Pyrops candelaria (Laternaria candelaria and Fulgora candelaria in older literature) is a species of planthopper[2] often placed in the tribe Laternariini. This species has been recorded from: Guangdong, Guangxi, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Laos, Thailand and other parts of southeast Asia. It is the type of the genus Pyrops erected by Spinola in 1839.

Pyrops candelaria
in Hong Kong
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha
Infraorder: Fulgoromorpha
Family: Fulgoridae
Genus: Pyrops
Species:
P. candelaria
Binomial name
Pyrops candelaria
Synonyms
  • Cicada candelaria Linné, 1758[1]
  • Fulgora candelaria (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Hotinus candelaria (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Laternaria candelaria (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Fulgora candellaria Scopoli, 1772 (Missp.)
  • Fulgora candelariae Kirby, 1818 (Missp.)

Description

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Like all Fulgoridae, P. candelaria feeds on plant sap: including longan and lychee trees (Sapindaceae), among others. Its long, slender proboscis is used to pierce tree bark to reach the phloem.

Members of this genus are sometimes called lanternflies (although lanternflies do not emit light) because of their notable 'cephalic process'. They are often sought-out by collectors, attracted by their fore wings (see figure), yellow-orange hind wings with a black zone around the wing tips, a reddish head and cephalic process with white spots.

 
Pyrops candelaria from Umphang, Thailand

References

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  1. ^ Linné C. (1758) II. Hemiptera, In: Linné C. 1758 - Systema Naturae. Editio Decima, reformata, 1. p. 434-439.
  2. ^ Kershaw, J. C.; Kirkaldy, G. W. (1910). "A memoir on the anatomy and life history of the homopteran insect, Pyrops candeleria (or candle-fly)". Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik. Geographic and Biologie. 29: 108–124.
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