Xylella fastidiosa is endemic to the Americas, it causes economically important diseases in a variety of different crops, and is transmitted by xylem-feeding sharpshooters. This paper provides new geographic records for Proconiini sharpshooters in South America which helps to better understand their distribution. To develop these new records, we examined material from 3 of the main entomological collections held in Argentina. As a result, 5 species are cited for the first time from Paraguay; 4 for Perú; 3 for Bolivia; 2 for Ecuador; and 1 each for Uruguay and Brazil. Some of the species could be vectors of X. fastidiosa because congeners of the species studied here are known to transmit this bacterium.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Dellapé, Gimena

Logarzo, Guillermo A.

Paradell, Susana Liria

Virla, Eduardo G.

Florida Entomologist

English

SEDICI - Repositorio de la UNLP

364 Florida Entomologist 94(2) June 2011
NEW RECORDS ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOUTH 
AMERICAN SHARPSHOOTERS (CICADELLIDAE: CICADELLINAE: 
PROCONIINI) AND THEIR POTENTIAL AS VECTORS OF XYLELLA FASTIDIOSA
GIMENA DELLAPÉ1, GUILLERMO A. LOGARZO2, EDUARDO G. VIRLA3 AND SUSANA L. PARADELL1
1División Entomología. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, UNLP, Paseo del Bosque s/nº 
(B1900FWA), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
E-mail: gimenadellape@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar
2USDA-ARS South American Biological Control Laboratory, Bolivar 1559 (1686), Hurlingham,
Buenos Aires, Argentina
3PROIMI-Biotecnología, División de Control Biológico, Av. Belgrano y Pje Caseros, (4000),
San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
The Proconiini comprises 422 species distrib-
uted in the continental Americas, the highest
biodiversity is found in the Neotropical Region
(Wilson et al. 2009). Members of the tribe Proco-
niini have been identified as vectors of many dis-
eases caused by the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa
Wells et al. 1978, which occurs only in the xylem
of plants (Marucci et al. 2002).
Strains of X. fastidiosa cause diseases such as
“Pierce’s Disease” (PD) in grape (Vitis vinífera L.),
“Phony Peach Disease” (PPD), “Coffee Leaf
Scorch” (CLS), “Oleander Leaf Scorch” (OLS), and
“Citrus Variegated Chlorosis” (CVC) among oth-
ers. These incurable maladies produce substan-
tial economic losses in a diverse variety of crops
(Hernandez-Martinez et al. 2006).
In South America the major threat is CVC
which has spread rapidly throughout Brazil
(Lopes 1996). X. fastidiosa is also present in
United States, México, Venezuela, Brazil, Para-
guay, Uruguay, Argentina (Redak et al. 2004), and
Costa Rica (Aguilar et al. 2005). However, CVC is
not yet reported from the USA although it has the
potential to threaten orange (Citrus
 
× sinensis
(L.) Osbeck) production in the Americas if a suit-
able vector is available (Damsteegt et al. 2006).
Diseases caused by X. fastidiosa have attained
great importance worldwide as insect vectors of
this pathogen have demonstrated an ability to
spread, as happened with Homalodisca vitripen-
nis (Germar), which invaded many islands in the
Pacific Ocean (Pilkington et al. 2005). Pathogen
acquisition and transmission by sharpshooters
occurs because these insects feed exclusively on
xylem fluids (Young 1968).
Despite this obvious importance, there are few
studies from South America that have identified
Proconiini species that can transmit X. fastidiosa.
Moreover, there is no basic information on biology,
geographic distributions, phenology, natural ene-
mies or host plant associations for many South
American Proconiini species. To address this
shortcoming, work presented here provides new
distributional records for thirteen South Ameri-
can Proconiini sharpshooters that may be poten-
tial vectors of X. fastidiosa.
The examined material is deposited in the
following entomological collections of Argen-
tina: Instituto Miguel Lillo (IMLA); Museo de
Ciencias Naturales de La Plata (MLP) and Mu-
seo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernar-
dino Rivadavia’ (MACN). Specific identification
and distributional data were compiled from
Young (1968), Marucci et al. (2002) and Wilson
et al. (2009).
Examined Material
Acrogonia citrina Marucci & Cavichioli, PAR-
AGUAY: Carumbé, III-1965, Golbach Leg., 1
 
,
1
 
, without information on host plant and col-
lecting method (IMLA). 
Acrogonia flavoscutellata (Signoret), ECUA-
DOR: Santo Domingo, IV-1958, Weyrauch Leg.,
1
 
, without information on host plant and col-
lecting method (IMLA). 
Dechacona missionum (Berg), URUGUAY: 1
 
,
without date, no information on host plant and
collecting method (MACN). 
Diestostemma huallagana Young, BOLIVIA:
1
 
 without date and locality (MACN).
Molomea consolida Schröder, ECUADOR: El
Puyo, IV-1958, 1
 
. PERÚ: Tingo María, 1
 
;
Chanchamayo, II-1939, 1
 
 (IMLA). BOLIVIA:
Santa Cruz, I-1958, Wygodzinsky Leg.; 1
 

(IMLA), 1
 
 (MACN), without information on host
plant and collecting method. 
Molomea personata (Signoret), PERÚ: Fundo
Génova, IV-2002, Logarzo-Varone Legs., 8
 
, on
papaw; V-2002, Logarzo Leg., 2
 
, on grasses,
by sweeping (IMLA).
Ochrostacta diadema (Burmeister), PARA-
GUAY: Itagua, I-1957, Montes Leg., 3
 
, with-
out information on host plant and collecting
method (MLP). 
Oncometopia rubescens Fowler, PERÚ: Fundo
Génova, IV-2002, Logarzo Leg., 14
 
, 16
 
, on
grasses and papaw; V-2002, Logarzo Leg., 16
 
,
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Scientific Notes 365
4
 
, by sweeping (IMLA). PARAGUAY:
Carumbé, San Pedro, I-1971, Golbach Leg., 1
 
,
without collecting method (IMLA).
Proconia fusca Melichar, BOLIVIA: 9
 
, 4
 

, without information on host plant and collect-
ing method (MACN).
Tapajosa doeringi (Berg), PERÚ: Cuzco, Ma-
chu Picchu, II-1952, Monrós Leg., 1
 
, without in-
formation on host plant and collecting method
(IMLA).
Tapajosa rubromarginata (Signoret), PARA-
GUAY: Caaguazú, XII-2000, Logarzo Leg., 1
 
, on
weeds (MLP). 
Tapajosa similis (Melichar), BRAZIL: I-1948,
Cuezzo Leg., 1
 
, without information on host
plant and collecting method (IMLA). 
Tretogonia callifera Melichar, PARAGUAY:
Carumbé, 3
 
, 2
 
; Caaguazú, I-1965, 2
 
,
3
 
, without information on host plant and col-
lecting method (IMLA). 
In Table 1, we summarize the species recorded
for Central and South America, the presence of X.
fastidiosa and the new distribution data for the
species listed here. Sharpshooters are known to
occur in 24 of the 37 Central and S. America coun-
tries. No data are available for some islands asso-
ciated with Central America and the Caribbean.
This lack of information about the Proconiini in
these countries is probably due to a deficiency in
surveys and collections and not because of the ab-
sence of representatives of these insects in those
territories.
 Most studies investigating the transmission of
Xylella have been conducted in the USA. In the
Neotropics, the majority of studies have been
made in Brazil (Redak et al. 2004). Some South
America countries, such as Perú, Bolivia, Colom-
bia, and Ecuador have more than 50 sharpshooter
species capable of vectoring X. fastidiosa, but no
reference to occurrence of this bacterium in those
countries is available.
Most South American countries are at risk
from X. fastidiosa because the bacterium has a
wide host range and may be transported acci-
dently to new areas via infected plant species.
There are strong epidemiological relationships
between the presence of Proconiini sharpshooters
and incidence of the bacterium. Resulting dis-
eases can take months or years to develop signif-
icant symptoms, or infections may remain asymp-
tomatic and undetected while acting as reservoirs
from which continued bacterial transmission can
occur (Hopkins 1989).
We thank the museum curators who provided
access to the specimens used from their entomo-
logical collections.
TABLE 1. KNOWN AND NEW DISTRIBUTION RECORDS FOR 13 SPECIES OF PROCONIINI COLLECTED IN CENTRAL AND
SOUTH AMERICA.
A
cr
og
on
ia
 c
it
ri
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a
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on
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av
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at
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on
a 
m
is
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on
u
m
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ie
st
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te
m
m
a 
h
u
al
la
ga
n
a
M
ol
om
ea
 c
on
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a
M
ol
om
ea
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er
so
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at
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 d
ia
d
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a
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et
op
ia
 r
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s
P
ro
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ia
 f
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ap
aj
os
a 
d
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os
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ru
br
om
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m
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ia
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li
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f 
X
. f
as
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sa
T
ot
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 s
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en
s
Argentina * * * * * * * 38
Bolivia * X X X * 58
Brazil * * * * * * * * * X * * 142
British Guiana * 18
Colombia * * * 65
Costa Rica * * 49
Ecuador X X * 68
El Salvador * 12
French Guiana * * 25
México * 80
Panama * * 30
Paraguay X * * X X X X * 24
Perú * * X X X * X * 95
Suriname * 14
Uruguay X * 8
Venezuela * * * 47
*Data from Young 1968, Takiya 2008, and Wilson et al. 2009. 
X—Present work.
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366 Florida Entomologist 94(2) June 2011
SUMMARY
Xylella fastidiosa is endemic to the Ameri-
cas, it causes economically important diseases
in a variety of different crops, and is transmit-
ted by xylem-feeding sharpshooters. This paper
provides new geographic records for Proconiini
sharpshooters in South America which helps to
better understand their distribution. To de-
velop these new records, we examined material
from 3 of the main entomological collections
held in Argentina. As a result, 5 species are
cited for the first time from Paraguay; 4 for
Perú; 3 for Bolivia; 2 for Ecuador; and 1 each for
Uruguay and Brazil. Some of the species could
be vectors of X. fastidiosa because congeners of
the species studied here are known to transmit
this bacterium.
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2009. Sharpshooter Leafhoppers of the World (Hemi-
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New records on the geographical distribution of South American sharpshooters (Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae: Proconiini) and their potential as vectors of <i>Xylella fastidiosa</i>

http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/84154/Documento_completo.pdf?sequence=1

New records on the geographical distribution of South American sharpshooters (Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae: Proconiini) and their potential as vectors of <i>Xylella fastidiosa</i>

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