A morphological assessment of the species groups of the planthopper genus (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Cixiidae)

Melanoliarus is a large genus of cixiid planthoppers native to the New World. Mead and Kramer (1982) divided the species north of Mexico into nine species groups based on the morphology of the terminalia, seven of which are currently placed in Melanoliarus. Melanoliarus north of Mexico were studied, with an emphasis on external morphology used to review the subdivisions described by Mead and Kramer. Specimens representing all seven groups were examined to find whether consistent morphological differences support the species groups delineated by Mead and Kramer.