VOLUME VI, No.6 BULLETIN No. 35

OHIO BIOLOGICAL SURVEY

THE FULGORIDAE OF OHIO

By HERBERT OSBORN

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLUMBUS OHIO THE FULGORIDAE OF OHIO By HERBERT OSBORN

This article covers one of the groups of Homoptera which have engaged the attention of the writer more or less continuously since his coming to the state forty years ago. In Bulletins of the Ohio Biological Survey Nos. 14 and 31 the leafhoppers have been treated, the jumping plant lice in Bulletin 34, and lists in various groups have appeared in the Ohio Naturalist and Ohio Journal of Science. Articles on the Cicadidae, Membraci­ dae and Cercopidae are in an advanced stage of preparation and it is hoped they may be issued in the not distant future. Naturally such surveys can never be considered as complete as the discovery of species that have been overlooked, the migration into the state of species hitherto known only from distant localities and new eco­ logical or geographic details require additional study. The publica­ tion of records known up to date serve to show the present knowl­ edge and is a basis for more detailed investigation. Family FULGORIDAE (Homoptera) This group includes a large assemblage of which differ very distinctly from any of the other groups of Homoptera. Dis­ tinctive characters are found in the position of the antennae which are located beneath the eyes and are usually composed of two or three short, thick segments with a terminal bristle although in some cases the second segment may be long and variously modified. The head is subject to great modification; in some forms being greatly inflated, in others flattened or produced into a long spur and in others very short, the eyes forming most of the structure. There are usually two or three ocelli, one under each antenna, the third, if present, located on the lower border of the front. The prothorax is generally short, sometimes a mere collar; the meso­ notum generally large and the metanotum short or covered and invisible. The elytra are usually quite densely veined, often opaque, but with very considerable differences in the different groups. The legs are usually slender, the tibiae sometimes foliaceous and in one group the hind tibiae are provided with a strong, movable spur, the calcar. The species are most abundant in tropical regions but we 283 284 OHIO BIOLOGICAl, SURVEY have a considerable number in the northern states, some of them of distinct economic importance; and in the group , which are minute species, there are many kinds which occur in enormous numbers and must constitute a distinct economic factor. particularly in meadows and pastures. The group includes a number of subdivisions which have very distinctive characters and have by some authors been given family rank, the group as a whole being a superfamily, Fulgoroidae. How­ ever, these divisions agree in so many respects that it seems prefer­ able, at least for our purpose, to use the term subfamily, a plan

B

Fig. 1.-Terms used in descriptions: Fulgorid Dictyophara lingula, A, dor­ sal view; B, face; C, lateral view; v, vertex; t, frons (front); ti, tibia; tr, tar­ sus; c, carina; OC, ocellus; cos, costa. (From drawing by Miss E. Hyde.)

which has been followed by Mr. Van Duzee in his systematic papers. From the standpoint of the world fauna the other plan may have advantages, but for practical use on our local fauna I believe the subfamily rank will be found quite as satisfactory. Of the recog­ nized subfamilies we have in Ohio representatives of all but two,. the Ricaninae and Tropiduchinae. Many collectors have assisted in the gathering of the specimens. on which this paper is based and I am glad to acknowledge espe­ cially the work of Mr. O. H. Swezey who collected quite extensively· in 1900, Professor J. S. Hine, for many years connected with the Department; Dr. E. P. Breakey, Mr. C. B. Mayer, Mr. J. N. Knull are others to be menti