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Family Cixiidae Spinola, 1839
Subfamily Cixiinae Spinola, 1839
Tribe Pentastirini Emeljanov, 1971
Genus Cyclopoliarus Fennah, 1945
Type species Oliarus biperforatus Fennah, 1945
Distribution
Central America and Caribbean (mostly Greater Antilles)
Recognized species
Cyclopoliarus atkinsae (Myers, 1928): Cuba.
Cyclopoliarus biperforatus (Fennah, 1945): Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad).
Cyclopoliarus hispaniolae (Fennah, 1971): Dominican Republic.
Cyclopoliarus montserratensis Fennah, 1945: Montserrat.
Cyclopoliarus naparimae Fennah, 1945: Montserrat.
Cyclopoliarus nigelwatsoni Bahder, Bartlett & Hendrix, 2025: Costa Rica
Cyclopoliarus omani (Metcalf, 1938): Panama.
Note: Cyclopoliarus jamaicensis Fennah, 1945 & C. pirata Fennah, 1971 moved to Antilliarus in Hendrix & Bartlett 2025.
Economic Importance
Not reported as pests,
Plant associations
Cyclopoliarus naparimae – Theobroma cacao L. (as cacao, Malvaceae) (Fennah 1945).
Recognition
Recognition
The genus is typically characterized by its large size (8+ mm in length), prominent markings on the thorax, face, and wings, numerous periandrial processes, and a sinistrally looping endosoma. However, Hendrix & Bartlett (2024) define the genus in the strict sense as only including the species C. biperforatus (Hendrix & Bartlett 2024: fig. 7; the type species, from Trinidad) and C. omani. These two species, with the subsequently described C. nigelwatsoni, are distinctive in their narrow vertex, three prominent longitudinal black stripes on the mesonotum, and a dark central maculation of the face. In these characters, the genus is very close to Oliarissa Fennah, which also bears the three prominent longitudinal black stripes of the mesonotum, but lacks a prominent dark marking on the face and has a different form to the male terminalia (Hendrix & Bartlett 2025, fig. 40B).
Online resources
Specimens are most often encountered at lights..
Selected references
Barrantes, E.A.B., Echavarria, M.A.Z., Bartlett, C.R., Hendrix, S.V., Helmick, E.E. & Bahder, B.W. 2025. A new species
of Cyclopoliarus (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae) from American oil palms (Elaeis oleifera) in
Caño Negro, Costa Rica. Zootaxa, 5584 (4), 523–
Fennah, R.G. 1945. The Cixiini of the Lesser Antilles (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Proceedings of the Biological Society of
Washington 58, 133–146.
Fennah, R.G. 1971. Fulgoroidea from the Cayman Islands and adjacent Areas. Journal of Natural History, 5, 299–342.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222937100770241
Hendrix, S.V. & Bartlett, C.R. 2024. Redescription and revised genus placement of Oliarus pinicolus Osborn, 1926, with
notes on Antillean Pentastirini (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae). Zootaxa, 5405 (2), 209–226.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5405.2.3
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
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.
Metcalf, Z.P. 1936. General Catalogue of the Homoptera. Fascicle IV Fulgoroidea . Part 2 Cixiidae. Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts. 269 pp.
Metcalf, Z.P. 1938. The Fulgorina of Barro Colorado and other parts of Panama. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology at Harvard College, 83 (5), 277–423.
Myers, J.G. 1928. Notes on Cuban fulgoroid Homoptera. Studies on Cuban insects, 1928, 11–31.
