Flatid Planthopper

Description:

Uxantis Stål, of family Flatidae (Flatid Planthoppers), subfamily Flatoidinae. Uxantis comprises 15 species from northern Australia to the Philippines. The Flatidae Spinola, 1839, is aptly named because they are, or most of them are flat. These small mostly greenish bugs are members of the superfamily Fulgoroidea. They are plant feeders, sucking the juices of certain trees and shrubs. Not all flatids are flat in the sense of being laterally compressed. There are some that are dorso-ventrally flattened, like in the case of Atracis ssp and Uxantis ssp., both occurring genera in the Philippines. Most possibly Uxantis siccifolia (=Atracis siccifolia), the species common in Luzon. This spotting is whitish and almost transparent, and body length is about 18mm. This is the largest I've seen so far. Those that I see on the ceiling of our garage and dirty kitchen are just about 10-12mm in length.

Habitat:

Backyard, spotted on a trunk of a young Longan tree.

Notes:

Reference for Uxantis: http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/f.... http://hemiptera-databases.org/flow/?pag.... http://bunyipco.blogspot.com/2009/04/fla.... Image of Atracis pyralis for comparison: http://www.papua-insects.nl/insect%20ord.... http://bunyipco.blogspot.com/2009/04/fla.... Distribution of genus Atracis: http://www.landesmuseum.at/pdf_frei_remo.... Similar spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/157....