Machaerotidae are a family of bugs in the superfamily Cercopoidea which were formerly placed within Cercopidae. They are sometimes called tube-forming spittle-bugs as the nymphs form a calcareous tube within which they live. These bugs are mainly found in the Old World tropics. The adults of many genera have a long, free and spine-like process originating from the scutellum and thus superficially similar to the tree-hoppers, Membracidae. The tegmen or forewing, like typical bugs of the suborder Heteroptera, always has a distinct, membranous apical area.
| Machaerotidae | |
|---|---|
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| Machaerota ensifera | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Auchenorrhyncha |
| Superfamily: | Cercopoidea |
| Family: | Machaerotidae Stål, 1866 |
Like other cercopoids, these are xylem-sap feeders.[1] The nymph extracts calcium from the xylem fluid and constructs a calcareous tube from Malphigian gland secretions.[2] They typically feed on woody dicots and immerse themselves in a rather clear fluid excretion inside the tube. The tubes strongly resemble the shells of certain serpulid sea worms or helicoid land snails and contain no less than 75% calcium carbonate. This habit is quite uncommon in the class Insecta and markedly different from that of typical spittlebugs, which make and live in a froth mass.[3] Machaerotids produce foam only when they emerge from the tube to moult. There are about 115 species in 31 genera placed in 4 tribes. The majority of species are found in Southeast Asia with a small number in Africa. They were traditionally separated into two subfamilies; Machaerotinae which have the scutellar spine, and Enderleiniinae which lack it. A third subfamily, also lacking the spine, Apomachaerotinae, was recognized in 2014. The scutellum has a "tail" or appears raised towards the posterior end.[4]
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| Relationships with other groups.[5] |
A list of the subfamilies, tribes and genera is as follows:[4]
- Apomachaerotinae
- Apomachaerota Schmidt, 1907
- Serreia Baker, 1927
- Machaerotinae
- Maxudeini
- Blastacaen Maa, 1963
- Conditor Distant, 1916
- Maxudea Schmidt, 1907
- Machaerotini
- Dianmachaerota Nie & Liang, 2009
- Grypomachaerota Schmidt, 1907
- Irridiculum Hamilton, 2014
- Machaerota Burmeister, 1835
- Platymachaerota Schmidt, 1918
- Romachaeta Maa, 1963
- Sigmasoma Schmidt, 1907
- Tapinacaena Maa, 1963
- Maxudeini
- Enderleiniinae
- Hindoloidini
- Aphrosiphon China, 1935
- Hindoloides Distant, 1915
- Kyphomachaerota Bell & Cryan, 2013
- Trigonurella Maa, 1963
- Enderleiniini
- Aecalusa Maa, 1963
- Allox Hamilton, 2014
- Chaetophyes Schmidt, 1981
- Enderleinia Schmidt, 1907
- Hindola Kirkaldy, 1900
- Labramachaerota Bell & Cryan, 2013
- Labrosyne Maa, 1963
- Machaeropsis Melichar, 1903
- Makiptyelus Maki, 1914
- Neuroleinia Lallemand, 1936
- Neuromachaerota Schmidt, 1912
- Pectinariophyes Kirkaldy, 1906
- Polychaetophyes Kirkaldy, 1906
- Taihorina Schumacher, 1915
- Hindoloidini
References
edit- ^ Newby, R. C. (1980). "The Use of Insects for Sampling Xylem Sap". Annals of Botany. 45 (2): 213–215. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a085814. ISSN 0305-7364. JSTOR 42761313.
- ^ Rakitov, Roman A. (2002). "Structure and Function of the Malpighian Tubules, and Related Behaviors in Juvenile Cicadas: Evidence of Homology with Spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea & Cercopoidea)". Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology. 241 (2): 117–130. doi:10.1078/0044-5231-00025.
- ^ Maa, T.C. (1963). "A Review of the Machaerotidae (Hemiptera: Cercopoidea)" (PDF). Pacific Insects Monographs. 5: 1–166.
- ^ a b Bell, Adam J.; Svenson, Gavin J.; Cryan, Jason R. (2014). "The phylogeny and revised classification of Machaerotidae, the tube-making spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cercopoidea): Phylogeny and classification of Machaerotidae". Systematic Entomology. 39 (3): 474–485. doi:10.1111/syen.12066.
- ^ Cryan, Jason R. (2005). "Molecular phylogeny of Cicadomorpha (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadoidea, Cercopoidea and Membracoidea): Adding evidence to the controversy". Systematic Entomology. 30 (4): 563–574. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2004.00285.x.