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Hoppers of Zihuatanejo

SUBORDER AUCHENORRYNCHA

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-True Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, and Allies (Order Hemiptera)

-True Hoppers (Suborder Auchenorrhyncha)

-Planthoppers Infraorder (Fulgoromorpha)

-Superfamily Delphacoidea

-Cixiid Planthoppers (Family Cixiidae)

-Subfamily Bothriocerinae

-Tribe Bothriocerini

-Genus Bothriocera


Bothriocera is a genus of planthoppers in the family Cixiidae. These small insects typically possess wings with heavy, dark patterns that they hold flat against their bodies. Found in diverse habitats ranging from mountain forests to coastal areas, they have been observed resting on various host plants such as coconut palms, coffee, and sea grapes.

Bothriocera Planthoppers

Bothriocera (Genus)

Description

  • Bothriocera is a genus of small to medium-sized planthoppers in the family Cixiidae. Adults have elongated, somewhat wedge-shaped bodies, prominent eyes, short antennae, and transparent wings often marked with darker veins or patches. Their subdued brown, grey, and yellowish colouring provides camouflage among vegetation.

Range

  • Bothriocera is primarily a New World genus, occurring from the southern United States through Mexico and Central America into South America and the Caribbean. Species occur in tropical and subtropical regions of Mexico, including suitable areas of Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.

Habitat

  • Species inhabit a variety of warm terrestrial environments, including tropical and seasonally dry forests, woodland, scrub, forest margins, grassland, and disturbed vegetation. Adults are commonly associated with foliage and stems of their host plants, while immature stages may occur close to the ground or around plant roots.

Diet

  • Bothriocera species are plant-sap feeders. Nymphs and adults use piercing-sucking mouthparts to obtain fluids from plants, with different species associated with grasses, herbs, shrubs, and woody vegetation.

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