The Cixiidae are a family of fulgoroid insects, one of many families commonly known as planthoppers, distributed worldwide and comprising more than 2,000 species from over 150

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

Taxonomy

Genera have been placed in up to three subfamilies, including the Cixiinae, of which sixteen tribes are currently accepted. ''Fulgoromorpha Lists on the Web''Fulgoromorpha Lists On the Web (FLOW): Cixiidae Spinola, 1839 (retrieved 9 March 2024)
/ref> includes a monotypic tribe and one genus ''incertae sedis'': * Borysthenini Emeljanov, 1989 - Africa, Asia ** '' Borysthenes'' Stål, 1866 * Bothriocerinae Muir, 1923 -

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

** '' Chlorodus'' Johnson & Ledig, 1918 ** tribe Bothriocerini Muir, 1923 *** '' Bothriobaltia''† Szwedo, 2002 *** '' Bothrioceretta'' Caldwell, 1950 *** '' Delwa''† Szwedo, 2019 *** '' Klugga''† Szwedo, 2019 *** '' Liwakka''† Szwedo, 2019

Description

Cixiid species are typically comparatively small (body size less than a centimeter) and usually inconspicuous. The face is longer than wide and the head is narrower than the pronotum. The forewings are at least partly transparent and the veins bear minute

setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...

. The hind tibiae end in a cluster of spines and may sometimes have spines along their length.

Nymphs A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

live underground, feeding on roots. Adults feed on herbs, shrubs and/or trees; some are polyphagous, while others are specialised on their host plants (monophagous). A couple of species are cavernicolous, feeding on roots in volcanic caves. Females occasionally bear impressive "wax tails" produced by wax-producing plates at the tip of their abdomen. Several species are of economic importance (e.g. '' Hyalesthes obsoletus'', '' Haplaxius crudus'').

Phytoplasma Phytoplasmas are obligate intracellular parasites of plant phloem tissue and of the insect vectors that are involved in their plant-to-plant transmission. Phytoplasmas were discovered in 1967 by Japanese scientists who termed them mycoplasma-li ...

are common

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

s in these insects, causing diseases in

coconut palm The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

s and foliage,

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

vines,

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

s, and lilies.

Fossil record

The

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

of Cixiidae is limited, and a number of taxa which have placed into the family may need to be reexamined and moved to different families. The oldest confirmed taxa are from the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

with '' ‘Cixius’ petrinus'' described from

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 125.77 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma (Historically, this stage was placed at 129.4 million to approximately 125 million years ago) It is a ...

deposits in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, '' Karebodopoides aptianus'' from

Hauterivian The Hauterivian is, in the geologic timescale, an age in the Early Cretaceous Epoch or a stage in the Lower Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 132.6 ± 2 Ma and 125.77 (million years ago). The Hauterivian is preceded by the Valangi ...

Aptian The Aptian is an age (geology), age in the geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), S ...

Lebanese amber and '' Cretofennahia cretacea'' plus an unnamed specimen from the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Due to the abundant nature of Cixiidae as inclusions in

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Baltic amber Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the re ...

a number of taxa have been described, including '' Glisachaemus jonasdamzeni'' and '' Autrimpus sambiorum''. Several taxa have also been described from

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Dominican amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree '' Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil in ...

including '' Oligocixia electrina'' and '' Oliarius kulickae''.

References

External links

Cixiidae species list
(parts are in German)
FLOW - Fulgoromorpha Lists On the Web
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1470916 Auchenorrhyncha families Fulgoromorpha

Taxonomy

Description

Fossil record

See also

References

External links