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Family Cixiidae Spinola, 1839
Subfamily Cixiinae Spinola, 1839
Tribe Pentastirini Emeljanov, 1971
Genus Oliaridellus Hendrix & Bartlett 2025
Type species Oliarus apache Ball, 1934.
Distribution
Southwestern U.S. and adjacent Mexico.
Recognized species
Oliaridellus apache (Ball, 1934): USA (AZ, CA); Mexico (Sonora).
Oliaridellus retentus (Caldwell, 1947): USA (AZ, CO, UT).
Economic Importance
Not reported as pests.
Plant associations
none reported
Recognition
Medium-sized planthoppers (~4–5 mm), dark brown to black. Head subequal or slightly narrower pronotum. Maculae of vertex present, maculae of the frons reduced or absent. Forewings clear, veins bearing conspicuous dark tubercles, RP generally 2-branched apically, some vein nodes and crossveins embrowned. Male pygofer with medioventral process (in ventral view) elongate, triangular or acuminate. Periandrium with sinistral process reduced to hump-like lobe, bearing a process on the left side of aedeagus just below the endosoma. Endosoma narrow and arcuate, forming nearly complete loop; with a short process on outer margin and two to four apical processes. Gonostyli slender, and asymmetrical; only slightly surpassing length of pygofer in ventral view (more so in O. retentus comb. nov.).
Online resources
Collecting
Specimens are not often encountered.
Selected references
Ball, E.D. 1934. The genus Oliarus and its allies in North America (Homoptera: Fulgoridae). Journal of the Washington Academy of Science 24: 268–276.
Bartlett, C.R., L.B. O’Brien & S.W. Wilson. 2014. A review of the planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) of the United States. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 50: 1–287.
Caldwell, J.S. 1947. New species of Oliarus Stål from southwestern United States and Mexico (Homoptera: Cixiidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 23(4): 145–151.
Hendrix, S.V. & C.R. Bartlett. 2025. Reclassification of the planthopper genus Melanoliarus Fennah, 1945 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae), primarily north of Mexico, with notes on American Pentastirini. Zootaxa 5619(1), 1–87. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5619.1.1
Hoch, H. 2005. On the identity of the type species of the planthopper genus Oliarus Stål, 1862, Oliarus walkeri (Stål, 1859) (Hemiptera: Cixiidae). Zootaxa 1056: 53–60.
Holzinger, W.E., A.F. Emeljanov & I. Kammerlander. 2002. The family Cixiidae Spinola 1839 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) – a review. Pp. 113-138. In: Holzinger, W. (ed.). Zikaden: Leafhoppers, Planthoppers, and Cicadas (Insecta: Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). Denisia, Volume 4. Oberosterreichisches Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria. 556 pp.
Mead, F.W. & J.P. Kramer. 1982. Taxonomic study of the planthopper genus Oliarus in the United States (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Cixiidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 107: 381–569.
Metcalf, Z.P. 1923. A key to the Fulgoridae of Eastern North America with descriptions of new species. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 38 (3), 139–230, 32 pls. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.7606
Metcalf, Z.P. 1936. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV Fulgoroidea . Part 2 Cixiidae. Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. 269 pp.
Van Duzee, E.P. 1912. Hemipterological gleanings. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 10, 477–512.
Wilson, S.W., C. Mitter, R.F. Denno & M.R. Wilson.1994. Evolutionary patterns of host plant use by delphacid planthoppers and their relatives. In: R.F. Denno and T.J. Perfect, (eds.). Planthoppers: Their Ecology and Management. Chapman and Hall, New York. Pp. 7–45 & Appendix.
