Leafhopper ID (Cumbria, UK) (1 Viewer)

[gillean55]

Hello

I found this leafhopper on grassland near Brampton earlier today, and I'm struggling to find a plausible ID. The closest match I can find on the British Bugs website is Lamprotettix nitidulus:

http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/homoptera/Cicadellidae/Lamprotettix_nitidulus.html

The markings on the scutellum are right (and this is apparently an important ID feature for this speices), and those on the pronotum, vertex and face also seem to line up reasonably well. However, the wings are clearly wrong (although the venation seems OK) and there are other differences as well.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Paul

 

[pdwinter]

Perhaps http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/homoptera/Cicadellidae/Macrosteles_laevis.html

 

[gillean55]

Many thanks for that, Paul.

Yet again I just don't understand how I missed this one. I really did work through the list three times, and for some reason just didn't see it!

The specimen in question was measured at 4.4mm in length, ie outside of the 3-3.5mm range specified by BB and so I guess it might be one of the similar species not illustrated in the gallery.

As I believe it's a female, it's presumably not going to be possible to identify it down to species level, but at least I'm now reasonably confident of the genus!

Regards

Paul K

 

[gillean55]

For info, I've just done some image searches for the three Macrosteles species classed on the British Bugs systematic list as common, and Macrosteles sexnotatus is perhaps a more likely candidate. Although the images on the BB gallery bear little resemblance to the specimen in question, I found the following which in addition to the scutellum markings etc has similar wings and also the same stripes on the top side of the abdomen.

https://www.naturbasen.dk/observation/2811821/macrosteles-sexnotatus

It's specified on BB as being 3-4mm in length, which is closer to the 4.4mm measurement.

However, it also requires dissection of a male to confirm ID.

 

[pdwinter]

Glad you found a better match ! I was tempted to buy https://www.nhbs.com/the-plant-and-leafhoppers-of-germany-book during the lockdown - with all the money saved from not travelling anywhere. It's supposed to cover nearly all the UK species.