Ant hoppers
| Ant hoppers | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Tettigometridae | ||||||||||
| Germar , 1821 |
The ant cicadas (Tettigometridae) form a rather poor family within the pointed head cicadas . Their distribution is mainly limited to the Afrotropic , Palearctic and Indomalayan regions. They are represented worldwide with around 120 species in 12 genera , but do not occur on the American continent. In Europe only the genus Tettigometra occurs with 45 species, of which 11 species occur in Central Europe.
Ant cicadas of Germany
Way of life
Only 8 species are known from Germany, all of them belonging to the genus Tettigometra . The name ant cicada is derived from the way the animals live. Similar to the better-known bluebells , they can be cared for by ants in the larval stage. Otherwise, very little is known about the way of life of the native ant clippers. The larvae of all species probably grow up in ant colonies and only leave the burrow as adult forms. Because of this, they are difficult to find and are extremely rare. In the past few decades, ant clippers have also been found less and less, which is why it is assumed that some species are about to become extinct. Thus Tettigometra leucophaea last time detected in 1970, but was previously known from all over Germany. The cause of the supposed extinction remains in the dark.
features
A rather stocky, compact habit with green, brown or black coloring.
Species in Germany
- Monkey ant cicada ( Tettigometra macrocephala )
- Black ant cicada ( Tettigometra atra )
- Monk anteater ( Tettigometra fusca )
- Spotted ant cicada ( Tettigometra griseola )
- Common ant cicada ( Tettigometra impressopunctata )
- Black and green ant cicada ( Tettigometra laeta )
- Spotted ant cicada ( Tettigometra leucophaea )
- Green ant cicada ( Tettigometra virescens )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tettigometridae in Fauna Europaea , as of March 2, 2015.
- ^ WE Holzinger: Provisional directory of the cicadas of Central Europe (Insecta: Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha et Cicadomorpha); Preliminary checklist of the Auchenorrhyncha (leafhoppers, planthoppers, froghoppers, treehoppers, cicadas) of Central Europe , Stand 2003 ( [1] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this note .; PDF; 122 kB), accessed on May 8, 2007
- ↑ Herbert Nickel and Reinhard 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, pp. 27–64, 2002 full text (PDF, German; 234 kB)
literature
- WE Holzinger, I. Kammerlander, H. Nickel: Fulgoromorpha, Cicadomorpha excl. Cicadellidae . In: The Auchenorrhyncha of Central Europe - Die Zikaden Mitteleuropas . tape 1 . Brill, Leiden 2003, ISBN 90-04-12895-6 .
- VS Lehouck, DB Bonte, W. Dekoninck, JEE Maelfait: Trophobiotic relationships between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Tettigometridae (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) in the gray dunes of Belgium . In: European Journal of Entomology . tape 101 , no. 4 , 2004, p. 547-553 .
- RF Denno, JT Perfect: Planthoppers: Their ecology and management . Chapman & Hall, New York 1994.
- T. Bourgoin, JD Steffen-Campbell, BC Campbell: Molecular phylogeny of Fulgoromorpha (Insecta, Hemiptera, Archaeorrhyncha) . The enigmatic Tettigometridae: evolutionary affiliations and historical biogeography. In: Cladistics . No. 13 , 1997, pp. 207-224 .