Wheeler, A.G., Jr’s research while affiliated with Clemson University and other places

First Texas record and specific host association for the treehopper Amastris lycioda Ball (Hemiptera: Membracidae).

The hypsoprorine treehopper Philya ferruginosa (Goding), described from Arizona in 1894, has remained little known. Images of Philya posted recently on the internet represent misidentifications of the Neotropical P. lowryi Plummer, known only from the type locality in south-central Mexico; the records refer to P. ferruginosa. The nymphs and adults of P. ferruginosa we found on New Mexico locust (Robinia neomexicana A. Gray; Fabaceae) in southeastern Arizona are the first host records for the treehopper. We differentiate P. ferruginosa from its native congener P. californensis (Goding) and the Mexican P. lowryi, describe the fifth-instar nymph of P. ferruginosa, and present new records from Madrean Sky Island localities in Arizona. We regard as incidental the collection of adults from plants that seem unlikely to support nymphal development.

Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi), a native South American tree, has invaded disturbed sites and natural areas in peninsular Florida. We report Brazilian peppertree as a new host for a little-known heteropteran, the Neotropical scutellerid, Tetyra antillarum (Kirkaldy), whose U.S. distribution is restricted to Florida. In 2016 to 2019 and 2021, we collected a total of 10 nymphs (all instars except IV) and 56 adults by beating fruit-laden branches in mid-February, early March, and early April. Multiple introductions of Brazilian peppertree in south Florida and eventual intraspecific hybridization of two haplotypes (Miami area and Gulf Coast) created genotypes more suited to Florida's climate, which fueled aggressive northward expansion in the peninsula. We review the history of Brazilian peppertree's planting in Florida and its northward expansion in the interior of the peninsula. As a corollary, we propose that Brazilian peppertree's northern spread in the peninsula triggered subsequent range expansion by T. antillarum. Our supposition is based on fruit of the novel host being available in fall and winter when fruits of most other woody plants are lacking, coupled with absence of the bug's other known host, gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba [L.] Sarg.); this tropical tree is not hardy in the Lake Wales Ridge where T. antillarum was most numerous. First collected at Key West in 1887, the scutellerid now is known from the peninsula's northeasternmost county, Nassau, which borders on Georgia. We present new records of T. antillarum from Florida and countries in Central America and the West Indies, and new state records for Mexico. Certain U.S records of T. antillarum posted on the internet are referred to T. bipunctata (Herrich-Schaeffer).

The treehopper Micrutalis discalis (Walker), subfamily Smiliinae, tribe Micrutalini, was described in 1858 from Veracruz, Mexico. We report the first U.S. records from five counties in Arizona, describe the male and fifth instar for the first time, and redescribe the female. We collected nymphs and adults from desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum Nutt.; Viscaceae), which was hemiparasitic on trees and shrubs of the Fabaceae: yellow paloverde (Parkinsonia microphylla Torr.), velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina Wooten), and catclaw acacia (Senegalia greggii [A. Gray] Britton and Rose). Our observations of nymphs in both late March to early May and in August suggest that M. discalis is bivoltine. We collected another adult, perhaps incidental, from the mistletoe Phoradendron villosum (Nutt.) Nutt. on Sonoran scrub oak (Quercus turbinella Greene; Fagaceae) and consider an adult from mule-fat (Baccharis salicifolia [Ruiz. and Pav.] Pers.; Asteraceae) an incidental occurrence.

Piesma costatum (Uhler) is a rarely collected piesmatid whose adults have been known only from the brachypterous morph; its host plants also have remained unknown. During fieldwork in the Nebraska Sandhills (2016-2018), nymphs and adults were found near Valentine in Cherry County on desert goosefoot (Chenopodium pratericola Rydb.; Chenopodiaceae). Males outnumbered females (26: 17) in late June 2017, with nearly equal numbers (23: 24) observed in mid-September. The presence of fifth instars in June and September indicate that the piesmatid is bivoltine. The first macropters (1 male, 1 female) were discovered, but they represented less than 2% of adults (n 5 115). Brachypterous adults are flightless, with their hind wings rudimentary and auricular. The bug's low vagility and patchy distribution of its host plant help explain the rareness of P. costatum in collections. Nebraska's vast Sandhills are considered a stable habitat that might favor the evolution of flightlessness, which might minimize the loss of dispersing adults and be energetically advantageous in the nearly constant winds of the Sandhills. © 2019 Entomological Society of Washington. All rights reserved.

Larvae of the debris-carrying green lacewing Ceraeochrysa lineaticornis (Fitch) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) are known to construct their dorsal packets from foliar trichomes of Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii S. Watson; Platanaceae) and to prey on nymphs of the lace bug Corythucha confraterna Gibson (Hemiptera: Tingidae). From 2008 to 2018, we observed larvae in a South Carolina botanical garden incorporate plant trichomes, the waxy flocculence and exuviae of flatid planthoppers, and cuticular fragments of assorted arthropods to construct their packets. This represents the first recorded use of planthopper wax by larvae of a debris-carrying chrysopid. Larvae were observed on 61 plant species (31 families), including 30 species of Eurasian ornamentals. Nymphs of the flatids Metcalfa pruinosa (Say) and Ormenoides venusta (Melichar) were present with larvae of C. lineaticornis on all but two of the Eurasian plants. Chrysopid larvae and coccons were found within aggregations of planthopper nymphs on abaxial leaf surfaces of paperplant (Fatsia japonica [Thunb.] Decne. & Planch.; Araliaceae). Larvae preyed on planthopper nymphs in the laboratory. The composition of the larval packets is described, and notes on seasonality of the chrysopid and flatid planthoppers are provided. © 2019 Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. All rights reserved.

Tom Henry came to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry (Harrisburg), in 1972). He recently had earned a B.S. degree in Entomology from Purdue University and was hired to identify insects, mainly those submitted by the bureau’s plant inspectors in different areas of the state. It did not take long for his entomological colleagues in Harrisburg to recognize his remarkable talents as a taxonomist.