Issus (planthopper)

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Issus
Issidae - Issus sp....JPG
Issus coleoptratus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha
Infraorder: Fulgoromorpha
Superfamily: Fulgoroidea
Family: Issidae
Subfamily: Issinae
Genus: Issus
Fabricius, 1803

Issus is a genus of planthoppers belonging to the family Issidae of infraorder Fulgoromorpha of suborder Auchenorrhyncha of order Hemiptera. Like most members of the order Hemiptera (popularly known as the "bug" or "true bugs" order) they live on phloem sap that they extract with their piercing, sucking mouth parts.

Contents

Planthoppers are the only animals known to possess a gear mechanism, [1] and Issus coleoptratus is the first type of planthopper to have the mechanism formally described. [2] [3] [4] The mesh sector gears do not transform velocity or torque, and they do not convey much of the power; they only synchronize the jumping motion of the hind legs, preventing yaw (rotation).

Description

The genus Issus includes small insects generally flightless with a stocky, brown body and forewings with strong pronounced ribs. They feed on phloem. Species of this genus are present in most of Europe, in the Near East, and in North Africa.

Gear mechanism

Planthoppers (of which there are over 12,000 known species) are the first animals found to possess a biological form of a mechanical gear, used in locomotion (crocodiles possess a heart valve with cog-like projections, but they have no cog-like function. [5] ) The existence of the gears in planthoppers had been known for decades, [6] but zoologist Gregory Sutton and his co-authors only recently characterized their functional significance by doing high-speed photography of Issus coleoptratus at Cambridge University. [2] [7] The gears keep the hind legs in synchronization, allowing the bugs to jump accurately in a straight line, at an acceleration of nearly 400 g in two milliseconds. [2] Each leg has a 400-micrometer strip of tapered teeth, pitch radius 200 micrometers, with 10 to 12 fully interlocking spur-type gear teeth, including filleted curves at the base of each tooth, which reduces wear and the risk of shearing. [1] [8] [9] [10] The gears aren't connected all the time. One is located on each of the juvenile insect's hind legs, and when it prepares to jump, the two sets of teeth lock together. As a result, the legs move in almost perfect unison for a straight jump, giving the insect more connected power as the gears rotate together to their stopping point and then unlock. [8]

The gears are found only in the nymph forms, and are found in all planthoppers, but they are lost during the final molt to the adult stage. [3] The juveniles repeatedly molt and grow new gears before adulthood. [1] Entomologist Malcolm Burrows has posited that the advantage of losing the gears after the last molt is that, if the gears were to be broken on an adult insect, this would be irreparable. [3] The legs of an adult planthopper are synchronized by a different mechanism, a series of protrusions that extend from both hind legs, and push the other leg into action. [1]

Before the planthopper nymph's hind leg mesh gears were discovered, it was assumed that only humans made and used gears. [4]

List of species

This genus include the following 29 species:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gear</span> Rotating circular machine part with teeth that mesh with another toothed part

A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth, which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit rotational power. While doing so, they can change the torque and rotational speed being transmitted and also change the rotational axis of the power being transmitted. The teeth on the two meshing gears all have the same shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemiptera</span> Order of insects often called true bugs

Hemiptera is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm (0.04 in) to around 15 cm (6 in), and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planthopper</span> Superfamily of insects

A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, a group exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment and that they often "hop" for quick transportation in a similar way to that of grasshoppers. However, planthoppers generally walk very slowly. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, though few are considered pests. The infraorder contains 2 superfamily, Fulgoroidea and Delphacoidea. Fulgoroids are most reliably distinguished from the other Auchenorrhyncha by two features; the bifurcate (Y-shaped) anal vein in the forewing, and the thickened, three-segmented antennae, with a generally round or egg-shaped second segment (pedicel) that bears a fine filamentous arista.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatidae</span> Family of planthoppers

Flatidae are a family of fulgoroid planthoppers. They are cosmopolitan in distribution and are distinguished from others in the superfamily by a combination of characters. Like all other planthoppers, they suck phloem sap of plants. Some species are known to communicate with vibrations through the plant stems. Communication may be with mates, or with ants that tend the nymphs, protecting them and gathering honeydew secretions. Adults of some species have brightly coloured forewings which are tougher and known as tegmina unlike the membranous hindwings which are used for flight. Although a few can be identified by their coloration, most species requires dissection and examination under a microscope with access to literature on already described species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Issidae</span> Family of planthoppers

Issidae is a family of planthoppers described by Spinola in 1839, belonging to the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha superfamily Fulgoroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Burrows</span> British zoologist (born 1943)

Malcolm Burrows FRS is a British zoologist, and emeritus professor of zoology at the University of Cambridge. His area of research specialization is in the neural control of animal behaviour particularly in those of small invertebrates. Some of his research examines the circuitry of neurons, muscles and the mechanics of joints involved in the rapid movements and leaps of insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caliscelidae</span> Family of true bugs

Caliscelidae is a family of planthoppers, sap-sucking insects that belong to the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha and superfamily Fulgoroidea. They are somewhat anomalous and have often been included within the family Issidae. Studies made in 2013 of the phylogeny of the Issidae and other groups using molecular techniques support the treatment of the group as a separate family. Sexual dimorphism can be marked. Some members of the family are called piglet bugs due to the shape of their snout. A particularly aberrant genus described in 2011 from India, Formiscurra, has males that resemble ants.

<i>Issus coleoptratus</i> Species of planthopper

Issus coleoptratus is a species of planthopper belonging to the family Issidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinnaridae</span> Family of true bugs

Kinnaridae is a family of fulgoroid planthoppers. This is a small family with a little more than 20 genera and about a 100 species. The family was erected by Muir in 1925 and most members are found in the Oriental and Neotropical regions and only a few in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delphacinae</span> Subfamily of planthoppers

Delphacinae is a subfamily of delphacid planthoppers in the family Delphacidae. There are at least 1,700 described species in Delphacinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achilidae</span> Family of true bugs

Achilidae is a family of planthoppers, sometimes called "achilids" in the order Hemiptera. There are at least 520 described species in Achilidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elicinae</span> Subfamily of true bugs

Elicinae is a subfamily of tropiduchid planthoppers in the family Tropiduchidae, with Elica the type genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dictyopharinae</span> Subfamily of true bugs

Dictyopharinae is a subfamily of dictyopharid planthoppers in the family Dictyopharidae. There more than 100 genera and 500 described species in Dictyopharinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agalmatium</span> Genus of true bugs

Agalmatium is a genus of planthoppers belonging to the family Issidae, subfamily Issinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meenoplidae</span> Family of true bugs

Meenoplidae is a family of fulgoromorph planthoppers that are closely related to the Kinnaridae. They are small, with tent-like wings and usually are less than a centimetre long and a little more than a 100 species in around 25 genera are known with a distribution restricted to the Old World. They are distinguished by having one or more of their claval veins covered in sensory pits along their length. The face is usually broad and the lateral carinae are strongly elevated. The last segment of the labium is elongate. A median ocellus is usually present. The wings are always present in adults and the venation consists of a small number of veins and very few cross veins. There are two subfamilies currently considered valid Meenoplinae and Kermesiinae. About 50 species are known from Africa. Along with the Achilixiidae and Kinnaridae, they have flattened star-shaped plate organs on their antennae. The nymphs are found close to the soil while adults feed mainly on monocots. Species identity can usually be established reliably only by examination of the male genitalia. A few species Phaconeura pluto, Meenoplus cancavus, Tsingya clarkei, and Suva oloimoa are known to be cave dwelling.

<i>Dictyophara europaea</i> Species of true bug

Dictyophara europaea, is the type species of planthoppers belonging to the subgenus Dictyophara (Dictyophara): in the family Dictyopharidae, and tribe Dictyopharini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatinae</span> Subfamily of planthoppers

The Flatinae are a subfamily of planthoppers, erected by Maximilian Spinola in 1839. Genera have been recorded from all continents except Antarctica: especially in tropical and subtropical regions.

<i>Lycorma imperialis</i> Species of insect

Lycorma imperialis is a planthopper indigenous to parts of China and Indo-Malaysia. L. imperialis was originally discovered in 1846 by Adam White and has one recognized non-nominate subspecies, L. i. punicea. L. imperialis has undergone a number of reclassifications since its discovery and is one of four species in the genus Lycorma. L. imperialis follows a hemimetabolous life cycle and will undergo a series of nymphal stages (instars) before maturing to an adult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delphacini</span> Tribe of true bugs

Delphacini is an important tribe of planthoppers with a world-wide distribution.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Stromberg, Joseph (2013-09-12), "This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature", Smithsonian Magazine , retrieved 2020-11-18
  2. 1 2 3 Burrows, Malcolm; Sutton, Gregory (2013-09-13), "Interacting gears synchronize propulsive leg movements in a jumping insect" (PDF), Science , 341 (6151): 1254–1256, Bibcode:2013Sci...341.1254B, doi:10.1126/science.1240284, hdl: 1983/69cf1502-217a-4dca-a0d3-f8b247794e92 , PMID   24031019, S2CID   24640726
  3. 1 2 3 Lee, Jane J. (2013-09-12), "Insects Use Gears in Hind Legs to Jump", National Geographic , archived from the original on 2013-09-13
  4. 1 2 "Gears evolved in nature long before humans 'invented' them", theguardian.com , 2013-09-13, archived from the original on 2014-10-08
  5. Axelsson, Michael; Franklin, Craig E.; Löfman, Carl O.; Nilsson, Stefan; Grigg, Gordon C. (1996), "Dynamic anatomical study of cardiac shunting in crocodiles using high-resolution angioscopy" (PDF), The Journal of Experimental Biology , 199 (Pt 2): 359–65, doi:10.1242/jeb.199.2.359, PMID   9317958
  6. Sander, K. (1957). "Bau und Funktion des Sprungapparates von Pyrilla perpusilla WALKER (Homoptera - Fulgoridae)". Zool. Jb. Jena (Anat.) (in German). 75: 383–388.
  7. Herkewitz, William (2013-09-12). "The First Gear Discovered in Nature". Popular Mechanics .
  8. 1 2 Robertson, Adi (September 12, 2013). "The first-ever naturally occurring gears are found on an insect's legs". The Verge . Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  9. "Functioning 'mechanical gears' seen in nature for the first time". Cambridge University. 2013.
  10. "Functioning 'mechanical gears' seen in nature for the first time". PHYS.ORG, Cambridge University. 2013-09-12.