprettur smá flogkykt, men sum nakrantíð er fingin undir Føroyum. Hetta er urta- tær eru nær skyldar við tær stóru songfroðuspretturnar, garðurin uttan fyri "Christinesminde", og í hesum urta- ið hoyra til á teimum heitaru leiðum. Tær føroysku garði er eitt ógvuliga gamalt álmtræ, sum hýsir einum froðuspretturnar syngja eisini, men so mikið høgt, at heilsugóðum stovni av slagnum. mannaoyrað hoyra tað ikki. Froðusprettur súgva plant- So hóast talið á sløgum er avmarkað, eru froðusprett- ur. Hetta kann bæði løsta planturnar og flyta sjúkur yvir ur ógvuliga vanlig dýr, serliga har ið tað grør væl. Og á tær; tað hava vit kortini ongantíð varnast í Føroyum. gongur tú innangarðs, flýggja einar tíggju froðusprettur í Føroyum hava vit funnið 13 sløg higartil: Javesella fyri hvørt stig, tú trínur. Uttangarðs eru eisini froðu- pellucida (F.), Philaenus spumarius (L.), Ulopa reticu- sprettur, men her er nógv minni til av teimum, og her eru lata (F.), Anoscopus albifrons (L.), A. flavostriatus tær serliga á vátlendi. (Don.), Ribautiana ulmi (L.), Macrosteles ossiannils- soni Lindb., M. laevis (Rib.), M. viridigriseus (Edw.), M. alpinus (Zett.), Cicadula quadrinotata (F.), Strep- Introduction tanus sordidus (Zett.) og Arthaldeus pascuellus (Fall.). The oldest leafhoppers from the Faroe Is- Vanliga ferðast froðusprettur við lotinum, og helst eru lands in the collections of the Zoological tær flestu av hesum slagnum foknar henda veg sunnaní- frá. Tískil eru øll tey føroysku sløgini kend og vanlig í Museum in Copenhagen date back to 1863- Skotlandi. Haðani vita vit um til samans 170 sløg. 68 and were collected on "Syderø" (Suður- Tíverri vita vit í løtuni einki um froðuspretturnar í Het- oy) by A. Bergh. landi, Orkneyoyggjunum ella teimum uttastu Suður- oyggjunum. I Islandi eru 6 sløg funnin, av teimum But otherwise most of the Faroe leafhop- kenna vit 5 úr Føroyum, í Grønlandi eru 2 sløg, og annað pers in that museum were collected by teirra Macrosteles laevis kenna vit bæði í Islandi og í Danish entomologists in the 1920's : first of Føroyum. Einstøk sløg kunnu kortini hugsast at vera all by J.P. Kryger who collected everything flutt higar við fólki: At Macrosteles alpinus bara er at finna úti í Mykinesi kann væl vera, tí hon er innflutt við except birds from April 5th until May lOth plantum, men er tað tó langt síðani. Stovnurin úti í 1925 and from May 29th until August 29th Mykinesi er ógvuliga ólíkar øðrum stovnum, tí hann 1926 (Kryger, 1940). hevur valla nakrar svartar strikumyndir á kroppinum, sum annars eyðkenna slagið; Javesella pellucida er Per Ketil and Birgitta Eriksson collected funnin á nøkrum gomlum norðbúgva-búplassum, vík- leafhoppers in the month of July 1989 in ingar kunnu hava flutt hana inn við fóðurgrasi. Og at many localities. Also Per Ketil and Lars enda kann Ribautiana ulmi, sum livir á álmtrøum, takka menniskjanum fyri, at hon er stødd í Føroyum. f tí Trolle collected leafhoppers on the islands gomlu Havnini er ein urtagarður, har inngongdin er from August 21st until September 6th 1992 Fróðskaparrit41.bók. 1994(1993): 107-124 108 THE LEAFHOPPERS (HOMOPTERA, AUCHENORRHYNCHA) OF THE FAROE ISLANDS and we managed to collect leafhoppers on now there has been no name for "leafhop- all islands except Kalsoy, Koltur, Hestur, per" in the Faroese language. Leafhoppers Stóra and Lítla Dímun. Approximately half are spread readily by wind (Giinthart, of the time we used sweep-nets, and the rest 1987) or by plant material - the Shetland of the time we searched the vegetation di- and Orkney Islands, The Outer Hebrides, rectly on all fours. The specimens were mainland Scotland and possibly Norway kept deep-frozen until mounted on micro- being the most likely places of origin. pins. The 1989 and 1992 collections, which comprise app. 750 specimens are kept at Material and species the Museum of Natural History in Tórs- FULGOROMORPHA, Delphacidae havn. 1. Javesella pellucida (F), Figs. 1 and 2. On world-basis the total number of New to the Faroe Islands. Distribution species from a conservative point of view map, Fig. 42. will probably be around 15.000. But the Javesella pellucida is a small easily recog- Tropics contain many unexplored areas and nizable species, the males are jet black, the as the Tropics are very rich in species the females brownish yellow. The specimens total number is probably considerably from the Faroes (4 males and 1 female) are higher. The number of species fall rapidly as you move away from the equator: Great Britain has app. 350 species of which app. 170 have been found in Scotland (LeQuesne, 1960; 1965; 1969; LeQuesne and Payne, 1981) while Norway has app. 250 species (Ossiannilsson, 1983). Unfor- tunately nothing is known about the leafhoppers on the Orkneys and Shetlands, while on the other side Iceland has six species (Olafsson, 1991), fíve of which have been found on the Faroes and Green- land has two species (Trolle, unpubl.). Fig. 1: Javesella pellucida (F.) male The nomenclature in this paper follows Streymoy, Kirkjubøur, - 5 July 1989 Fig. 2: Javesella pellucida (F.) female Ossiannilsson (1983) and names in brack- Eysturoy, Lamba - 26 July 1989 ets refer only to the names used in the Zo- ology of the Faroes (Henriksen, 1929). In all brachypters, J. pellucida differs from this work Henriksen mentions six species most other Delphacidae in the fact, that from the Faroe Islands, while the present macropters are more common than list comprises 13 species. Thus the number brachypters. This is certainly the case in of species is limited, but the number of in- Scandinavia and Great Britain, but not in dividuals is very high - nevertheless until Iceland (Lindroth et al, 1973). THE LEAFHOPPERS (HOMOPTERA, AUCHENORRHYNCHA) OF THE FAROE ISLANDS 109 Javesella pellucida hibernates in the CICADOMORPHA, Cercopidae adult stage. Breeding plants as well as 2. Philaenus spumarius (L.), Figs. food-plants are grasses: Avena sativa and Distribution map, Fig. 43. Lolium perenne being preferred as oviposi- tion plants; each female produces from 500 to 1000 eggs. So far Javesella pellucida has only been found in two localities, which also happen to be old Norse settlements, so a human introduction is a definite possibil- ity. However, with Lolium perenne being an ingredient in the grass-mixtures used for lawns, there seem to be many possible sites in the future, certainly Javesella pellucida can be found on most lawns in more south- ern latitudes; it is widespread in Europe in- cluding Norway, Scotland and Iceland. Streymoy: Kirkjubøur, 5 July 1989 (P.Ketil) Eusturoy: Lamba, 26 July 1989 (P.Ketil) 1 nun. Fig. 5: Philaenus spumarius (L.) female Suðuroy, Sumba - 2 September 1992 Fig. 6: Philaenus spumarius (L.) male Streymoy, Kaldbak - 23 August 1992 The common "Meadow Spittle-bug" Phi- laenus spumarius is extremely variable es- pecially further South. On the Faroe Islands it is usually more or less khaki-coloured with indistinct markings (f. typica, Fig. 5). At Sumba on Suduroy we found some very pretty specimens: / leucocephala (Fig. 8). The larvae are light green and are hiding in- side the well-known "cuckoo-spit". Phi- laenus spumarius feeds primarily on herba- ceous plants, but the list of host-plants is long, exceeding 1000 plant species. In the Faroes Philaenus spumarius is found on the Javesella pelluciđa (F.) lush vegetation in the "infield", mainly in 110 THE LEAFHOPPERS (HOMOPTERA, AUCHENORRHYNCHA) OF THE FAROE ISLANDS 1 nun. Fig. 7: Philaenus spumarius (L.) male Philaenus spuaarius (L.) Vágar, Miðvágur - 26 August 1992 Fig. 8: Philaenus spumarius (L.) female Suðuroy, Sumba - 2 September 1992 Tórshavn, 21 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Tórshavn, 5 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Kaldbak, 23 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) ditches and meadows. It hibernates in the Kaldbak, chureh, 23 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) egg-stage. The adults are rather weak fliers, Kaldbaksbotnur, 23 August 1992 the direction of flight is determined largely (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Koltur: Koltur, 1 August 1926 (J.P.Kryger) by the wind (Weaver and King, 1954). It is Suðuroy: Hvalba, 2 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) widespread in the Palaearctic region in- Trongisvágur, 3 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) cluding Norway, Scotland and Iceland and Líðin, 2 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) also introduced into the Nearctic region. Øravík, 1 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Porkeri, 2 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Vágar: Bøur, 26 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Vágur, 2 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Midvagur, 26 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Sumba, 2 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Streymoy: Saksun, 24 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Akraberg, 2 September 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Vestmanna, 21 June 1926(J.P.Kryger) Vestmanna, 9 July 1989 (P.Ketil) Vestmanna, 22 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Kvívík, 22 August 1992 (P.Ketil/L.Trolle) Kirkjubøur, 22 July 1926 (J.P.Kryger) Kirkjubøur, 22 August 1926 (J.P.Kryger) Tórshavn, 19 July 1926(J.P.Kryger) Tórshavn, 22 July 1926 (J.P.Kryger) Tórshavn, 22 August 1926 (J.P.Kryger) Tórshavn, Sanatoriet, 15 July 1926 (J.P.Kryger) THE LEAFHOPPERS (HOMOPTERA, AUCHENORRHYNCHA) OF THE FAROE ISLANDS 111 CICADOMORPHA, Cicadellidae 3. Ulopa reticulata (E), Fig. 3. New to the Faroe Islands. Distribution map, Fig. 44. \- -\ 1 mm. đ Ll.DIwin Fig. 3: Ulopa reticulata (F.) -female Streymoy, Hoydalar - 25 August 1992 Ulopa 44 retlculata (F.) Unmistakable, this leafhopper lives exclu- sively on heather (Calluna vulgaris). The found on Iceland. Nothing is known of how colour is reddish-brown, the larvae being it is spread, as it lacks hindwings - possibly very much like the adults.