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Hyledelphax elegantulus
Family: Delphacidae

A rather pale species with a dark frons between prominent pale keels; the central keel divides near the transition to the vertex. The frons is relatively narrow (around twice as long as wide), and reasonably uniform in width. The wings are hyaline to slightly whitish, with pale veins, and the species is usually brachypterous.

Males are distinctive, with a deep semicircular groove in the end of the genital segment, seen in side view; they have a black scutellum with a small white tip, and also some black markings at the anterior sides of the pronotum. Females are paler, with a mottled brown/white abdomen and dark-margined keels on the frons.

A common grassland species across Britain.

Adult: April to September
Length 2.5-3.5 mm
Hyledelphax elegantulus
Adult male: Huddersfield (May 2008) ©Joe Botting

face dorsal
Adult male: Huddersfield (May 2008) ©Joe Botting
Adult male: Dorset (August 2009) ©Mark Dunkling

Hyledelphax elegantulus Hyledelphax elegantulus
Adult female: Huddersfield (May 2009) ©Joe Botting
Adult female: Huddersfield (May 2009) ©Joe Botting