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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)

-Spittlebugs, Cicadas, Leafhoppers and Treehoppers (Infraorder Cicadomorpha)

-Leafhoppers and Treehoppers (Superfamily Membracoidea)

-Typical Treehoppers (Family Membracidae)

-Subfamily Darninae

-Tribe Hyphinoini

-Genus Hyphinoe


Hyphinoini is a tribe of treehoppers in the family Membracidae. These insects are distinguished by a pronotum that is often strongly inflated above the head, sometimes forming balloon-like or "turban-shaped" processes that can be more than three times the width of the head. They are generally solitary sap-feeders.

Hyphinoini Treehoppers

Hyphinoini (Tribe)

Description

  • Hyphinoini is a tribe of small to medium-sized treehoppers in the family Membracidae. Members generally have a compact, wedge-shaped body and an enlarged pronotum that may form humps, ridges, spines, or other distinctive projections. Colouration is commonly brown, grey, green, or mottled, providing camouflage among stems and foliage.

Range

  • Hyphinoini is primarily Neotropical, with representatives occurring from Mexico through Central America and into northern and tropical South America. In Mexico, members occur in warm western and southern regions, including Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo area.

Habitat

  • Species inhabit tropical and subtropical forest, seasonally dry woodland, scrub, forest margins, clearings, and other areas with woody vegetation. Adults and nymphs are typically found on the stems and branches of their host plants.

Diet

  • Hyphinoini are plant-fluid feeders, using piercing-sucking mouthparts to obtain sap from stems and branches. Nymphs and adults may feed on woody plants, shrubs, and herbaceous hosts, and their sugary honeydew excretions can attract ants.

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