Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Family Meenoplidae - Meenoplid Planthoppers

Planthopper - Oeclidius - male - female Cixiidae on Artemisia - Oeclidius Cixiidae on Artemisia - Oeclidius Cixiid on brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) - Oeclidius Oeclidius? - Oeclidius Fulgoroidea UDCC_TCN 00102494 (ALLOTYPE) - Oeclidius carolus Oeclidius? - Oeclidius
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Auchenorrhyncha (True Hoppers)
Infraorder Fulgoromorpha (Planthoppers)
Superfamily Meenoploidea
Family Meenoplidae (Meenoplid Planthoppers)
Explanation of Names
Meenoplidae Fieber, 1872
Numbers
single genus (Oeclidius) with 6 spp. in our area(1), all in the subfamily Prosotropinae and tribe Oeclidiini
Range
in our area, w. NA(1)(2)
Habitat
some nymphs found on floor of cave in AZ and TX(3)(BG data)
Life Cycle
nymphal habits and host biology largely unknown. few host records (most of these on Asteraceae or Lamiaceae), with most species reported as monophagous (Wilson et al. 1994). Nymphs subterranean, with adults found on above-ground portions of plants, although adults have also been found on roots (Fennah 1980, Wilson et al. 1994).
Remarks
Our fauna was placed in the family Kinnaridae until recently, following the reclassification of the group in Deng et al. (2024)(4). This family was also previously treated in the superfamily Fulgoroidea Deng et al., which erected the superfamily Meenoploidea. Kinnaridae is now restricted to the Eastern Palearctic.
See Also
similar to small Cixiidae in general appearance, and they share the row of spines on the second segment of the hind tarsomere and may have a median ocellus near the frontoclypeal suture. Unlike cixiids, females have a reduced ovipositor and abdominal tergites 7-9 are “chevron-shaped” wax-producing plates.(2)
Print References
Fennah R.G. (1980) New and little known Neotropical Kinnaridae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea). Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 93: 674-696.
Wilson S.W., Mitter C., Denno R.F., Wilson M.R. (1994) Evolutionary patterns of host plant use by delphacid planthoppers and their relatives. Pp. 7-45 In: Denno R.F., Perfect T.J. (eds.) Planthoppers: Their ecology and management. Chapman and Hall, N.Y.
Internet References