leafhopper

Oncopsis sobria is a small, native, typical leafhopper. It occurs in the United States in the east from Maine to Maryland, west to Minnesota, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to North Carolina. In the west it occurs from Washington to Montana. It also occurs in southern Canada from Nova Scotia west to Ontario, and from British Columbia east to Saskatchewan. Given its broad distribution, it is probably much more common than the relatively few scattered records indicate. Adults and nymphs are found from late May to early August. They feed on plant juices of paper birch, water birch, yellow birch, and sometimes gray birch.

Males are 3⁄16″ (4.5 to 5.5 mm) in length, females are 3⁄16″ to ¼″ (4.8 to 5.8 mm) in length. The body is brown to orangish brown without contrasting markings.

The crown is very short. The face is longer than wide.

The front margin of the exoskeletal plate on the first segment of the thorax (pronotum) is rounded and extends well forward in front of the eyes. It is densely and conspicuously grooved (striate). The striations are irregular, wrinkle-like, and are parallel with the rear margin of the pronotum.

The forewings (hemelytra) are relatively short and are broadly rounded at the tip. There are three small, interior (anteapical) cells before the cells at the wingtip.

On males, the hemelytra range from dark brown to jet black. The underside of the body (venter) is yellowish brown or orangish brown. There is sometimes pale yellow on the face. The legs are yellowish. Males with black hemelytra have a strong violet sheen. On brown-winged males, the pronotum and the plate between the wing bases (scutellum) are dark brown with dark brownish gray speckling.

On females, the body and hemelytra are usually both rusty brown to orange overall. On some females, the hemelytra are blackish, resembling the male. On these females, the head is yellowish, the face is yellow or rusty brown, the pronotum is yellowish, and the scutellum is dark reddish. The venter is bright yellow.

Male total length: 3⁄16″ (4.5 to 5.5 mm)

Female total length: 3⁄16″ to ¼″ (4.8 to 5.8 mm)

Paper birch, water birch, yellow birch, and sometimes on gray birch

Late May to early August

Plant juices of birch

Plant juices of birch

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Medler, John T. (1942). The leafhoppers of Minnesota. University of Minnesota. Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/204089.

Alfredo Colon
6/10/2024

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Woodbury, MN