The cixiid planthopper Hyalesthes obsoletus Signoret is an efficient vector of the stolbur phytoplasma, the cause of various crop diseases. In the field, this monovoltine species feeds on a wide variety of woody and herbaceous plants. It overwinters as larvae on the roots of its host plants. During this study, we collected adults mainly from lavender (Lavendula angustifolia Miller), bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L. and C. sepium L.), hoary cress (Cardaria draba L.), and occasionally from plantain (Plantago cynops L.), toadflax (Linaria striata L.), bedstraw (Galium verum L.), and mountain savory (Satureia montana L.). Fertility of field collected females from sites at two different elevations differed significantly. Fertility at 300 m (50.6 eggs per female; N = 28) was more than twice that at 900 m (22.8 eggs per female; N = 19). Only one specimen of the species was found to be parasitized by an undetermined species of Dryinidae (Hymenoptera). H. obsoletus was reared in controlled conditions on lavender. Unlike in the field, larvae developed in the laboratory at the base of the host plant and on basal shoots. Egg incubation averaged 7 ± 1.2 weeks (N = 10). Total development time from egg to adult averaged 27 ± 4 weeks (N = 5) on lavender. A morphological description of the five instars is provided. The study was supplemented by scanning electron microscopy. Particular attention was paid to the structure of the wax-plates and the absence of compound eyes in the early larval stages., René Sforza, Thierry Bourgoin, Stephen W. Wilson, Elisabeth Boudon-Padieu, and Lit
Two new species (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Cixiidae) included in a new genus, Meenocixius gen. n., and associated with Acanthophœnix rubra (Bory) H. Wendl. (Arecaceae) are described from the island of La Réunion: M. bebourensis sp. n. and M. virescens sp. n. This genus shows several autapomorphies in its tegmina venation, very particular within the Fulgoromorpha. Borbonomyndus gen. n., is proposed for another new species, B. pandanicola sp. n. associated with Pandanus purpurascens Thouars (Pandanaceae), and B. pallidus (Synave), previously described as a member of the genus Eumyndus Synave. According to morphological and ethological data, E. bistriatus is synonymized with B. pallidus, of which three different forms are recognized. All species of Borbonomyndus are found associated with Pandanus. These two new genera are endemic to La Réunion. Without taxonomic standing, the subspecies of Brixia belouvensis are synonymyzed and restricted to four different forms. A key is proposed for the Cixiidae of La Réunion, which now includes 12 species belonging to 6 different genera: Achaemenes, Aselgeoides, Brixia, Oliarus (but we show that the species placed in this genus need to be reviewed), Borbonomyndus, and Meenocixius. Monophyly of Eumyndus, from which E. perinetensis Synave is excluded, is substantiated. Following the new interpretation, this genus is now restricted to Madagascar. The species Cubana insularis Muir, from the island of Rodrigues, is transferred to a new genus: Achaebana gen. n. Finally, cixiid endemism and their host-plant associations in the Mascarenes are discussed.