13mm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I saw these little planthoppers every day of my trip. They are a bit skittish though, and jump/fly away easily.
One of my references has a very similar looking Costa Rican planthopper identified as a Nogodina species. That at least makes me feel comfortable that I’ve gotten the right family here, Nogodinidae.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot known about this family. There’s not even a wikipedia page yet :). According to Marshall, it’s restricted to Central and South America.
Reference:
[book:1554073456]
Nogodinidae – I’ve never even heard of it. I do recall seeing planthoppers in the Neotropics that hold their wings out flat like that – is that characteristic of the family?
Apparently wings out flat is not a characteristic for the whole family. See this google image search for the genus Atylana within that family. One thing I saw in a key was that the pronotum extends forward beyond the middle of the eyes.
Or maybe it could be. Checking the EOL, Atylana actually belongs to the family Issidae.
The pronotal character seems more like a family-level character.
And yes, Atylana looks like a typical issid.
Pingback: Another Nogodinid Planthopper : Nature Closeups