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Type: Article
Published: 2002-09-20
Page range: 1–8
Abstract views: 86
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The spittle bug Philaenus tesselatus Melichar, 1899 (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Cercopidae) is a distinct species

Agricultural University of Athens, Dept. of Agricultural Biotechnology, Iera Odos 75, 118 55 Athens, Greece
Depto de Zoologia e Antropologia/Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, C2, Campo Grande.
Hemiptera spittle bugs Philaenus tesselatus P. spumarius taxonomy morphology ecology polymorphism Portugal

Abstract

Philaenus tesselatus Melichar, 1899, was described more than a century ago, originally from Tunisia, but later appeared to be a problematic species. In 1959, it was reduced to a geographic subspecies of the closely related P. spumarius (Linnaeus, 1758), with which in 1972 it was synonymized. However, P. tesselatus does possess constant species-level characters. We have found that: (i) both species occur in Portugal, where P. tesselatus is statistically significantly larger than P. spumarius; (ii) the best diagnostic characters are the appendages of the male aedeagus (larger in P. tesselatus than in P. spumarius); (iii) in Portugal, P. spumarius seems to occur in large numbers north of Lisbon, becoming rare in the south, while P. tesselatus occurs only south of Lisbon; and (iv) the six colour morphs appear to be identical in both species. We do not know if the two species hybridize where they occur sympatrically.

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