Alder lemon leaf
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Alder lemon leafhopper ( Aphrophora alni ) |
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| Aphrophora alni | ||||||||||||
| ( Fallén , 1805) |
Alder leaf hoppers ( Aphrophora alni ) are round head leaf hoppers (Cicadomorpha) from the family of leaf hoppers (Aphrophoridae). A distinctive feature of the family is that their larvae live in foam nests they have made themselves. This so-called "cuckoo-spit", also known regionally as "witch's spit", is often found in meadows on grasses and herbaceous plants , and sometimes on shrubs. The alder leaf hoppers are one of the most common leaf hoppers in their area.
Distribution and habitats
The alder cicada occurs throughout the Palearctic (Europe, Asia), North Africa and Asia Minor . It was introduced to North America in the 1920s and is naturalized here.
They are very eurytopic , which means that they occur in the most varied of woody, dry to moist biotopes from lowlands to mountainous areas up to about 1500 m . They colonize forest edges , hedges , meadows with woody vegetation as well as gardens and parks.
description
The alder leaf hoppers are brown in basic color. Their forewings are coarse-leathery and covered with numerous point pits. They are finely haired and have two light, straw-colored spots on each edge: - a large one in the middle, a smaller one in the lower third. The scutellum is flat. The shape of the body is broadly elongated-oval and tapering to a point. Alder cicadas reach body lengths between 6 and 9 millimeters, whereby the females are usually slightly larger than the males.
Seen from above, the head of the alder cicada is almost as wide as the pronotum . The head and pronotum have a median keel. The head has two point eyes ( ocelli ), a pair of compound eyes and a pair of short, bristle-shaped antennae . The front plate ( clypeus ) is more or less vaulted in the shape of a bubble when viewed from the front and the side and contains the suction pump. Like all leafhoppers, alder leaf hoppers also have a proboscis for feeding.
The legs are strong. The feet ( tarsi ) of the foam cicada are tripartite. The rails of the rear pair of legs ( tibia ) are round. They carry one strong and several smaller thorns and a wreath of thorns ( meron ) at the base. Due to the strong legs, adult leafhoppers can jump well in contrast to the sluggish larvae. The mighty thorns on their hind legs benefit them when jumping, as they give the jump legs support on the surface.
Way of life
The alder cicadas are so-called stratenchangers. The adult animals live on different trees. In contrast, the larvae live in the herbaceous and shrub layers in characteristic foam balls.
nutrition
As with all leafhoppers, alder leafhoppers are fed by piercing and sucking out certain parts of the plant, as it were through a straw. Cicadas depend on liquid food. Foam leaf hoppers are xylem suckers . The xylem sap of pathways , unlike the phloem Juice significantly poorer in nutrients, it must be so much added. As a result, a lot of fluid is excreted again.
Most species of cicada are restricted to certain nutrient plants. Alder cicadas, on the other hand, are polyphagous , which means that they use several plant genera or families. Nutrient plants for adult animals are mainly deciduous trees. Those of the larvae are dicot herbaceous plants. Partly also the adventitious buds of woody plants such as willow ( Salix ), birch ( Betula ) or alder ( Alnus ).
Reproduction and development
The adult animals live between the beginning of June and the end of October. The females migrate into the herb layers to lay their eggs. The eggs overwinter and the larvae hatch in the following spring. Alder cicadas only form one generation a year, they are univoltin . The development of the larvae takes place over five stages, whereby with increasing age the facilities for the organs of the adult animal (wings, genital fittings) form and enlarge.
Hazard and protection
The alder leaf hoppers enjoy no special legal protection. In Germany it is not considered endangered.
Sources and further reading
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aphrophoridae in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved September 2, 2006
- ↑ Andrew Hamilton: The Spittlebuqs of Canada (Homoptera, Cercopidae). The Insects and Arachnids of Canada, Part 10. Biosystematics Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Publication 1740. Ottawa 1982.
- ↑ a b c H. Nickel: The leafhoppers and planthoppers of Germany (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha): Patterns and strategies in a highly diverse group of phytophagous insects. Pensoft, Sofia and Moscow, 2003, ISBN 954-642-169-3
- ^ R. Biedermann & R. Niedringhaus: The cicadas of Germany - identification tables for all kinds. Fründ, Scheeßel 2004, ISBN 3-00-012806-9
- ^ A b R. Remane & E. Wachmann : Cicadas - get to know, observe - Naturbuch Verlag, Augsburg 1993, page 35. ISBN 3-89440-044-7
- ↑ H. Nickel & R. Remane: List of species of cicadas in Germany, with information on nutrient plants, food breadth, life cycle, area and endangerment (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha et Cicadomorpha). - Contributions to the cicada 5/2002. pdf 229 kB
